A recent report from the European Commission, published in September 2023, revealed that 26 million people in Italy lack fundamental digital skills. This equates to 54% of the population aged between 16 and 74, compared to 46% of the EU average. In light of this situation, which restricts the citizenship rights of millions of people by excluding them from access to essential services and from opportunities in a world of work that requires increasingly sophisticated digital skills, an innovative initiative was launched in 2021: the Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale (Fund for the Digital Republic). This initiative was based on a partnership between the national government and the system of foundations of banking origin, represented by ACRI – Association of Foundations and Savings Banks. These foundations emerged from the transformation of traditional savings banks into joint-stock companies during the 1990s. The proceeds from the privatisation of the savings banks were allocated to finance territorial foundations, whose mandate is to drive community development through the utilisation of their assets to implement initiatives that enhance the quality of life in their communities. The mission of these foundations is rooted in the pursuit of socially beneficial, cultural, educational and welfare objectives.

The Fund for the Digital Republic has been established for a five-year trial period with approximately €350 million made available to foundations of banking origin, which represent a significant player in the Italian social economy. In return for this contribution, the government granted the supporting Foundations a tax credit on the payments made, equal to 65% for the years 2022 and 2023 and 75% for the years 2024, 2025 and 2026.

A special purpose entity, operating as a social enterprise, has been established to manage the fund. This entity, called Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale - Impresa sociale S.r.l., is a non-profit organisation wholly owned by ACRI. It has a majority female and under-35 staff. The social enterprise is responsible for drafting and publishing calls for tenders, providing technical assistance during the planning stage, conducting preliminary investigations and ex-ante assessments of project proposals, selecting and approving suitable projects, and monitoring the technical and financial aspects of funded projects. It oversees all communication activities.

The Fund's objective is to provide financial support to projects selected through calls for tenders that aim to increase digital skills and facilitate the country's digital transition. By assessing the impact of the projects, the Fund aims to select the most effective projects, extending their action across the country and reaching more people. The Fund will then offer these best practices to the central government, with the intention of transforming them into policy, making them structural and permanent. To assess the impact of the supported initiatives, the independent Scientific Committee has established an Evaluation Lab, which commenced operations in January 2023. The Lab's functions include organising the infrastructure for collecting outcome data, identifying indicators and metrics for the success of the initiatives, carrying out data analysis with a counterfactual approach, producing timely reports on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of individual interventions, and integrating quantitative and qualitative information to suggest interpretative keys with respect to the results that have emerged.

The first calls, which were dedicated respectively to enhancing the skills of women and NEETs, were published in 2022 and reached approximately 5,000 beneficiaries that had access to free training activities. The objective is to train at least 100,000 beneficiaries by the end of the Fund's lifespan in 2026.

In line with the aforementioned objectives, the Fund has allocated its resources to two key areas of intervention: 1) The upskilling and digital reskilling of individuals who are currently underemployed or inactive, aged 34 and above, with the objective of re-entering the active workforce and increasing labour participation; 2) The upskilling of workers in occupations that are at high risk of automation and technological displacement, with the aim of acquiring the digital and soft skills necessary to adapt to the evolving world of work.