Community of practice of those responsible for the prevention of corruption and transparency

The commitment entails a networking of actors relevant to the implementation of corruption prevention strategies in Italy, able, in the implementation phase of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), to support the main actors of corruption prevention (the Heads of Corruption Prevention) in addressing the challenges that the implementation of the NRRP poses to their institutions.

There is a general need for sharing and exchanging experiences, as well as for places of collaborative learning between actors, the corruption and transparency prevention officers, the anti-fraud officers and the 'managers' of suspicious transaction reports under the anti-money laundering regulations, who play a key role in the implementation of decentralised prevention strategies and in enabling better synergy and integration between them.In addiction, the effective management of whistleblowing and support to  potential whistleblowers, as well as the proper fulfilment of the duties of reporting suspicious transactions under the anti-money laundering regulations, represent, in the implementation phase of the NRRP, crucial activities for monitoring the quality of works and services, the cost-effectiveness of expenditure, the integrity of procedures, and in general the presence of anomalies, conflicts of interest, and corruption. To this end, the competencies of those who handle reports (RPCT) should be strengthened, as well as the knowledge of civic services to support people who experience the reporting dilemma. The sharing of practices, experience and methodologies between the RPCTs and the 'managers' of STRs within administrations should also be strengthened.

2.02.1 Networks supporting the persons in charge of the prevention of corruption (RPCT)

Creation, by the National School of Administration (SNA), of an inter-institutional PRACTICE COMMUNITY of the persons in charge of the prevention of corruption, open to the contributions of the CSOs and in synergy with the Forum of the RPCTs established at ANAC. Taking into account the evolution of the sector's legislation, the community of practice aims to:

• promote and test prototypes of participatory Integrated Activity and Organization Plans (PIAOs introduced by Article 8 of Decree-Law No. 80 of 2021), that are participatory, with particular reference to the PAs implementing the NRRP, also on the basis of the National Anti Corruption Plan (NAP) indications
• innovate training and skills development models in order to improve the quality of training plans, focusing on the relational aspect of corruption risk and the approach based on concrete cases and ethical dilemmas;
• contribute to the development of a model for assessing and managing the risk of interference by interest groups in the NRRP implementation phase;
• enhance the interrelations and synergies between the functions of the RPCT and the 'manager' of suspicious transaction reports for anti-money laundering purposes.

2.02.2 Support for the management of reports

• following the establishment of the PRACTICE COMMUNITY of the persons responsible for the prevention of corruption, exchanges of experience will be promoted and training courses will be organised to increase the knowledge and strengthen the skills of the RPCTs handling reports and enhance the comparison with other figures also responsible for the protecion of integrity;
• innovative training models for managing whistleblowing will be promoted;
• innovative training models to increase awareness of the institution among public employees.

The commitment is relevant to public accountability because it calls upon institutional actors and civil society organisations to set and ensure high standards in the implementation of decentralised corruption prevention strategies.

Planning and implementation of a Community of Practice of Corruption Prevention Officers (RPCTs), involving the recipients of SNA and ANAC training activities in synergy with the RPCT Forum established at ANAC and the community of 'managers' of suspicious transaction reports for anti-money laundering purposes.
Start date - End date
1st March 2022 - 31st May 2023

Awareness and communication activities aimed at the involvement of RPCTs in the Community of Practice and the dissemination of products in synergy with ANAC.
Start date - End date
1st May 2022 - 1st May 2023

Within the Community of Practice, activation of participatory workshops with CSOs on, for example: Participatory PIAOs, training plan, transparency of relations between public decision makers and interest groups, other working groups of interest to the community and production of the groups' deliverables, in synergy with the RPCT Forum established at ANAC.

Start date - End date
1st of July 2022 - 31st of December 2023

Within the Community of Practice established through action 2.02.1, a working group dedicated to the 'management of reports' will be created with the aim of producing deliverables.

Start date - End date
1st of September 2022 - 31st of October 2023

         National School of Administration (SNA)

Other actors involved in implementation - Public sector

• Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Public Administration Department;
• National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC);
• Banca d’Italia UIF;
• Consip;
• Corte dei Conti (Court of Auditors);
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation;
• Ministry of Economy and Finance;
• Ministry of Justice;
• Ministry of Education;
• Ministry of Economic Development;
• Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Public Function (DFP);
• Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Cohesion Policies (DPCoe).

Other actors involved in implementation - Civil society organizations (CSOs) and private sector

• Fondazione Etica;
• Libenter;
• Libera;
• Osservatorio Civico PNRR;
• The Good Lobby;
• Transparency International Italia;
• Re-act.

SNA, Valentina M. Donini, V.Donini@sna.gov.it

Public Administration Department, Massimo Di Rienzo, OG Task Force Expert, ogp@funzionepubblica.it