The Digital Identity System is the first central project of this kind in the Italian public sector. The single digital identity is an innovative process that aims at simplifying the relationship between citizens and the various online services provided by the public administration, which so far requested a different registration for each website or/and online service. The uniqueness of the model comes also from the methodology with which SPID has been launched: it is a public-private partnership at zero cost for the public administration.
Citizens can get SPID through a series of private companies (Identity Providers); once the verification procedure is completed (which certifies the applicant's identity), credentials are generated to be used on PA's websites (Service Providers). Also the verification procedure uses many innovative forms of citizens’ authentication.

Currently the SPID system is rapidly growing in terms of adoption from public administrations as a gateway for citizens to use more their online services. Municipalities, regional governments and central authorities are involved in this fast-growing exercise, in synergy with an overall change of projection in speeding up the approach towards a digital government.
Also the number of Identity Providers has been growing in the last few months, reaching 8 private companies that adhere to the set of regulations provided by the Digital Italy Agency.
SPID was launched in the first months of 2016, as one of the priorities of the Italian Prime Minister to accelerate the simplification of online services of the public administration.

Numerous stakeholders were involved in the process of realization and dissemination of the Digital Identity System: administrations, identity providers, service providers, and citizens, according to a participatory model open to public and private subjects. SPID is the result of a public-private partnership that merges technical creativity by the public sector with financial resources and maintenance of the service by the Identity Providers.

Citizens can access all digital public services with one single username and password.
Government officials benefit from SPID by reducing bureaucracy and redundancy in compiling forms as SPID carries all data of the service user.
Companies will soon be able to use SPID to provide access to their digital services.

Citizens that have registered to SPID are 2.8 milion, simplifying their online administrative procedures. All public administrations have been obliged to grant access to their online services with SPID since December 2017.
The system is constantly improving thanks to the collaboration of the developer professional community "Developers italia" - channeled to the GitHub platform - where the collaborative discussion is underway to define a first SPID design roadmap.

The most important challenges have been the diffusion of SPID among users and the integration of the SPID authentication feature in the online services of the public administration.
To accelerate the authentication progress of citizens to SPID the Ministry of Education, together with the Digital Italy Agency and the Ministry of Culture, promoted the creation of two SPID-only services: 18App: a culture bonus for citizens born in 1998 (also confirmed for those born in 1999); and the Teacher's Charter: a personal money bonus for professional development of schoolteachers. These two services boosted the registration of more than 750,000 citizens.
Another important challenge is the sustainability of the system for the Identity Providers that bear all the costs related to the authentication and maintenance of SPID. The opening of SPID to private companies might be one of the solution in the future.

SPID is an innovation made possible by a set of conditions: a successful model of public-private partnership, and a vision to be a tool at disposal of both the public administration and the private world. The policy that imposed the use of SPID for all public administrations has relevantly helped the public administration to acquire the system in their online services.
The role of the Digital Italy Agency and the Digital Transformation Team as facilitators and boosters of the system has been pivotal in the progression of SPID making it a successful innovation.
The easy infrastructure behind SPID has helped the tool to be easily acquired by Identity Providers and Service Providers.
Multiplicity and diversity of Identity Providers makes SPID easy to be obtained by citizens.
The system is constantly improving thanks to the collaboration of the developer professional community "Developers italia" - channeled to the GitHub platform - where the collaborative discussion is underway to define a first SPID design roadmap.

SPID has high potential of replicability and adaptability in other contexts requiring the use of a digital identity. The public Digital Identity System has already been praised as a possible login tool also for public Wifi and its possible use in the private sector contributes to the innovative capacity of this tool to serve in other contexts than the public administration.
The system has the flexibility and extensibility features that make it interoperable, implementing it by applying official technical rules, contained in (beta) on Readthedocs http://spid-regole-tecniche.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

The use of SPID has already reached 2,800,000 citizens and more than 4,200 public administrations, securing access with one-only password and reducing accessibility barriers to online services. Future developments include:
1-Progressive adherence of digital public services to the digital identity system.
2-Development of the project and its use by citizens that shall stimulate the creation of new digital services, which are created with the aim of bringing people closer to digital culture.
3-Recovery of preceding identities in the SPID system. SPID will replace the old identification systems used individually by each PA with a single login system, that is safer and usable in every Service Provider.
4-Use of SPID by private companies, as this will increase the knowledge and use of SPID by a larger number of citizens, secure more online services to the population, and guarantee sustainability of the system, making it profitable for Identity Providers.
5-Make SPID the only national tool for access online services and stimulate participatory processes, including public consultations to foster the development of e-democracy.