‘The digital identification of citizens is an essential process for guaranteeing the right of access to public services, regardless of the channel through which they are used,’ said Matteo Del Fante, CEO of Poste Italiane, in a video message sent on the occasion of the ‘Towards a European digital identity’ conference.
‘Poste Italiane,’ explains Del Fante, ‘does just that in our physical and digital channels – we identify millions of citizens, users and customers. Each digital identity, in particular, guarantees the certain recognition of users on digital channels. We all know how central and relevant this service became during the pandemic, when numerous public services of an essential nature remained accessible only thanks to SPID.
The digital identity investment
‘The country,’ the CEO continues, ‘has set up a complex project by defining a public-private collaboration and involving the best players capable of guaranteeing the to-end delivery of a complex service such as SPID, always under the control and supervision of the State through the digital agency AGID.
The actors participating in this ecosystem were the only ones who could guarantee the continuity of the service even in the face of an unprecedented crisis, ensuring the issuance and management of millions of digital identities, welcoming citizens to the offices and assisting them when they had difficulties in acquiring the necessary skills.’
Poste at the Service of the Country
‘Poste Italiane,’ continues Del Fante, ‘has made its operational capabilities available – an actual investment in the future of the country with a view to supporting digitalisation with the most widespread territorial network in Italy. The support service is capable of accompanying each citizen class, back offices, as well as the technology operations facilities: Poste Italiane made its economic contribution by providing more than 20 million digital identities free of charge, which would have cost citizens more than EUR 300 million representing, at today’s prices, the lost revenue for Poste. What happened represents a major achievement for the country. SPID is an almost unique case in Europe, the results achieved should not be wasted. The capital we have built must be preserved and, in designing the evolutionary paths that will lead us towards the European model based on the Digital Identity Wallet, we must build on the solid foundations we have laid, enhancing the contribution that all players can make to the ecosystem and defining key roles aligned with the characteristics of each operator.
This approach is one that should guide us in the construction of all services, but it is particularly important when it comes to digital identity, a service that requires competence, reliability, security and privacy protection, effective technical operational dimensioning and, last but not least, the ability to interface with citizens both for public services and increasingly for those offered by private providers. This is the new frontier for all market players,’ concluded the CEO of Poste Italiane.
