“Good governance and quality public administrations are clearly in the interest of EU citizens and Member States, in order to get maximum value from limited public funds and create a public-private interface that increases employment and growth. Worldwide, the data is irrefutable: high productivity, high income per capita economies are those with the most effective and efficient public institutions” (European Commission – 2018).
This means that a public administration that works well is therefore the premise for the economic and social development of a country.
This is why Fondazione Etica, from the outset, has concentrated many of its activities on the comparative evaluation of the Public Administration aimed at its improvement. In particular, it has developed and patented an Administrative Capacity Index, which measures the performance, anti-corruption and transparency of the PA. The Index allows public decision-makers to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each Administration and to build targeted support actions. It also allows public and private investors to direct investments in the best possible way, and citizens to get to know their municipality or region, monitoring its progress and public spending.
The Index is the subject of attention from the European Commission, primarily from DG Regio, which has commissioned the Foundation to carry out a pilot study on some European countries, as well as from DG Reform, which has included us among the PA experts at European.
The results of the Index on Regions and Municipalities have allowed the collaboration with Ministries, Regions, Municipalities, ANAC, etc. As the activities of the Foundation consequently increased, it became necessary to proceed with the spin off of the research activity on the PA: hence the launch, last year, Research Center on Public Bodies-REP Srl, controlled by Fondazione Etica, which therefore guarantees the purpose of public interest of the evaluation activity of the PA and of the administrative capacity index.
The skills and experience of the research managers, who boast a twenty-year background of research on ESG sustainability, have merged into the spin-off. President Gregory Gitti, former co-founder and president of Fondazione Etica; While Sergio Busato assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer.
The spin-off was immediately involved in the construction of the new 2021-27 programming of the European structural funds, in particular with the preparation of a Report on the administrative and hiring capacity of the Municipalities of Southern Italy.
