The Soveria.it Project: A Best Practice of e-Government in Southern Italy

This chapter describes a best practice of e-government and e-democracy implemented in Southern Italy,the Soveria.it project. The project was part of a wider strategy pursued by the local administration ofSoveria Mannelli started in the early 1990s to promote the use of information and communication technology.Ultimate goal of the strategy was to turn a small and less technologically developed town into amodern fully wired information technology-city. This case is relevant not only for the change producedfrom a technological, bureaucratic, and social point of view, but also for some of the limits encountered.The latter demonstrate how a too heavily top-down approach can be a weakness for stimulating thegrowth of less developed areas and provides a possible solution for it – i.e., a better understanding ofthe the society’s needs and a stronger partnership with civil society and local firms. The chapter analyzesthe project origins, its technological and organizational aspects, its impacts and its limits. It thensummarizes the main lesson learned.