Telecom Italia presents the second edition of the “Italia Connessa” contest, the initiative started last year to spread the culture of innovation among local governments with the aim of promoting the digitalisation of the Country and favouring the circulation of innovative services to private citizens and businesses.
This year the “Italia Connessa” contest is aimed at 118 medium-sized municipalities, with a population of between 15,000 and 50,000 inhabitants. In order to participate the municipalities must present within 15 November, through the website telecomitalia.com/italiaconnessa, a digital development plan for their territory, aimed at disseminating the use of digital services by private citizens, companies and the public administrations such as, for example, smart city services, public services on line, local entrepreneurial incentive projects, projects for the automation and virtualisation of administrative processes or projects aimed at favouring youth employment in digital business. The project should be accompanied by the indication of all the provisions with which the Administrations plan to facilitate the development of the new NGN networks, by adopting simplified administrative procedures, the use of existing infrastructure and the propensity to favour the use of innovative excavation techniques.
Once the candidacies have been submitted, Telecom Italia will carry out a first evaluation of just the municipalities' effective commitment to facilitate the creation of the new infrastructures from which a shortlist of 20 finalist municipalities will result.
It will then be an independent specialist jury, made up of prominent personalities in the world of innovation and digital development, to make the final decision about the most innovative idea and then declare, within the end of the year, the winning municipality.
Within 2016 Telecom Italia will create, ahead of its development schedule, the fixed new generation network (NGN) and coverage with forth generation mobile network (LTE) in the selected municipality.
With this initiative Telecom Italia wants to further contribute to accelerate the process to digitalize the Country, in accordance with the objectives set out in the Digital Agenda. In particular, with the “Italia Connessa” contest, the company wants to show how even in those municipalities until now excluded from the infrastructuralisation plans of all Operators it is possible to trigger off conditions favourable for the creation of new generation networks, working on the reduction of installation costs and the development of new digital services.
Rome, 16 July 2014
