E-learning Programme

One of the Department's objectives for the present legislature is to have one third of the training that takes place in the public sector delivered by electronic means by 2005. In recent years, government offices have been keen users of new technologies for the training of their employees, who can refresh and acquire new skills by going online, without the need to leave their place or work.

It needs to be recognised, however, that the considerable organisational and technological commitment needed for this type of training carries a high cost of initial investment. Accordingly, we need to monitor and evaluate e-learning in the context in which it is applied.

Close cooperation is needed among the various public offices, and the deployment of materials and means that are both "reusable" and "portable" to different working environments is to be recommended. In response to a request from the Department of Innovation and Technologies, the Centre for IT in Government (CNIPA) prepared two fundamental documents providing guidelines for offices engaged in the development of distance learning. By necessity, an e-learning project will tie in with programmes for organisational change so that the offices concerned may make the best possible use of their processes and manage their human resources in a manner that helps them achieve the objective of delivering better quality, more effective and more efficient services.

The first document is "Guidelines for training programmes in public offices using e-learning techniques". Following the same course that was mapped out in the Directive of 13 December 2001 issued by the Minister for Public Administration in concert with the Minister of Innovation and Technologies, the guidelines aim to promote the correct use of the new methodologies for training public sector employees.

The second document is a "Handbook for the creation of training projects in public offices using e-learning techniques" , a highly practical work that provides public offices with useful pointers to making the right technological choices, selecting the courses and training content most suited to specific needs and determining the elements to be considered when conducting or outsourcing a feasibility study. The documents will form an integral part of a new joint directive from the Minister of Innovation and Technologies and the Minister for Public Administration.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Universities, Education and Research, the Minister of Innovation and Technologies has promoted several e-learning initiatives, including the formulation of a series of regulations for the delivery and use of distance-learning in university courses. The rules for the certification of online universities, which were set out in a Decree dated 17 April 2003, authorise universities to accord online courses the same academic recognition as those delivered by traditional means.

In its drive to encourage the incorporation of ICT in the national education and training systems, the Italian government is following on from a clear indication from the European Commission, which has included e-learning as one of the priority actions for the e-Europe Action Plan 2005 and, in December 2006, launched the e-Learning Programme 2004-2006.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department