Mirta Michilli highlights the role of the third sector in the digital transition
The social economy can play a leading role in the country’s digital transformation, helping to steer innovation towards the needs of people and communities. To achieve this, a shared vision, investment in skills, the capacity for innovation and tools that enable organisations to tackle ever-more profound change are required. This is the perspective put forward by Mirta Michilli, Director-General of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS, who yesterday, Wednesday 21 October, opened and chaired the discussion at the conference The Social Economy in the Digital Age, organised in Rome in collaboration with Terzjus, to mark the Foundation’s 25th anniversary. At the heart of the meeting was the desire to embark on a joint path involving institutions, social organisations and other innovation stakeholders, starting with a Ten-point Charter for the Digital Transition, drawn up by the Foundation as a contribution to the National Plan for the Social Economy.
Twenty-five years standing with people
Michilli’s reflections begin with the mission that has guided the Foundation since its inception: to contribute to the building of a democratic knowledge society, in which everyone can benefit from the opportunities offered by technological development. Over the past 25 years, the Foundation has supported people of very different ages, backgrounds and needs: young people, older people, people with disabilities, citizens of foreign origin and those who face greater barriers to accessing technology. This experience has made the link between digital skills and citizens’ rights increasingly clear. The ongoing digitisation of public services, in fact, offers new possibilities for access and simplification, but can also create further difficulties for those who lack the necessary skills or tools. For this reason, Michilli pointed out, digital literacy and access to online services are now a matter of citizenship. This is an issue that also directly concerns the third sector, which is committed on a daily basis to supporting the most vulnerable and responding to the needs of communities.
Digital Technology in the National Plan for the Social Economy
The approval of the National Plan for the Social Economy represents, according to Michilli, an important opportunity to address the relationship between technological innovation and the sector’s development in a more comprehensive manner. The issue of digitalisation is addressed in the Plan, but the Foundation believes it is necessary to give it greater prominence, commensurate with the impact that technology and artificial intelligence are having on organisations and society. Digital transformation can help improve the efficiency of processes, tackle resource shortages, increase productivity and make services more responsive to people’s needs. At the same time, it requires investment, skills and a capacity for change that many organisations, particularly small ones, struggle to develop on their own. This realisation has given rise to the position paper that the Fondazione Mondo Digitale has submitted to the institutions, accompanied by a ten-point charter. The aim is to contribute to the phase following the Plan’s approval, when the policy guidelines will need to be translated into concrete actions, tools and opportunities.
Leadership for the digital transition
One of the most significant aspects of the paper concerns the role that the social economy can play in steering technological change. According to Michilli, third sector organisations possess a valuable resource: direct knowledge of people’s needs and those of local communities, built up through experiences of community engagement, education, inclusion and participation. This capacity can also become a decisive contribution to innovation policies. The third sector can therefore assume cultural and social leadership in the digital transition, linking the opportunities offered by new technologies to the practical needs of citizens. This role involves both improving organisations and contributing to public decision-making, to ensure that the digital transformation is fair and inclusive. It is with this perspective in mind that the Foundation has invited institutions and organisations to engage in dialogue, with the aim of building new alliances and joint initiatives.
Digital transformation requires time and resources
Among the Charter’s priorities, Michilli paid particular attention to the need for stable, long-term investment. The digital transformation of an organisation is a complex process, involving technology, skills, data management, organisational culture and working methods. The Mondo Digitale Foundation itself is undergoing a process of internal innovation, experimenting with artificial intelligence tools and developing a shared culture to make the most of its wealth of data and knowledge. This experience confirms just how much change requires continuity, resources and the capacity to provide support. For this reason, according to Michilli, investments earmarked for the digitalisation of the third sector must have an appropriate timeframe: six months or a year are not sufficient to sustain a structural transformation. This is also an important consideration for public policy, which must develop funding mechanisms consistent with the timescales and complexity of innovation processes.
From skills to social impact
During the meeting, Michilli also referred to the experience developed by the Foundation in collaboration with the Italian Red Cross, as part of the Digital Bridge project, supported by the Fund for the Digital Republic. This case study illustrates how training in digital skills and artificial intelligence can strengthen the skills of staff within a large social organisation. The next challenge lies in understanding how these skills can translate into organisational changes and, over time, into a greater capacity to respond to the needs of communities. It is precisely this perspective that makes the issue of evaluation so crucial: gathering evidence, understanding the effects of interventions, and making models and practices available to the sector that can be adapted to other contexts.
A path to build together
The conference on 21 October provided the Fondazione Mondo Digitale with an opportunity to celebrate its 25th anniversary by relaunching a collective challenge. The process initiated with the Ten-Point Charter aims to involve institutions, social economy organisations, businesses and the research community in a dialogue capable of generating new collaborations. The Foundation offers the expertise and experience it has gained in digital education, social innovation and the testing of new models of learning and participation. The aim is to make the digital transition a shared responsibility and an opportunity for development for the entire social economy, strengthening organisations’ capacity to innovate and helping to build a more equitable and inclusive knowledge society. This vision looks beyond the twenty-fifth anniversary and renews the mission on which the Fondazione Mondo Digitale was founded: to make the opportunities offered by knowledge and technology accessible to all.
