The Italian Government Interface : from the Spoil System to the Guidelines

In 1998, the year Macromedia Flash went mainstream and in which internet users were about 3.6% of the world population, the web presence of the Italian Government began. In the evolution of the Government website, a first period from 1998 to 2014 can be identi-fied, which sees the site as an integral part of that spoils system that has often accompa-nied the numerous changes of the political majority in Italy and the related Governments in office. We can then identify a second period, from 2015 to today, which begins with the publication of the Design Guidelines for PA Websites that sees instead the establishment of some general principles of interface design based on the usability and accessibility of the contents. These principles have allowed the Government website to become a super partes communication structure, independent from the political expression of the Government in office and part of a digital transformation strategy that sees the introduction, for the first time in Italy, of a centralized governance based on technical skills. Thanks to documentary material and direct testimonies, the contribution intends to high-light both the evolution of the Government website from a political communication tool to an institutional communication site and the very idea of i nstitutional communication in Italy in relation to the growing digitization and the need for an active online presence.