Innovation in a PA passes through continuous exchange, dialogue and synergies between different actors and contexts. The Directorate for Information Systems and Innovation (DSII) is well aware of this, and constantly invests in its own evolution and growth - technological and organisational - by participating in, coordinating and promoting innovative projects such as ETAPAS, INTERLINK and GLACIATION. In the course of 2022, the initiatives were presented at multiple occasions, academic workshops, General Assemblies and public events with the aim of publicising the main achievements and milestones, as well as to reflect on the next steps to be taken.

In particular, ETAPAS (2020-2023) is a research project funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 programme and coordinated by the MEF. An initiative that explores the impact of disruptive technologies (AI, robotics, Big Data) and aims to offer an assessment methodology capable of measuring and mitigating different levels of risk due to the application of increasingly widespread technologies in public bodies. As also emerged in the talk “The challenges of PA between ethical and social impacts of digitalisation” held last June at the 2022 edition of FORUM PA, ETAPAS represents a virtuous case, capable of bringing together the main stakeholders, creating a place where ethics joins technology.

INTERLINK (2021-2023) is a research and innovation project also funded under the Horizon2020 programme. The project aims to provide a solution that facilitates the design of shared mode services for citizens through innovative approaches that enable the involvement of various actors and stakeholders. On 14 December, the workshop "Democratizing co-production of sustainable public services: what are the legal and technical barriers to co-delivery?" was held at the 5th INTERLINK General Assembly. The initiative saw the participation of various experts in the field, brought together to reflect on new approaches and methodologies for the delivery of public services and products based on democratisation and co-delivery processes, highlighting the contribution of the INTERLINK project on the topic.

GLACIATION is the most recent project among those coordinated by the MEF's DSII. It was launched last October within the framework of Horizon Europe 2021-2027 and aims to identify concrete solutions to limit energy consumption throughout the data management process, while guaranteeing security and privacy protection. The project was presented during the event “Data sharing in the common European data spaces and Strengthening Europe's data analytics capacity” on 23 February. 

The involvement of the MEF, with particular reference to the DSII, in the implementation of international initiatives will continue in the current year in order to achieve the objectives set for the various European projects, of which constant updates will be made available on the NoiPA portal.