The trend signals that the Italian public sector is finally responding to the Italian government’s digital transition agenda, aimed at modernising a notoriously slow bureaucracy.
By the numbers, to understand the picture:
- 576 public administrations have migrated to the national cloud (up from 120):
- 211 central administrations
- 221 local administrations
- 144 health authorities and hospitals
- €3.6 billion: total value of ten-year contracts already signed
Italy’s model. The PSN is managed by Tim, Leonardo, Cdp Equity and Sogei, which guarantee data protection and custody.
- Big tech companies — AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle — can only provide technology, not manage or access data.
- This design avoids exposure to the U.S. Cloud Act (2018), which allows U.S. authorities to access data held by U.S. companies worldwide.
Why it matters: Italy maximises data sovereignty, but the strict separation limits big tech’s incentives to invest in major cloud infrastructure in the country.
The German counterexample: In November, Google announced €5.5 billion in investments in Germany between 2026 and 2029, including:
- a new data centre in Dietzenbach
- expansion of the Hanau campus
- enlargement of its Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich facilities
- Expected impact: €1 billion a year added to GDP and 9,000 jobs.
- Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil hailed the plan as an investment “built for the future,” spanning AI, innovation and climate-neutral transformation — arguing that Germany remains an attractive hub for global investors thanks to research strength and a highly skilled workforce.
The European dilemma. The EU is pushing for a shared vision of digital sovereignty — see last week’s Berlin Declaration.
- But approaches diverge:
- Germany’s model: openness to large-scale significant tech investment to speed up cloud capacity
- Italy’s model: strong priority on national data control and limited operational role for big tech
The bottom line: Europe needs roughly €400 billion in cloud and data-centre investment by the end of the decade. Most of that capital realistically comes from U.S. tech companies — making rigid national frameworks a potential bottleneck.
Draghi’s warning: Speaking at the Politecnico di Milano, Mario Draghi said the EU is facing its “moment of truth.”
- His message: Europe must adopt more flexible regulation or risk losing global leadership.
- “Effective policymaking under uncertainty requires adaptability […] This is where Europe has stalled.”
What’s next:
- For Italy — and the EU — the key question is whether it’s possible to:
- Preserve` data sovereignty
- Attract the massive private investment needed to build next-generation cloud infrastructure.
- A strategic recalibration may be necessary if Europe wants to stay competitive.
