- Funding Programme
- Year
- 2021
Boosting evidence-based policy making
The European Commission aims at increasing the capacity in all these fields, turning the Ministry of Economic Development’s Statistical Office into a Strategic Analysis and Evaluation Unit. It will help increase capacity to develop and use evaluation and evidence, collect and analyse data for impact assessment and evaluation of public policies and put in place dashboards with key indicators to follow implementation. The objective is to ensure that this increased capacity would result in improved decision-making and efficient resource allocation.
Context
Over recent decades, Italy has strengthened data collection through the National Statistical System for policy evaluation, but analytical capacity within government remains limited. Gaps persist in using evidence for decision-making and resource allocation. This need is urgent given the 2021–2027 EU programming period, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and post-COVID-19 fiscal and structural reforms. The EU has stressed the urgency of improving the effectiveness of the Italian public administration through the Country Specific Recommendations in 2019 and 2020 which emphasize the close link between strengthening the administrative capacity by introducing an evaluation culture and the effective delivery of measures to support investments and the recovery of business sector. The Ministry of Economic Development plays a central role, overseeing industrial and SME policies, investment attraction, competition, digitalization, and crisis management. It controls Invitalia, which manages national incentives and development contracts in innovative sectors. The Ministry of Economic Development administers diverse support measures for enterprises across development stages and goals. Although it has a Statistical Office contributing to the National Statistical System, the Ministry of Economic Development still faces challenges: limited skilled staff, uneven data quality, weak coordination, and insufficient analytical tools hinder effective policy evaluation and design.
Support delivered
The initiative aims to enhance the capabilities of the current Statistical Office of the Ministry of Economic Development through a multifaceted approach. Initially, a technical report assessed and reviewed the governance and set-up of the office, establishing a foundation for any necessary reforms. To foster international collaboration, four interactive study visits were organised, allowing engagement with strategic evaluation units in other countries. In conjunction, a technical report provided guidance on utilising quantification methods for impact assessment, ensuring robust evaluations of policies. Additionally, a good practice report was developed with feasibility guidance on crafting IT tools that enhanced data storage and analysis capabilities. To further support policy evaluation in the Ministry of Economic Development’s policy areas, comprehensive guidelines on a methodology were developed. Interactive webinars and workshops were conducted, enabling participants to apply these guidelines to specific Ministry of Economic Development policies practically. Ultimately, all these components contributed to the development of an action plan aimed at mainstreaming evidence-based decision-making within the office's operations, creating a more data-driven and effective governance framework.
Results achieved
In the short to medium-term, the project enhanced capacity for evidence-based policy-making, bolstered the Ministry of Economic Development's contribution to and impact on policy debates, and increased the efficiency of data collection. These outcomes are anticipated to foster greater long-term benefits, ensuring more strategic use of resources and improved policy efficacy.
More about the project
You can read the documents related to the project here: