Through the sending of spontaneous applications, the associations of citizens part of the National Coalition have sent their proposals to define the new composition of the Technical Steering Committee of the Digital Republic. In the selection process, the Digital Republic team took into account two specific criteria:

• experience, nationally and internationally, in the field of digital skills of both the association and the representative proposed by it;
• impact of the initiatives overseen by the association (e.g. the number of people reached by the project).

Each of the new representatives will oversee one of the four key axes of the National Digital Skills Strategy. For Axis 1, dedicated to “Skills in the cycle of higher education and training”, the appointment was awarded to Iolanda Pensa, President of Wikimedia Italia, a social promotion association linked to the Wikipedia Foundation. The appointment for Axis 2, “Skills of the active labour force”, was attributed to Matteo Ansanelli, national secretary of the Young Agricultural Entrepreneurs Association (AGIA). The representative of Axis 3, ‘ICT Specialist Competences’, will be Maurizio Dino, President of the Association for Social Promotion Informatici Senza Frontiere. Appointed to chair Axis 4, “Citizens’ Competences”, will be Fosca Nomis, Head of Advocacy & Policy of Save The Children Italia. The role of the representatives of citizens’ associations, lasting annually, is of particular importance within the Technical Guidance Committee, in fact they have the task of bringing back to the Committee the bodies of all the other associations of citizens who are members and who work for the axis of intervention of reference of the National Strategy. They also support the organisation of the Annual Assembly of the Digital Republic, ensuring an effective representation of all organisations participating in the Digital Republic Coalition. The composition and role of the Technical Guidance Committee In addition to citizens’ associations of the National Coalition, are part of the Technical Committee Guide representatives of ministries (Cultural Goods and Tourism, Education, Labour and Welfare, Agricultural and Forestry Policies, Youth Policies and Sport, Public Administration, Economic Development, Universities and Research), Conference of Regions, UPI, Anci, AgID, Unioncamere, representatives of the world of the university (the CRUI, the coordinator of the EU Code Week), research (the ConPER), Rai, Confindustria Digitale. The Committee, coordinated by the Department for Digital Transformation of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, has the task of:

• overseeing the evolution of the National Digital Skills Strategy and its Operational Plan;
• monitor the actions identified in the Plan, verifying their results and impacts and ensuring, if necessary, the consequent alignment of the Strategy and the Plan;
• define communication actions to disseminate the importance of digital skills in the country.

For these activities, the Committee makes use of the contribution of experts and observers from the world of universities and businesses, as well as the organisations participating in the Manifesto of the Digital Republic that, in their aggregation, create the National Coalition for Digital Skills. This set of public and private actors, formed in an alliance for the promotion of digital skills and under the coordination of the Technical Steering Committee, in turn participates in the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition of the European Commission. Join the Digital Republic Manifesto and submit your application to join the National Coalition for Digital Skills. Photos of Fauxels on Pexels