Roma Capitale announces the continuation of the service
In recent days, Roma Capitale has published important news for all citizens and for the network of organisations working to bridge the digital divide: the Digital Support Centres initiative is set to continue, in light of the results achieved and the strong response received across local areas.
The service, supported by PNRR funds via the Lazio Region, helps people use the public administration’s online services: from digital identity to social security and local council services, right through to the main platforms that now govern the day-to-day relationship between citizens and institutions.
In a statement published on 5 May, the Councillor for Suburbs and Delegated Services, Pino Battaglia, expressed his satisfaction with the achievements and thanked the third sector organisations that have collaborated with Roma Capitale, helping to coordinate activities and bring the service to local communities. This is an important recognition for a network of support centres which, day after day, has made the right of access to digital services a reality, especially for those who are most vulnerable or less independent in using technology.
Roma Capitale is now working to finalise the necessary procedures to continue the service, with the aim of making it increasingly stable and institutionalised over time. Digital facilitation is thus confirmed not only as technical support, but as local social infrastructure: a way to be close to people, strengthen citizens’ independence and make the public administration more accessible, straightforward and inclusive.
For the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, which is involved in Roma Capitale’s digital facilitation centres, this approach confirms the value of daily work carried out in neighbourhoods, municipal districts and community spaces: listening to needs, providing step-by-step support, and transforming a digital challenge into an opportunity for participation.
‘We are very pleased with the response we have received locally. Over the last four months, our facilitators have mainly provided support within the registry offices, working closely with Rome’s 15 municipal districts, identifying a real need among citizens and offering direct support in accessing digital services,’ says project manager Vincenzo Sivero. ‘The result achieved is particularly significant: around 10,000 citizens, a figure almost three times the project’s target. This confirms the value of a community-based model capable of bringing digital technology closer to people, especially in places where interaction with the public administration is more immediate and part of daily life.’
Meanwhile, within this same service framework, the digital facilitators from the Fondazione Mondo Digitale have also extended their support beyond the usual scope of facilitation. Thanks to the extension of the Roma Capitale Digitale project, selected and supported by the Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale - Impresa sociale, they are present at the BNL Italian Open, at the Foro Italico, at the Ministry of Health’s stand, with activities dedicated to promoting the Electronic Health Record.
At one of the capital’s major international sporting events, digital facilitation thus becomes a mobile outreach service, capable of reaching a broad and diverse audience and guiding citizens and visitors in accessing digital healthcare services: consulting medical reports, managing prescriptions, accessing their own health data and navigating online platforms with greater independence. The presence at the BNL Italian Open confirms the same approach that drives the work in the boroughs: going where people are, identifying real needs, and making digital technology less distant and more useful in everyday life [see the news item With digital facilitators at the Italian Open].
