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European Commission - Call for proposals:
Preparatory actions to promote European digital content on the
global networks
DEMANDS
Demonstrate Efficiency in
MANaging Digital Sites
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Modena
Location: located in Northern Italy, at the centre of the Emilia
Romagna region, Modena is crossed by two very important
motorways: the A1, running the entire length of the country, and the
A22, connecting Italy to Northern and Eastern Europe
Population: 175.124 inhabitants
Territorial extension: 184 Km2
Economy: high concentration of SMEs, intensive agricultural
production, developed tertiary sector, low unemployment rate
Social services: presence of a broad network of services
for the citizens (nursery schools, services for the elderly, for
migrants, ...)
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Comune di Modena
The City of Modena is the local authority running the town of
Modena, offering to citizens, associations and enterprises, a
wide range of services.
The functions carried out by the City of Modena are organised
in four areas:
1) Relations with citizens and security services
2) Financial resources and patrimony
3) Services for the citizens
4) Town/land planning
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Comune di Modena
The departments of the City of Modena involved in Demands are:
Telematic City and
Information System Dep.
carries out the following activities:
•statistic services; Progetto Europa
is the department of the City of
•information, telecommunications
and telematic systems; Modena in charge of European
affairs and international relations.
• offices automation; It provides technical assistance to
• personnel training on all City Departments in the project
information technologies issues. management of EU funded
projects and in the relations with
the European Commission
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Demands covers all the information services offered
by the City of Modena in the following areas:
Town planning, land planning, private building Household
Economic development, commerce, small businesses Education
Municipal police Culture and Tourism
Environment - traffic Sport and Leisure
Taxation Demographic Services
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Meta
Modern limited company with public capital that manages energy
distribution and environmental services to 409,000 people in the
territory of the province of Modena. The company capital is about
200,000,000 eur.
Traditional services
Energy services: electric energy, water, gas, heat, district heating,
cogeneration, heat plants, public lighting and road sign services.
Environmental services: waste collection and disposal, municipal
and environmental hygiene services, separate waste collection.
New business branch
Telecommunication services: the start up of the TLC service will
include: a single invoicing for all services; an interactive access for
the citizens to Meta databases; availability of other services like
mailing list, etc.; direct interaction with customers.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Nerano
Founded in 1999 form the existing company N@scent, it is a pan-
European Information Technology incubator with offices in Paris,
Geneva, London and Milan.
Nerano offers its support to start-up companies in the information
technology sector in Europe. In particular, it provides the incubated
company with a range of services that include: legal, financial,
technical and overall strategic advice, as well as assistance with fund
rising.
Nerano specialises in a few segments of the Information technology
industry: Business to Business, e-commerce and related mobile
application.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Codifin
The main activity of this company is focused on consulting and
brokerage in the information technology field.
In particular, Codifin offers the following services:
Technical assistance to the planning and support to the management
of outsourcing activities for information and telecommunication
systems.
Starting up of projects on Intranet networks.
Financial management of several activities related to the
telecommunication sector.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
DEMANDS Aims
To verify the economic and technical feasibility for the
setting up of a company based on a partnership
composed by the City of Modena with one or more
private entities, in order to create a destination for
offering the users (citizens, firms, associations etc.)
digital services linked to Public Administration.
This way the City of Modena could progressively
outsource its services, keeping co-ordination and
control
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
DEMANDS Aims
The project will provide for a business plan able to define all
technical, legal, management, fiscal, economic and financial
issues.
The model created by the end of the project (business model,
public-private partnership) may be transferred and reproduced
in other European cities.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
DEMANDS Milestones
• Market analysis, which will lead to the assessment
of the services to be provided by the new
company
• Legal assessment, in order to ensure the correct
application of norms compelling public authorities
when dealing public data
• Business model, in order to ensure the
dissemination of the experience and the
methodologies applied to other European cities
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
DEMANDS
Budget
• Total cost of the project: 189.661 €
• EU funding: 94.831 € (50%)
Duration of the project: 9 months
(January-September 2001)
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena Network infrastructure
All of the approximately 70 locations are adequately cabled and
connected to the network through different technologies and at
various transmission rates.
The network is fully IP and the SNA protocol, used to access the
management procedures residing on the central processor, is
packaged and carried by the IP.
This network is connected to the Internet through Telecom,
using a 8 Mbps RING access; the City manages its Internet and
intranet sites on its own server.
For several years, Public Agencies, National and Local
Administrations have been connected.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena Network infrastructure
The optical fibre network, currently being constructed by
META S.P.A., will soon (Spring 2001) connect another 16 sites,
including the Chamber of Commerce and the Provincial
Administration.
The schedule META is following to lay the optical fibre lines
will also reach additional sites within such public organisations
such as :
-Province
-University
-AUSL (Local Health Authority)
-Hospital
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena Network infrastructure
The City of Modena is served by Telecom Italia, a
telecommunications operator whose telephone network covers
100% of the territory.
In addition, 5 other national telecommunications operators
(Albacom, Infostrada, Wind, ePlanet, e-Via) have POPs
available within the territory (or being completed).
Approximately 25 ISPs operate within the City of Modena
territory, offering Internet connections through analogic
(RTG), digital (ISDN) and xDSL lines.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena Network infrastructure
Broad band services using optical fibre connections will mainly involve
businesses (medium and large-scale companies) while the remaining
market share (including residential) will be served by xDSL access,
taking advantage of disaggregated access to the local Telecom Italia
network (available starting September-October 2001).
Meta Spa is a member of Tre.A.Web Spa, a new local
telecommunications company that plans to install approximately 90 km
of access/dorsal optical fibre network and WLL radio coverage within a
period of two-three years. The company is marketing its services both
to businesses and to residential users.
The City of Modena is served by 4 mobile telephone operators, at least
two of which provide complete coverage of territory.
By the end of 2001 all operators present will be able to provide GPRS
service. In addition 3 of the 4 operators have obtained UMTS licenses.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
Municipal information system
Approximately 1600 stations are connected in a local network.
The technological quality of this network is relatively high and
this holds both for the hardware and the instruments used to
achieve general-administrative productivity at all levels:
individual, professional and technical.
To date, automation of the procedures has involved all sectors
and services, covering a fair portion of all management needs.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
Municipal information system
The contents already available in digital form are a lot
These e-contents concern all the areas of activity of a public
administration
In province of Modena many public authorities are interested
in common investments, at least for studies concerning
systems planning.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
Municipal information system
Development and maintenance of the applications procedures is
handled by the Telematic City and Information System
Department which maintains and co-ordinates such services
and contacts outside suppliers for specific topics and projects.
This Department is also responsible for user support,
emergency intervention, installation of all hardware and
software as well as providing users training courses.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
Municipal information system
Following “Research into accessibility and use of information
systems in the simplification and streamlining of administrative
activities”, in recent years activity has overcome the series of
vertical databanks and evolved toward the concept of information
systems.
Organisation, procedures and responsibilities are implemented on
the basis of a series of well organised, unitary databanks, thus
ensuring that the data contained is always up-to-date, consistent
and complete.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
Municipal information system
- Territorial information system: bringing together
georeferences and locations throughout the
territory;
- Population information system and services for
individuals: bringing together personal registry
codes and fiscal codes;
- Accounting information system: bringing
together centres of responsibility and the codes
in legislative decree and national law.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
ComNet - Internal network services
• e-mail service and mailing lists;
• city bulletin boards and space to share destructured
information (program documents, circulars, regulations and
standards, news and bulletins);
• simple, browser guided access to information and
management archives (protocols, legislative and
management decisions);
• new interface for management procedures (on-line
budget estimates, filling out investment forms, budget
modifications, City Executive Management Plan (PEG)
objectives, training calendar and enrolment).
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
MoNet - Civic Network
Modena’s civic network was expressly founded in 1995 by the
City Executive Committee and inserted in a true and proper ICT
development policy at the local level (the Città Telematica
project).
Differing from other Italian realities, the Information Systems,
Marketing and Communications Department have always co-
operated with one another.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
MoNet - Civic Network
Achieve high quality relations between the local public
administration and the citizens;
Assert an avant-garde image of the city and its services;
Reinforce the public administration reform process;
Stimulate development and innovation within the local
economic system.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
MoNet - Civic Network
Campaign to train and familiarise the citizens with the basic
use of interactive services;
Gradual testing of new means of participation in the local
decision-making processes, through the use of such
instruments as on-line conferences on particular topics and
spaces for participation and debate;
Strategic use of ICT as an opportunity to create a system of
international co-operation relations, at the same time
promoting the local name.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
MoNet - Civic Network
• Development of digital services, including their gradual
extension to citizens and businesses, interoperability and
sharing of data between the various Administrations
throughout the territory and introduction of new services
such as: territorial information system, direct access to
databanks, cartography services for professionals, on-line
enrolment, etc.;
• Promotion of widespread use of ICT, involving the local
socio-economic players such as universities, schools,
business associations, institutions and cultural associations,
libraries, the service sector;
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
City of Modena
MoNet - Civic Network
a few figures...
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
NEWCO ... WHY ?
Public authorities like the City of Modena, with a good ICT
situation and with a good development of telematic services,
are looking for new solutions and new interventions.
This should enable public authorities to work in new field of
actions, in respect of the existing structures and institutional
tasks, but looking for new synergies, increased quality and
added value.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
The socio-economic context of Modena is extremely
interesting and favourable for an initiative such as
that of Newco
• Good schooling (over 60,000 diplomates/graduates out of
approx. 168,000 inhabitants)
• High per capita income (43,500 million per capita income
in 1997)
• Good tendency of exploiting the information services
(including the web) available today (on average 330,000
contacts/day to the civic network servers)
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
• Strong entrepreneurship (60,000 enterprises registered in
the province of which about 2500 export firms)
• Marked tendency for innovation and technological
excellence (for example, Ferrari in the mechanical sector,
product quality in the biomedical sector, leadership in the
tiles sector, etc.)
This context is open to an innovative
entrepreneurial initiative
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
NEWCO FIELDS OF ACTION
• Services which at present are not adequately developed,
or which are not completely related to public authorities
institutional activities;
• Services aiming at exploiting digital contents owned by
public authorities, to improve, elaborate and transfer
them, even against payment, to other public authorities or
companies;
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
• Services for other public authorities to transfer and
disseminate model and tools developed by the city of
Modena for its activities;
• Services already outsourced by the city of Modena;
• Services for which it is no longer profitable to perform by
the city itself.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Portal - First level
• Static information organised in a homogeneous interface
• Search engines to navigate the static information
• Interactive applications already available in the systems meta
and the city of Modena use to supply services to citizens but
organised within a single, homogeneous interface (portal)
• Aggregated knowledge concerning the available systems (e.G.
The single counter for companies or the system that guides
the user in requesting meta services) organised in a single
interface
• Management of electronic forms
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Portal - Second level
• Unified search engine to search all sources of static and
dynamic information made available by the two
agencies
• Classification system to support the final user, guiding
him to the information as quickly as possible
• First customisation system: user recognition, user
preference registration and registration of other
information required for content customisation (home
page, services)
• Generalised use of the digital signature (to access
services of both the city and meta). This will also
enable the agencies to produce certificates
authenticated by the digital signature technology
• A unified credit card payment system
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Portal - Third level
• Integration of the services and data originated by the two
organisations participating in the portal. Integration is
achieved through the development of a common data
warehouse made available to the outside world through
appropriate services
• Creation of user profiles based on preferences expressed
during registration and on the type of navigation the user
normally performs
• Workflow system between the various agencies
• CRM system used, for example, to create a single web call
centre
• On-line co-operation
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Portal - Fourth level
• Integration of applications both within a single agency
and between the two using the web services model
• On-line transactions to access and update the content of
the agency information systems: grouping these
objectives translates into perfect integration of web
services and the companies’ internal information systems
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
According to the business model, the Newco will
act within three different business areas:
• progressive outsourcing of services the PA is already
providing;
• enhancement and better exploitation of the existing PA
resources and services;
• innovative services. CRM web call center service,
distance surveillance and e-learning services
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
The holding company will initially consist of the
following partners:
• the City of Modena
• Meta, the city’s multi-utility company, which currently
provides users with electricity, gas and water but which in
the near future will also be involved in the provision of
TLC and Internet services using fiber optic and broad-
band cables. Meta is controlled by the Municipality of
Modena
• a private-sector partner, ideally a company whose mission
is to act as an accelerator for new businesses, which will
be able to contribute capital and technological know-how
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
NEWCO: key elements from the moment of its
creation
• availability of content and the capacities for delivering
services based on a network infrastructure;
• close knowledge of the local territory and familiarity with
the local clientele;
• knowledge of the technologies and of the entrepreneurial
opportunities as well as the capacity to attract venture
capital.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Future involvement
• other public-sector bodies such as the local health units
(Ausl), provincial governments etc. who in Newco will find
the means for an effective and efficient interface with their
clients/users;
• local economic agencies such as CONFINDUSTRIA, the
League of Cooperatives, API (the SME association), CNA (the
microenterprise association), etc. Such bodies will be able
both to express the needs of their members and, in their
institutional role, to help open up Newco’s potential market;
• financial partners such as banks and insurance companies;
• venture capital or private equity investors.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Legal issues
Juridical nature of the activity planned for Newco
These activities are not a “public service” but instead
activities of “promotion”
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Legal issues
Composition of the company structure and choice of company
name
The most suitable juridical form for Newco is the
limited liability company
(società a responsabilità limitata - s.r.l.)
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Legal issues
Relationship between public administration and Newco
The relationship should be based on a
“service contract”
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Legal issues
Ownership and responsibility of data processing
Privacy protection
Agreement by the parties concerned
We have to comply with directive 95/46/CE
Ownership and responsibility of data processing are
entrusted to the local authority
The agreement of the parties concerned is always
required when data are treated by private companies.
For public authorities, such agreement is not
necessary
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Self Assessment
Investors
- we have targeted different sort of professionals involved in
the financing process, such as fund raisers, incubators,
investment banks and corporate investors
- we have selected our contacts in different major European
financial centers
Many investors contacted agreed to challenge the project and
were interested in addressing the questions prepared to
conduct the self assessment process.
Overall they welcomed the initiative and some of then have
expressed a true interest in meeting, in due course, the
management of Newco.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Market Analysis
• Broadband technology: what is the timeline for the future?
The recent slow down in computer penetration is making investors
cautious about the deployment of broadband Internet connection over
Europe in the coming year.
Mass penetration is likely to take longer than expected
• What broadband products and services are expected to be?
The rollout of broadband networks will lead to a redefinition of contents
and services offered, moving from straight information to entertainment
and commerce.
Most of the future investors believe it will take a long time (we will
need a generation shift)
• Who are the potential users for value added services?
It is investors understanding that the primary target of value added
services providers should be SMEs users.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Challenging the project rationale
• What Market should be addressed?
Main market will be joint agreements with neighbor cities and/or
central administrations.
Moreover, even if alliances are one way of widening sources of
revenue, they are also a mechanism for reducing marketing and
technology costs.
• What services should be offered by the public
administrations?
• Services and information promoting the city
• Services providing local administrative information
• Services leading to more efficiency in the way the public
administration works and in executing local policies
• Services establishing a direct link between governmental bodies
and citizens
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Executive Summary
• Business Model Assessment • Financing Assessment
– Network rollout is likely to take
longer than expected to reach – In distressed market
mass penetration. conditions raising capital
appears very stressful.
– Content is key. It will shift from
an information based interface – Companies that do not
to a entertainment and have a credible
commerce based interface. management and rational
– The market of value added business plan are unlikely
services will be driven by on- to fly.
demand features such as
– Investors believe the public
videos, gaming and music.
administration may have
– However, the need for services what it needs to get access
to be offered to citizens by the
to users on some specific
public administration is
relevant. sectors
– Investors have analysed the – This would require to
proposed services and … transform public
– …. identified different services administration data in
relevant to a public appealing products that fill
administration offering… the user’s need.
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Challenging the project rationale
•Business model assessment • Financing assessment
New and innovative services, such
as a customer relationship Very positive
management call center, distance
surveillance and e-learning:
Enhancement and better
exploitation of public Raises the challenge of
administration resources and being able to monetise
services, such as database the process
extractions, on-line payment
systems, digital signature
systems:
Public administration services to A safe way to meet operational
be outsourced by the city of and financial equilibrium and
Modena, such as the web site eventually finance a part of the
and server administration and means needed to migrate to
consultancy services broadband value added services
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
Investment Analysis
Investment Positive Investment Concerns
– New funding seems to be – The public administration may have
the potential to dominate the
hardly available in the
underexposed online niche that is
new capital environment regional and administrative content
– An issue may arise as far – A key success factor would be
as valuation and transforming public administration
controlling interest are data in appealing products,
concerned attractively priced that fill the
user’s need, with a cost basis that
permits sufficient returns to
– Value added service investors
providers may be strongly
affected in the near future – As long-haul transport becomes
by the broadband increasingly a commodity, “owning”
operators scaling back users should bring the greatest
plans reward
Comune di Modena Codifin Meta Nerano
