Polis Project
Poste Italiane is taking an active part in the mission to boost training, the efficiency of the Public Administration, and the competitiveness of the Italian production system, thanks to a specific line of action called “Polis Project”, financed with €800 million from NRRP funds and a further 400 million from the Poste Italiane Group, which will involve almost 7,000 Post Offices. The Project, aimed at promoting the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the country and overcoming the digital divide in small towns and internal areas, constitutes a major social inclusion programme and comprises two lines of action: the first consists of bringing telematics services of the Public Administration inside Post Offices with the creation of proximity “Single Points of Contact”: in the 6,933 municipalities with a population of less than 15.000 inhabitants, equipped with at least one Post Office; the second, “Spaces for Italy”, plans to make 250 spaces available throughout the country, 80 of which will be activated in municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants, converting them into co-working spaces of small (about 100 square metres), medium (about 450 square metres) and large (about 1,500 square metres) size, all interconnected to form a single digitalised and smart network. Within the webpage dedicated to the Project, detailed information is given on the Post Offices (number and location) involved in the digital renovation and enhancement process.
With regard to the “Sportelli Unici” (one stop shops) line of action, the aim is to equip the Post Offices concerned with new technologies and tools to allow, 24 hours a day, a complete, fast, easy and digital use of services relating to: identity documents, civil registration certificates, judicial certificates, social security certificates, services to the regions and other types such as, for example, the exemption from the RAI licence fee. Through the development of physical-digital access channels such as the Counter, the Totem, the evolved ATM, the Call centre and the Web channels, and thanks to the support of a special IT platform developed to deliver services in multi-channel mode, Post Offices will be transformed in order to make a widespread, concrete and resilient contribution to the achievement of the objectives that the European Union and Italy have set themselves with the “Next Generation EU” plan, in terms of digitalisation and social inclusion. In addition, the Post Offices network, thus transformed, can also be made available for the deployment of further government and PA initiatives on connectivity and cloud services. Specifically, the line of intervention envisages the installation of 4,000 self-service columns for the use of public utility services, 7,000 evolved ATMs for the provision of services to citizens, 500 lockers for the use, 24 hours a day, of mail, parcel, e-commerce and public utility delivery services, and 4,000 interactive digital shop windows for communication with citizens. In addition, the Project also envisages the implementation at Post Offices of interventions aimed at environmental sustainability and social growth of communities. In particular, the following will be installed: 5,000 electric vehicle recharging stations available to the Group’s delivery fleet, which will be made entirely green, and to local communities; 1,000 photovoltaic systems that will help reduce CO2 emissions; smart building systems and environmental monitoring sensors; 1,000 outdoor spaces equipped to host cultural, health and wellness initiatives. In addition, by providing the possibility to access Public Administration services from a One Stop Shop, citizens’ journeys and the consequent congestion of roads and public offices will be reduced, allowing the reduction of CO2 emissions.
The objective of the second line of intervention is to create the most widespread, digitalised, accessible and immediately available co-working network in the country: workstations, meeting spaces, shared services, areas dedicated to events and training whose use will be open to private individuals, companies and the Public Administration, universities, and research centres with which service agreements can be defined to best meet the needs and vocations of each type of stakeholder. The national co-working and training network will be able to offer interested administrations and local stakeholders physical locations where they can test innovative solutions of broadband-supported services dedicated, for instance, to distance learning, health, safety, becoming an essential partner for the transformation of services and the acceleration of economic and social growth. The network, which is based on the transformation of important Poste Italiane office buildings and large Post Offices entirely made available to the Project, will also be an important reference point for the innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises and for the enhancement of cultural and natural assets, being present in various industrial districts and in the areas of greatest cultural and tourist attraction.
The Polis Project covers an area where approximately 40 million people reside, or 65% of the Italian population. In this regard, Poste Italiane has estimated that in the first six years of operation, the Polis Project will generate a positive impact on the community and the environment worth a total of €380 million, of which 348 million will be for road safety and the reduction of traffic and waiting times, and 32 million for the reduction of polluting emissions. The Group also estimated an impact generated by the Project over the investment period 2022-2026 and the operation of the Post Offices until 2031 of €1,061 million in terms of GDP and €484 million in terms of the distribution of labour income, for a total of 18,600 jobs created.
Finally, the Polis Project generates significant impacts throughout the territory, also with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Gender equality (SDG No. 5); Clean and affordable energy (SDG No. 7); Decent work and economic growth (SDG No. 8); Enterprise, innovation and infrastructure (SDG No. 9); Sustainable cities and communities (SDG No. 11); Combating climate change (SDG No. 13); Life on earth (SDG No. 15); Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG No. 16).