INSPIRE Knowledge Base

Italy - 2021: Country Fiche

Table of Contents
  • Introduction
  • State of Play
    • Coordination
    • Functioning and coordination of the infrastructure
    • Usage of the infrastructure for spatial information
    • Data Sharing Arrangements
    • Costs and Benefits
  • Key Facts and Figures. 
    • Monitoring Indicators
Introduction

The INSPIRE Directive sets the minimum conditions for interoperable sharing and exchange of spatial data across Europe as part of a larger European Interoperability Framework and the e-Government Action Plan that contributes to the Digital Single Market Agenda. Article 21 of INSPIRE Directive defines the basic principles for monitoring and reporting. More detailed implementing rules regarding INSPIRE monitoring and reporting have been adopted as Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1372 on the 19th August 2019.

This country fiche highlights the progress in the various areas of INSPIRE implementation. It includes information on monitoring 2020 acquired in December 2020 and Member States update.

State Of Play

A high-level view on the governance, use and impact of the INSPIRE Directive in Italy. More detailed information is available on the INSPIRE knowledge base.

Coordination

National Contact Point
Name of Public Authority: 
Ministero della Transizione Ecologica
Contact Email: 
Click to email
National INSPIRE Website: 
https://www.isprambiente.gov.it
http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/mattm/inspire/
MIG Contacts: 
Contact Person: 
Teresa Federico
Email: 
Federico.Teresa@minambiente.it
Contact Person: 
Alessandra De Cesare
Email: 
DeCesare.Alessandra@minambiente.it
MIG T Contacts: 
Contact Person: 
Carlo Cipolloni
Email: 
carlo.cipolloni@isprambiente.it
Contact Person: 
Michele Munafò
Email: 
michele.munafo@isprambiente.it
Coordination Structure & Progress: 
  • National Contact point

Name of public authority

Ministero della Transizione Ecologica

Mailing address

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 44 – 00147 Roma

Telephone number

 

Fax number

 

E-mail

NCP.Inspire@minambiente.it

Website address

http://www.minambiente.it/

Contact person

 Alessandra De Cesare

Telephone number

 

E-mail

 

Contact person substitute

Teresa Federico

Telephone number

 

E-mail

 

 

Coordination Structure

According to adopted coordination strategy (January 2016) there are three levels in the governance structure (figure above):

  • Top: governmental level, including the NCP (Ministry of Environment) and the consulting and supporting body created in May 2016 (CNITA), website: http://www.minambiente.it/

  • Middle: technical coordination level, including the coordination structure (ISPRA, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) and the national body for the Digital Agenda (AGID),

  • Bottom: operational level, including the National Geoportal (GN), the National Environmental Information System (SINA) and the national geographic metadata catalogue (RNDT).

In May 2016 Italy has set up a body in charge of linking all the public administrations providing spatial data, this body called "Consulta Nazionale per l’Informazione Territoriale e Ambientale" (CNITA) was already envisaged in 2010 in the law transposing the INSPIRE Directive, but never established so far; the figure below shown the coordination structure picture in Italy.

Progress

  • During 2020, the coordination structure (ISPRA) in conjunction with the manager of the national metadata catalogue (RNDT) published guidelines to support administrations to enrich more the compilation of metadata and the correct configuration of network services. Furthermore, in compliance with the new metadata guidelines, AgID as the managing body of the RNDT has updated the catalogue with its national profile, so that it is in line with the technical guides of metadata 2.0, publishing a new updated national guideline on metadata and metadata catalogues (https://geodati.gov.it/geoportale/manuale-rndt).

  • In parallel, ISPRA as the coordination structure of INSPIRE and reference for e-Reporting towards the European Environmental Agency has launched a process of comparison, through workshops, with regional agencies and national authorities in order to bring the two activities together.

Functioning and coordination of the infrastructure

  • The coordination of the infrastructure takes place through the Cooperation Board (section 1 of the CNITA) which is chaired by ISPRA and where common policies on the use of data are adopted; at the same time the board applies a coordinated  orchestration of the components of the National Infrastructure for Territorial Information and Environmental Monitoring (INITMA).
  • The main access point to information about the CNITA and the INITMA components takes place through the National Geoportal (http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/mattm/).
  • A strategic action of convergence between open data and geospatial data has been launched in order to reduce duplication.

Usage of the infrastructure for spatial information

  • Information on the use of geospatial data at national and regional level is fragmented but indicates a growing trend in interoperability between public administrations.
  • Training actions were activated to strengthen the activity to harmonize data and to access network services and their use.
  • The metadata statistics are presented in the monitoring report, but also in detail in the RNDT portal (https://geodati.gov.it/geoportale/) and indicate the presence of over 19,000 documented datasets and about more than 2300 network services.
  • Each region has its own access portals both to open data and to territorial data with their own access and use statistics.

Data sharing arrangements

  • The Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition (formerly the Ministry of the Environment) has signed more than 200 data sharing agreements from 2009 to date and through the CNITA has started a support action for the sharing of data also in open format in continuity with the provisions of Directive 2019/1024/EU.
  • Two main barriers to data sharing have been identified:
    • One of the obstacles to full compliance with INSPIRE is identified in the current legislative landscape which in many cases predates the INSPIRE Directive and therefore applies limitations to data sharing.
    • Especially local administrations have difficulty in financing the right skills / infrastructures that would allow harmonization towards INSPIRE formats that would feed the national data infrastructure with local data "ready for use".

Costs and benefits

  • The 2019 Country Report contains information on the costs of building the infrastructure in terms of man-months, and broken down for the different actors (Ministry of the Environment, ISPRA), but the estimate is based approximately on what has been implemented by the Italian organizations who manage the components of INITMA.
  • On the benefits:
    • among the qualitative benefits outlined, the rationalization of economic investments and operating costs, thanks to the elimination of duplications.
    • The widest use of public data thanks to the sharing, standardization and harmonization of data required by INSPIRE.
    • Greater development of applications aimed at citizens and public utility services.
Key facts and figures