Launch of the Public Value observatory ISTAT-CERVAP

ISTAT and CERVAP (Research Center on Public Value at the University of Ferrara) have signed a strategic three-year partnership to identify and measure common objectives and indicators of “Public Value”.

The institutional partnership will provide tools and data to help citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders evaluate the external and internal impacts of policies and projects of Public Administrations and support these administrations in planning and assessing Public Value.

The term “Public Value” refers to the multidimensional well-being (social, economic, environmental, health, institutional, scientific, etc.) generated for citizens, businesses, and stakeholders (External Public Value) leveraging the organizational, professional, infrastructural, digital, economic, and financial health of the Administration (Internal Public Value).

The institutional agreement aims to make both tools (objectives and indicators) and results available in an open format for various purposes:

• Sector Analysis: to measure how much Public Value has been generated by individual Public Administrations and clusters of them (the first report “The Public Value of Public Research Entities” will be available in September 2025);
• Incorporation into Planning Tools: integrating common objectives and indicators of resource health, performance, and Public Value developed by the Observatory into planning tools (PIAO – Integrated Plan of Activities and Organization) and monitoring by Public Administrations;
• Data Source for Artificial Intelligence: to enable informed strategic decisions by policymakers and informed operational decisions by public managers for a better understanding of the multidimensional well-being generated by Public Administrations for their external and internal stakeholders (e.g., how much Public Value has been generated by policy X or project Y).

Professor Enrico Deidda Gagliardo, Founder and Scientific Director of CERVAP, comments with satisfaction: “The collaboration with ISTAT honors and stimulates us. By combining CERVAP’s innovative research expertise on the generation and measurement of Public Value with ISTAT’s solid experience in data collection and analysis, we will concretely support Public Administrations in planning and assessing Public Value for citizens and businesses as well as for their employees.”

Michele Camisasca, Director General of ISTAT, assured that “The results of the collaboration, which will develop a constant dialogue with the network of public research entities, will be made available in an open format, promoting comparative analysis and informed decisions for the continuous improvement of public services.”