SOSE, the methodological partner of MEF in strategic data analysis, has experienced a crucial period in its history in the last three years:

• the consolidation of its institutional mission and the organizational structure;
• the transition from Sector Studies to Synthetic Indexes of Reliability;
• the strong centrality of the debate about differentiated regionalism, the autonomy of local authorities and their standard expenditure needs;
• digital transformation and the role of PA in defining a Country that looks at data-driven solutions as an indispensable element for informed choices, strategic and decisive for the future.

In addition to these challenges that characterized the years from 2018 to 2021, the Country had to face the extraordinary event of the Covid-19 crisis with equally extraordinary measures.During his mandate, Prof. Vincenzo Atella, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of SOSE S.p.A., together with the management, defined a series of actions that characterized his work:

• adapting the “core business” (ISA- Synthetic Indexes of Reliability and Standard Expenditure Needs) to meet the changing needs of clients;
• quickly identifying and addressing new opportunities created by the changing scenario;
• reconsidering the portfolio of innovation projects and ensuring the appropriate allocation of resources;
• anticipating, where possible, the needs of clients to allow them to provide adequate responses even in a critical and changing context such as the current one
• building the foundations to remain competitive when the crisis ends.

On the side of production, in 2019, the application of the Synthetic Indexes of Reliability (ISA) guaranteed an increase in the tax base (therefore subtracted from tax evasion) of about 2.5 billion euro, equal to about 1 billion extra tax revenue for the state. The main economic results show generalized improvements in economic magnitudes compared to the previous tax period, as the Department of Finance repeatedly remarked. In 2020, in the light of the results achieved, ISAs proved to be a compliance tool, as the further emergence of tax base for approximately 2.1 billion euro evidenced.

Despite the pandemic and the consequent lockdown, the production of the ISAs by SOSE complied with the operational plan in 2020 as in 2019. The Company guaranteed the delivery of all the related documentation on time and developed further important methodologies to capture the economic effects of the current crisis.

Regarding Local Authorities, SOSE supported the Technical Committee for Standard Expenditure Needs - CTFS by introducing various methodological innovations that have significantly improved the final product. The methodological changes were approved in September 2020 by the CTFS and implemented by the State-City Conference to allocate the Municipal Solidarity Fund for 2021. The methodological changes concerned the Social Care Sector, the function "Public Roads and Planning," and the Waste Management service.

Thanks to the continuous research and analysis work and the contextual creation of the SOSE Research Department in 2019, new methodological solutions have always been at the centre of this path. The Research Department aims to enhance the company's core competencies and define new spaces for analysis to support stakeholders. Besides, it was recently recognized as a research body by EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Commission.

In March 2020, the pandemic outbreak revolutionised SOSE work, requiring many quick changes to meet its institutional interlocutors' needs effectively. Innovation, therefore, has become the strategic goal of this mandate. This choice was necessary for a company like SOSE inspired by the philosophy of the data-driven society for its production processes which has become even more important in the Covid-19 emergency. From big data to machine learning, from smart office to e-collaboration, the culture of evolution has guided the company’s growth in recent years, increasing the quality level of production and working organization and putting employees and their personal and professional growth at the centre.

In the last year, to respond promptly to new challenges, a complex digital transformation process called SOSEVOLUTION has involved people and processes, methods and organization based on four fundamental strategic levers:

• Methodological innovation, combining innovation and resilience and focusing on digital skills and technological solutions, ensures increasingly higher performance in the Public Administration ecosystem;
• Functional organization, which led to the re-organization and digitization of processes and the definition of an agile production structure. The internal organization has been analysed, evaluated, and rethought with a view to greater simplicity and efficiency;
• Permanent training. The Company has involved executives and employees in training activities and various people empowerment projects activating targeted courses of specialized training, enhancement of potential, and evaluation aimed at mapping the Company's digital DNA;
• Smart office. The reconversion of spaces promotes exchange, meeting, and interaction between people, and adopting agile working methods ensures a greater balance between work and family life, always focusing on health and safety.

Its presence on important technical tables as an accredited and reliable partner of the financial administration confirms the growth of SOSE. Especially during the pandemic that upset the economic and social equilibrium, MEF relied on SOSE to elaborate information concerning companies' liquidity crisis and establish the criteria to allocate resources to the local authorities hit by the fiscal shock and the effects of the pandemic on families having greater difficulties. SOSE consolidated its position as an advanced centre of expertise to which the Financial Administration turned with confidence to obtain essential information and analysis in a time of crisis.

Throughout this process, SOSE has described its evolution both externally and internally, enhancing objectives and activities. An effective communication strategy has produced a strong recognition and consolidation of the corporate identity. The company now occupies a clear and stable place among all the entities controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Through a constant enhancement and dissemination of the issues in its field of expertise, namely enterprises, taxation, public finance, and innovation, SOSE has improved its reputation demonstrating its ability to tackle new challenges, as in the production of podcasts.

The Covid-19 pandemic has further demonstrated that the future lies in data, or rather in the ability to derive value from the information available and support the decision-making process as clearly, effectively, and quickly as possible.

As a data company serving the public interest, SOSE has built its growth path and intends to define its development plan on this mission for the years to come.