Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 07

30 / Canadian Government Executive // February/March 2019 TRANSFORMATION D iego Piacentini, the Amazon ex- ecutive who spearheaded a dig- ital transformation push for the Italian government, was hired by a prime minister of the center-left es- tablishment and ended his two-year stint working for a coalition of populists. But, he said, he remains convinced that govern- ment digitization has “no political colour”. Piacentini was appointed “Government Commissioner for the Digital Agenda” and began work in August 2016 under then- Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of the main- stream Democratic Party. The aim was to build an “operating system” for the coun- try by overhauling a series of key digital platforms and projects that would under- pin efficient services, and encouraging the whole of government to use them. Since then, Piacentini’s homeland has undergone a total political overhaul. First came Renzi’s resignation four months af- ter Piacentini’s work began, following a catastrophic defeat in a constitutional re- form referendum. Then followed March 2018’s general election, where an alliance of insurgent populist parties took power. By Josh Lowe Transforming I tal y’s Government Diego Piacentini, of Amazon, spent two years working in government digital transformation a Big Tech Executive Learned What Diego Piacentini, Government Commissioner for Digital Agenda (Italy). Photo: EU 2017 Estonia Presidency/Flickr, Annika Haas.