EIPA and ACI (Automobile Club d’Italia) have a long history in collaborating together.
In 2012 ACI adopted The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) model. The CAF is a tool of total quality management and a guide for continuous organizational improvement. EIPA has been the host of the European CAF Resource Centre since being appointed by the European Public Administration Network in the year 2000. The use of the CAF in the various territorial units of ACI (ACI-TU) led to understanding and using self-assessment procedures as a way of change and overall improvement of the institutional capacity of each ACI-TU. To date, around 40 ACI-TUs have used the CAF, and 26 are recognised as Effective CAF User. ACI has implemented the CAF model in a participatory way by strengthening local partnerships and improving the overall culture of the organisation. This required the development of a cohesive improvement plan between units of the same territory. The new plan was launched in 2018 by the Salerno Structure together with the Offices of Avellino, Benevento and Caserta, it then continued in Abruzzo in 2019 from the Territorial Directorate of L’Aquila together with the Offices of Chieti, Pescara and Teramo and it is currently under construction by TU of Brindisi and the TU of Viterbo.
Given the excellent use of the CAF model, in 2017 ACI staff were invited by the Italian Managing Authority (Funzione Pubblica) to join the initiative F@cile CAF aimed at establishing a digital platform to facilitate the implementation of CAF. In 2020, ACI is looking to apply the new version of the model developed by the EU CAF Network with the coordination of the EU CAF RC at EIPA.
EPSA2019 and ACI
As well as being linked together with the CAF, ACI participated in the European Public Sector Award (EPSA) which is organised by EIPA every two years.
ACI won an EPSA Best Practice Certificate in 2011, 2013 and in the latest EPSA event in 2019. The ‘ACI mobility information system Luceverde’ was nominated for the European and National categories. During the 2019 event, 158 public organisations from 28 European countries participated in the awards: 81 for the same category as the ACI.
On 4 November 2019 in Maastricht, ACI participated in the award ceremony and collected their Best Practice Certificate in the European and National category.
This good practice is included in the EIPA publication ‘New solutions to complex challenges – a public sector citizen-centric, sustainable and fit for the future’ and can be found in the 2019 EPSA publication.
EIPA and ACI online training courses
EIPA and ACI have just begun a collaboration that includes training courses for European Public Administration. The courses, which take place online as well as face to face in Brussels are led by EIPA expert Marco Lopriore and include five weeks of online delivery for ACI staff that cover topics such as:
- EU institutions and European legislation;
- Strategic priorities of the European Commission;
- Community funds and programmes;
- From the programme to the project.
During the online course, two high level speakers shared their views on the EU Policy Development initiatives and projects: Pier Paolo Settembri from EC/DG MOVE and Alberto Bichi of the European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI).
The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and not necessarily those of EIPA.
