Mixed results for Italy in OECD DGI as civil registration system goes digital

Digital transformation can have wide-scale effects on the citizenry, with the promise of faster and more streamlined services. As governments around the world digitalize, the smarter decisions enabled by greater efficiency and collaboration will hopefully bear fruit. But it can be challenging to measure digital government transformation.

The OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the Open, Useful and Re-usable Data (OURdata) Index measure how governments are structuring, governing and sustaining digital transformation across the public sector.

Assessing the cohort of developed OECD countries, the indexes capture progress and the benefits of real strategic implementation across six dimensions. These are digital by design, data-driven, government as a platform, open by default, user driven, and proactiveness. Italy has progressed well on one of these but has actually declined on another.

The “open by default” dimension evaluates how well governments use digital tools and data to strengthen openness, transparency and accountability. Korea leads this dimension with a score of 0.94 (out of 1.0), followed by France and Estonia at 0.87, Denmark at 0.81 and Colombia at 0.77.

Several countries have made notable gains since 2023. Italy is among the strongest improvers, rising from 0.55 to 0.73, reflecting significant advances in its legal frameworks, data infrastructure and transparency practices.

However, it’s not all good news. The DGI’s “Proactiveness” dimension evaluates how well governments can anticipate people’s needs and provide services before those needs are formally expressed, drawing on data, digital tools and AI.

Countries scoring highest in this area include Korea (0.94), Norway (0.92), Estonia (0.92), Portugal (0.91) and Australia (0.88). Several governments have made substantial progress since 2023, among them Costa Rica, Latvia, Israel, Chile and Portugal.

Italy, however, is one of the countries that recorded a decline, falling from 0.46 to 0.39. This drop places Italy among a small group — alongside Mexico, Finland, Türkiye and the UK — where performance slipped compared with the previous year, suggesting challenges in scaling or sustaining proactive digital service capabilities.

Italy goes digital for civil registry and official credentials

Italy has brought about a decisive overhaul of its civil registry infrastructure, with more than 7,000 municipalities now connected to the National Computerized Archive of Civil Status Registers (ANSC). The expansion brings major cities such as Milan, Naples, Turin, Genoa and Bologna into a unified digital system designed to modernize how the country records births, marriages, civil unions, citizenship and deaths.

The ANSC is fully integrated with the National Registry of the Resident Population (ANPR), enabling municipalities to create, store and update civil status documents entirely online. The digital archive replaces the long‑standing paper-based model managed individually by local authorities, offering a single, secure platform with full legal validity.

Automatic synchronisation with ANPR is expected to improve the accuracy and consistency of data across public bodies, strengthening interoperability and reducing administrative discrepancies. For citizens, the system introduces new digital services, including the ability to sign civil status documents using SPID or the Electronic Identity Card (CIE). Online access to certificates is also planned, which will eliminate the need for in‑person visits to municipal offices and streamline routine procedures.

The project is backed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with the Department for Digital Transformation allocating €50 million (US$57.9 million) to support municipal adoption. National and local institutions describe the initiative as a coordinated effort to simplify public services, enhance data quality and reinforce trust between citizens and government.

Italy passes 10 million IT-Wallets

Italy’s digital identity push has surpassed 10 million activations of the IT‑Wallet inside the IO app, according to new government figures. The “Documents on IO” feature allows citizens to store official credentials in a secure digital wallet and is becoming one of the country’s most widely used digital public services.

A total of 17.3 million documents have now been uploaded. Driving licences and Health Insurance Cards/European Health Insurance Cards each account for 8.5 million activations, while the European Disability Card makes up around 200,000.

The rollout is the product of a broad institutional partnership involving the Department for Digital Transformation, the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, PagoPA (which manages the IO app), and multiple data‑holding agencies including the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the State General Accounting Office and INPS.

Government officials say the adoption figures show that citizens embrace digital services when they are secure, useful and easy to access. Undersecretary of State for Technological Innovation Alessio Butti described the IT‑Wallet as an optional tool that gives people more control, complementing rather than necessarily replacing physical documents.

Activation is free for adults with valid documents, and access is secured through CIE or SPID credentials. No document is added without explicit user consent, and traditional physical formats remain valid. The government plans to expand the wallet’s capabilities further, with new digital documents expected to be added, such as potentially the electoral card, as the platform evolves. The IO app introduced offline access to its Wallet last summer, allowing citizens to access their digital documents even without a network connection.

The app automatically detects when it is offline – such as in areas with poor signal – and switches to a limited mode. Users will then still be able to unlock their stored documents, such as driving license or health insurance card, through biometric authentication or a PIN.

Article Topics

civil registration  |  digital government  |  digital wallets  |  IT Wallet  |  Italy  |  OECD  |  OECD DGI