The digital transformation of local authorities has entered a new phase. It is no longer only a matter of activating platforms or completing projects funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), but of understanding how to make the digital services built in recent years stable, useful and accessible. This is the picture that emerges from the fourth edition of the
Survey on Digital Transition in Local Public Administration, promoted by TIG (The Innovation Group) and Gruppo Maggioli, and carried out among 650 Municipalities, Unions of Municipalities, Provinces and Metropolitan Cities.
Digital progress is advancing, but skills are needed
Over the last 12 months, digital projects have focused above all on the adoption of public digital platforms, indicated by 71% of respondents, on infrastructure upgrades and cloud migration, at 63%, and on the dematerialisation of processes and services, at 47%. Attention to cybersecurity is also growing, now indicated by 28% of the organisations involved. The positive figure is that only 2% state that they have not developed digital projects, down from 4% in 2025.
Behind this growth, however, a structural issue remains. Only 23% of respondents believe that their organisation has adequate internal skills to manage complex digital projects, while 47% report only partial skills. Not surprisingly, the lack of technical skills is the first difficulty reported, with 51% of responses, followed by limited internal coordination, indicated by 46%. Digitalisation, therefore, is no longer only a technological matter, but is increasingly an organisational matter.
The post-NRRP phase requires clearer direction
NRRP investments are judged overall favourably: only 17% consider them not very effective or hardly effective at all, while 35% consider them very or extremely effective. The question now concerns the future. How will services be maintained when the extraordinary resources come to an end?
The main concerns are the lack of personnel, indicated by 46%, dependence on external suppliers, which has risen to 39%, and the sustainability of projects in the medium to long term, at 37%.
For this reason, the request for national guidance emerges strongly: 88% of respondents consider it useful to have common guidelines or standards for managing digital projects beyond 2026. This is an important figure, because it signals the need for continuity, coordination and shared criteria, especially for smaller organisations.
Software reuse, open source and artificial intelligence
Software reuse remains an underused opportunity. 68% of organisations do not adopt solutions developed by other administrations and 86% do not make their own software available. Open source is used by 51% of respondents, especially for office automation, websites, CMSs and operating systems.
Generative artificial intelligence, instead, is at the beginning of its journey in local public administration. 28% report some use, but only 1% use it extensively in internal processes. Applications mainly concern citizen services, data analysis, decision support and the management of administrative procedures.
70% expect the use of AI to increase over the next 12 months. The main obstacles remain the lack of internal skills, the legal framework not yet being perceived as clear, resistance to change, and security and privacy issues. For this reason, 61% consider it very important to have guidelines on the ethical use of AI in local authorities.
Citizens, between simplification and inclusion
The most interesting part of the survey concerns the relationship with citizens. When it comes to quality of life, the main requests do not primarily concern digital technology, but road safety, urban safety, waste, urban decorum and welfare. However, when the issue becomes the digitalisation of the territory, 60% of organisations receive requests for the simplification of administrative procedures through digital platforms, followed by online monitoring of the status of procedures, at 38%, and the strengthening of connectivity, at 30%.
The perceived digital culture of local communities nevertheless remains fragile, assessed by organisations with an average score of 1.98 out of 4. In addition, only 49% state that they have launched initiatives to improve citizens’ digital skills, mainly through facilitation points, simpler interfaces and training courses.
Local public administration has made significant progress, but the digital future will not depend only on new platforms, but above all on the ability to strengthen skills, govern innovation, measure citizen satisfaction and transform online services into tools that are genuinely simple, inclusive and useful in everyday life.