Citizens’ Voices at the Event Organized by Repubblica Digitale
There is one fact that cuts across policies, strategies, and statistics: digital skills are built not only through technology, but through relationships. This is the starting point for the Fondazione Mondo Digitale’s contribution to the event Italy’s Digital Skills Network, promoted by Repubblica Digitale and the Department for Digital Transformation. A national forum that focused on updating the 2026 Operational Plan of the National Strategy for Digital Skills, the new version of the European framework DigComp 3.0, and the results of the Digital Facilitation Services Network.
From data to people: the testimony that makes the difference
At the event, the Fondazione Mondo Digitale brought the direct voice of Annamaria, a citizen supported by the Digital Facilitation Centers of Roma Capitale. A deliberate choice: to start from the concrete experience of those living the digital divide, to bring the debate back to its most real implications. Also following the proceedings was Vincenzo Sivero, project manager of the network of Digital Facilitation Centers in Rome and of the new Roma Capitale Digitale project, who works daily to build a local infrastructure of inclusion.
According to Vincenzo Severo, two key messages emerge from the citizen’s testimony. The first concerns the relationship: for those living in situations of vulnerability or marginalization, it is not the facilitator’s technical expertise that makes the difference right away, but the quality of the welcome. Feeling at ease, unjudged, is the condition that makes learning possible. The second concerns access: the fact that the service is free is no small detail. For many citizens, access to digital services is still tied to costs that represent a concrete barrier. Digital Facilitation Centers thus emerge as an essential public resource, capable of making the right to digital citizenship a reality.
A social infrastructure for digital skills
The discussion promoted by Repubblica Digitale confirmed one point: the growth of digital skills in the country cannot be entrusted solely to training programs, but requires a genuine social infrastructure. In this sense, the network of Digital Facilitation Centers represents a strategic model: widespread, accessible, and oriented toward people’s real needs. The work of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale—including through initiatives such as Roma Capitale Sociale—helps transform technological innovation into concrete opportunities for inclusion.
Building bridges, not just skills
“Building bridges between people and innovation” is not a slogan, but a daily practice, explains Vincenzo Sivero. Bringing a citizen’s voice into a national institutional context means reaffirming that public policies truly work when they manage to capture real-life experiences. And when data—increasingly relevant—intersects with stories. It is in this space, between numbers and people, that the challenge of digital skills for the country’s future is played out.
“Seeing through the data how our work contributes to the country’s digital growth was a moment of great professional satisfaction,” concludes Vincenzo Sivero.
A public infrastructure for digital inclusion. Key figures
- Over 2.7 million citizens involved
- More than 5,000 digital facilitators active
- Over 4,000 Punti Digitale Facile locations nationwide
Results
- PNRR objectives (M1C1 – Investment 1.7.2) achieved approximately 7 months ahead of schedule
- An 8.5% increase in the population with at least basic digital skills (Eurostat data, December 2025)
A community-based model
A widespread network operating in cities, small towns, and community spaces, offering practical support to citizens for accessing digital services (SPID, CIE, PagoPA, App IO). An approach based on local proximity and personalized pathways, which reduces inequalities and makes digital citizenship a reality.
A growing network
The initiative’s success stems from collaboration between institutions, regions, municipalities, the third sector, and local communities. The shared goal is to transform this experience into a structural infrastructure, sustainable even beyond the PNRR.
Tools for the future
- Italian translation of the European DigComp 3.0 framework
- Update of the Operational Plan of the National Strategy for Digital Skills, in line with the European Digital Decade 2030 program
