Abstract

In this paper we argue that the Italian debate about the Information and communication technology (Ict) in government (in recent times, about the Italian digital agenda) is biased by the fact that rarely it deals with what is going to be done, focusing, on the contrary, on what should be done. For this reason, the paper recalls what should be taken into account to ground it on the technical, economical and social issues characterizing the effectiveness of any application of Ict in the public space. The file rouge of the paper is the necessity to discuss about actions well defined in terms of costs, benefits, involved actors, etc. The paper recalls the relevance for a digital agenda of issues like: surveying the already used Ict; fixing clear political, social and economical objectives; clearly estimating all costs, defining funding sources; adopting a service oriented approach; and, finally, monitoring projects during their evolution.