E-governance in Italy: a success on paper
Although officials have extensively praised Italian e-government services, it turns out that the Italian public is largely unaware of the availability of online governmental services. E-government, that has been under construction since the 2000 Lisbon Strategy, is called a public ghost. Also, its user friendliness is disputed. Although some call the services easy to access and clear, the few people that actually made the effort to use the services experienced all kinds of discouraging trouble.
Nonexistent information campaign
Few Italians appear to have learned about the development of online services, because the Italian government failed to actively and successfully campaign for the use of digital services. According to some this is due to the fact that television, the country’s main source of news and information, has been underused as a campaigning tool.
Unilateralism
Besides the limited public awareness, Italian e-government suffers from several flaws. A crucial element that the government overlooked, is the possibility for users to provide feedback on the services. This way, the services are unlikely to improve in accordance with users’ experience and preferences.
Limited range
Due to the lack of a possibility to receive support or guidance
in the use of e-services, social categories such as the elderly and
the disabled are likely to encounter difficulties. The fact that
most websites are only available in Italian, could exclude
expatriates and foreigners from the user group.