Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (through the subsidiary CDP Equity), Leonardo, Sogei and TIM, as the promoter entity, have jointly presented the Italian Ministry for Technological Innovation and the Digital Transition (MITD) with a proposal for a public-private partnership for the creation of the National Strategic Hub (NSH) – an infrastructure for cloud-based management of Public Administration (PA) data and applications, forming part of the overall plan to accelerate digital transformation and guarantee national data security and control.
If awarded to the promoter and following a tender announced by the Public Administration, the initiative would involve setting up a NewCo with a 20% stake to be held by CDP, 25% by Leonardo, 10% by Sogei and 45% by TIM. The aim is to provide innovative services to citizens and businesses, in line with the provisions of the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan and recent regulatory interventions on digital infrastructure. The project consists of providing cloud solutions and services to support the PA with a view to ensuring the highest possible level of data efficiency, security and reliability.
The presentation of the proposal by the promoter, if deemed of interest, will allow the PA to launch a public tender in a short time. In particular, the Public Administration must examine the proposal within three months of its receipt and, if assessed positively, it will launch the tender in which, in addition to the promoter, all interested subjects may participate.
If the tender is awarded to the promoter, the new company will have all the necessary industrial expertise to provide the services (also by gaining expertise from its members) and will make the investments needed for creating the technological infrastructure.
This is the framework for the joint initiative of CDP, Leonardo, Sogei and TIM through a public-private partnership with the aim of encouraging and speeding up technological innovation and the security of public infrastructures.
The project will involve economic operators of primary importance in technological and digital services with the aim of pooling the best expertise and the most advanced national and international technologies, also collaborating with Cloud Service Providers and leading technology suppliers, which will be managed according to the principles of sovereignty established by the regulation.
Specifically, as industrial partners: TIM, the Italian leader of the ICT sector, will provide infrastructure services and cloud platforms; Leonardo, one of the world’s leading players in the AD&S sector and the only Italian company dedicated to monitoring strategic technologies for the country’s security, will provide security services; Sogei, a leader and partner in the public ICT sector, will provide business culture enablement and training services to boost the growth and expertise of the PA; CDP Equity will act as the financial partner and institutional investor supporting initiatives with significant development prospects in key sectors for the country.
Together, the industrial partners will provide end-to-end migration services and support PAs with professional evolution services to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness when operating in cloud environments (re-platform and re-architect).
Through the partners, the NSH will have new generation (Tier IV) data centres, with high levels of security and energy efficiency and in line with global best practices (four data centres in two regions), and will furthermore provide comprehensive and advanced services with a particular focus on cloud solutions. The PA will be supported throughout the pre- and post-contract phases, including in terms of staff training.
***
For TIM, listed company, the project is covered by the rules of Consob Regulation no. 17221/2010. In particular, CDPE – as a subsidiary of CDP, a TIM shareholder – is a related party of TIM, which will have a connection with the NewCo. Based on the information and estimates available, the transaction qualifies as an excluded transaction pursuant to article 13, or a transaction of lesser importance based on the indices referred to in Annex 3 of the Consob Regulation. It is understood that, in deploying the project, TIM will continue to ensure full compliance with the applicable regulations in terms of internal approval processes and disclosure.
Rome, 28 September 2021
