The need for citizens to take part in public life is totally changed because of the new offers of digital media.This can, for example, be seen following the ongrowing requests for broadcasting of conciliar sessions in video streaming or for the information available online in the form of open data.
The new ICT tools do not only serve to expedite automation of all public body activities but will without doubt change the procedures related to what services are being offered.
Increase in access to data and other communication channels have given citizens a renewed civic power which public bodies can no longer ignore.
What will the citizens of the future be like and how will institutions change?
The ability of exploiting all the opportunities and navigate in an extensively connected digital world is destined to profoundly alter citizen requirements according to certain parameters, among which:
- Citizen driven experience. These are citizens who expect to be able to control and guide all kinds of interaction with public bodies.
- Convergence of governmental databases. The purpose is to simplify interaction of citizens with the PA as well as avoid superfluous information.
- Internet of Things. It is intended to produce further advancements. The number of devices and objects connected to internet continue in fact to grow in an exponential manner. According to Gartner they will reach 20.8 billion.
- Transparency and trust. This involves the trust that citizens place in institutions being already in proportion with the ability of bodies to preserve and deliver open data transparently as well as the information that citizens require.
- Overload of information. The increase of mobile devices and the number of citizens "connected" generates an enormous amount of data items, thus the PA will be required to provide sophisticated systems for monitoring and analysing data.
To meet these new requirements, the public sector will have to cooperate more and more often with the private sector, intended to guarantee offering services suited to the new digital service.
The role of the companies ready to invest in technological advancement such as the Eurel Informatica S.p.a., will become more and more important in order to aid governing bodies and institutions and place citizens at the centre of each decision, implementing new forms of collaboration and interaction.
