Digital culture

Alongside its infrastructure project, TIM has promoted various initiatives to improve digital literacy, the technological equipment used by the population and the use of services that make the most of the potential of the Internet.

For this purpose, TIM has used a variety of strategies (from conferences to field trials and financing start-ups) in order to explore and promote the potential applications of digital technology in many areas of social and economic interest: schools, services provided to citizens by Public Administration, applications aimed at people with disabilities, innovative solutions targeted at businesses, industrial areas, cities.

One example of these is sponsored initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of solutions designed to improve the efficiency of public administration processes: from electronic invoicing to graphometric signatures, from digital identity services to administrative and health certification. E-Government can also cut the cost of bureaucracy. [G4-EC8b] It is not surprising that the EC has identified the launch of E-government Services as one of the main objectives in the implementation of the Digital Agenda.

[G4-EC8b] Digital skills have a crucial role to play in our society and have been one of the key factors in allowing economies to achieve a competitive advantage over the past twenty years, as shown by much of the work carried out by the OECD or promoted by the European Commission.

[G4-DMA Indirect Economic Impacts In this respect as well, the Digital Agenda asks Member States to take action to broaden knowledge of digital tools and increase the number of people with evolved digital skills, particularly by disseminating IC technologies in schools, which become key enablers in the development of new skills. In this context, schools must make a radical change in the way they plan and provide education, and in the way pupils, teachers and parents relate to one another. Because of the importance of this subject, the European Commission constantly monitors the speed with which digital technologies are being introduced in schools and in teaching processes. A recent report prepared by the European Commission shows that the presence of Internet-connected computers is a critical factor at all levels of schooling in Italy.

The Group, moreover, looks favourably on and, where appropriate, supports social, cultural and educational initiatives aimed at the advancement of the individual and the improvement of living conditions.

[G4-DMA Local Communities]

Material issues in this chapter:

Innovation management
network coverage and Disaster Recovery
anti-corruption programmes

Relevant company policies:

Code of Ethics and Conduct of the TIM Group, Human Rights Policy, Anti-Corruption Policy, Internal Control Reporting Procedure, Board of Auditors’ Reporting Procedure, TIM Group Guidelines for voluntary contributions to the community, Guidelines concerning the relations between TIM and Local Administrations and other Local Entities, Guidelines concerning stakeholder engagement in TIM, available at telecomitalia.com

Effectiveness and monitoring:

in order to monitor the effectiveness of management processes and ensure the monitoring required by business procedures and internal control structures, the Company uses some numerical KPIs. This chapter sets out the ones that relate to training on anti-corruption procedures and on corruption uncovered in the Company and among its suppliers. Also important are the KPIs that relate to local broadband infrastructure coverage, as set out in the Digitisation, connectivity and social innovation chapter.

The following table summarises the Group’s community investment strategy, which is also planned according to the inclusion and materiality principles of the AccountAbility 1000 standard (see Note on methods).

MACRO AREAS OF INTERVENTION	PROJECT IDENTIFICATION	PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
The two main areas of intervention as regards investment in the community are the following: voluntary activities consistent with the Group’s core business, associated with the provision of ICT services¹; activities aimed at the general development of the community mainly including the activities of the Fondazione TIM.	TIM identifies the projects to be implemented by the following means: consultation with the stakeholders and direct contact with civil society organisations; partnership projects with stakeholders and associations; benchmarking against the other European TLC operators; involvement in industry associations; sharing knowledge of industry-related issues with the other Group Functions; external lobbying in response to social emergencies (e.g. earthquakes).	Each project is implemented in 4 stages: planning: which identifies the objectives to be achieved, the beneficiaries of the project, the timescales of the individual activities, the overall duration of the initiative, the methods used to monitor the project and the budget; selection: through public tenders; by direct decision of the Company, following the stakeholder, consultation process, consistent with the guidelines for voluntary contributions to the Community; management: normally administered through partnerships or framework agreements. Sometimes cash disbursements are made, leaving the management of the activity to the beneficiary organisation/ association; Control: takes place in different ways according to the specific features of the individual projects.

MACRO AREAS OF INTERVENTION

PROJECT IDENTIFICATION

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The two main areas of intervention as regards investment in the community are the following:

voluntary activities consistent with the Group’s core business, associated with the provision of ICT services¹;
activities aimed at the general development of the community mainly including the activities of the Fondazione TIM.

TIM identifies the projects to be implemented by the following means:

consultation with the stakeholders and direct contact with civil society organisations;
partnership projects with stakeholders and associations;
benchmarking against the other European TLC operators;
involvement in industry associations;
sharing knowledge of industry-related issues with the other Group Functions;
external lobbying in response to social emergencies (e.g. earthquakes).

Each project is implemented in 4 stages: planning:

which identifies the objectives to be achieved, the beneficiaries of the project, the timescales of the individual activities, the overall duration of the initiative, the methods used to monitor the project and the budget;

selection:

through public tenders;
by direct decision of the Company, following the stakeholder, consultation process, consistent with the guidelines for voluntary contributions to the Community;

management:

normally administered through partnerships or framework agreements. Sometimes cash disbursements are made, leaving the management of the activity to the beneficiary organisation/ association;

Control:

takes place in different ways according to the specific features of the individual projects.

In the projects they implement with Communities, the Group companies interact with:

civil society: all citizens and people with special needs (young people, elderly people, disabled people, etc.), their representative associations and non-profit organisations in general;
institutions: local authorities and central, national and supranational institutions;
university and research institutions;
traditional media and social media.

¹ In this chapter, only those products/services provided at no charge are reported, while those which, although they have a significant impact on the community, are provided for payment, are included in the Digitisation, connectivity and social innovation chapter.

² The guidelines for voluntary contributions to the community are available on the telecomitalia.com, website, sustainability section, under codes and policies, environmental and social policies.