Communications networks are essential to competitiveness, industrial development and innovation, but they are also increasingly exposed to security threats. Italy needs a coordinated systemic approach to ensure the resilience of these infrastructures. Such an approach must also include emergency back-up, something called for in European directives on strengthening the resilience of digital networks and systems.
The ability of communications networks to function even in critical situations is fundamental, since an interruption could compromise numerous public services as well as national security. Hence the importance of diversifying technological platforms, including land lines, mobile and satellite systems so as to guarantee connectivity under emergency conditions. In response to additional concerns regarding the quality and security of technological devices, especially those secured from high-risk suppliers, the European Union has created a “toolbox” with which to assess the risks associated with such suppliers; in absorbing such European norms, Italy has strengthened its legislative framework to protect critical networks.
Cybersecurity has by now become an integral aspect of EU and national foreign and trade policies, as well as an essential tool capable of affecting market stability; to be considered in this regard are the certification of infrastructures and the requirements of technological sovereignty. The European Union maintains a dialogue with the United States cloud provider management as well as the application of the sovereignty requirement and how that can impact major American operators. The goal is to avoid security measures triggering “technological sovereignism”, maintaining a market-oriented approach and resolving counterproductive protectionist tensions.
In any case, the role of networks as critical infrastructures for many countries is also expanding to sectors not strictly associated with telecommunications or defense. It is important, for instance, to underscore the growing impact of new technologies on the justice sector, which is undergoing a radical transformation with the various actors in the trial process able to connect by remote interface.
In Italy, these innovations obviously call for a revision of traditional principles such as joint consultation; even investigative activities and the compiling of proof are influenced by technology, with new means for exchanging information available to judiciary officials. Thus, the digitalization of trials is having a direct impact on the fundamental rights of citizens and requires high security standards to protect sensitive data and avoid external interference.
It is also necessary to consider the major opportunities – and considerable risks – associated with the use of artificial intelligence instruments in judicial contexts. AI can offer support to a human judge and facilitate the consultation of legal databases, as long as these are made secure, inter-operational and efficient. To that end, it is essential to develop a shared knowledge model that ensures transparency, significant human control and decision-making autonomy in respect for European ethical values. This approach is fundamental to preventing technologies from compromising the principles regarding the guarantee of rights on which the legal system rests.
In this and other vital sectors of national life, Italy suffers from a certain shortfall in the application of technology, but also in the inflow of investments. This creates a number of vulnerabilities in the country’s vast fabric of small and medium-sized enterprises. Italian SMEs are still, in the majority of cases, not adequately equipped to confront cyber threats, starting with a lack of efficient disaster recovery plans. A more complete security culture calls for greater investment in human capital in terms of both the generations still in the educational cycle as well as the active workers in need of reskilling.
In short, although some significant legislative progress has been made at both European and national levels, the Italian system still appears fragmented and slow to adapt to a rapidly developing technological panorama. The resulting risk lies in lost competitiveness and the delayed adoption of adequate technological models. Indeed, network security and technological innovation call for concrete investments and coordinated governance that involve a range of public and private actors. Only thus will it be possible to guarantee secure, resilient and advanced infrastructures prepared to confront the country’s future challenges.