Italy advances, budgets for integration of digital IDs

The Italian government has allocated €40 million (US$43.38 million) in the hopes of resolving a dispute involving the nation’s two digital identification programs, the SPID and the CIE.

SPID, or the public system for digital ID, is used by citizens to log in for online government services and managed by private companies, some of which charge for ID activation.

The agreement giving life to the SPID ended last year but had its contract with the government extended. The money would keep the SPID program functioning.

CIE stands for electronic ID card, Italy’s official digital and physical ID. It costs €16.79 ($18.17).

The Italian government wants to fold the SPID program into CIE, which, as a state ID program, is controlled by Rome.

According to a Wired Italy article, an agreement has yet to be finalized, but the money has made it more likely.

The agreement being debated is expected to be signed this month and likely would span two years to address remaining issues of digital identity in Italy.

It also would probably help the government with its campaign to merge the SPID with the CIE, a project spearheaded by Alessio Butti, the undersecretary for innovation in the Brothers of Italy political party.

In a step towards integrating the digital IDs, the Italian government has made it possible for CIE owners to use it to access SPID services.

People can activate the CIE for these services at the digital ID site.

The digital IDs had a similar user base in 2022 (33.5 million for SPID, 32.7 million for CIE), according to Wired.

In Italy, the topic of digital identity is impacted by European developments. The European Parliament recently voted on regulations for electronic identity and negotiations are ongoing with the European Commission and Council.

It is unclear how much additional funding officials are willing to spend on the SPID. Sources interviewed by Wired indicated that the goal is to achieve specific adoption targets for digital identity and comply with European standards.

The digital ID efforts come a few months after the Italian national postal service, Poste Italiane, launched an initiative to foster digital technologies across the country.

InfoCamere launches SPID service for entrepreneurs

In related news, InfoCamere, the IT unit of Italy’s chambers of commerce, has launched the ID InfoCamere SPID service to enhance digital identity tools for entrepreneurs, reports Italia Oggi (in Italian).

InfoCamere is a qualified trust service provider (QTSP), recognized at the European level, and recently listed as an authorized ID provider of SPIDs. The service is now available on the ID InfoCamere digital identity tools portal.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital identity  |  government services  |  identity verification  |  Italy  |  SPID