Recent statistics have confirmed that during this 2021 the SPID entities that have been released to the Italian population have doubled, thus reaching 26.1 million active users at the end of October, i.e. 43% of Italians.
Accomplices of this growth are the recent regulatory interventions that have favored the switch-off of the PA , from the efforts of Identity Provider (IdP) and Service Provider (SP), from initiatives such as Cashback and the need to access the Green Pass . A further boost will then be given by the possibility of downloading 14 certificates from the Registry for free.
Beyond the SPID, 99% of Italian Internet users have at least one identification profile for online access and 97% have at least a certified identity (including home banking credentials, SPID and electronic identity card 3.0 – the so-called CIE). Among the digital identity systems the most widespread are the social ID and home banking, while 24.7 million Italians are in possession of the CIE.
Despite this growth, however, these identities still remain underutilized . For example, only 5% of users use the CIE several times a week and only 15% SPID. To justify this circumstance is a still limited portfolio of accessible services, with PAs that have just completed the switch off of proprietary credentials imposed by the Simplifications Decree and private companies even further back.
Valeria Portale , Director of the Digital Identity Observatory , who dealt with the research, explained:
“Digital identities in Italy still show enormous unexpressed potential.
The absence of a plurality of services to be accessed through these systems risks holding back the momentum of recent months. Public services alone cannot drive the growth needed to reach 70% of the population in possession of certified digital identity in 2026, as required by the PNRR.
As shown by the data from the European context, systems with a wide diffusion and structural use in the daily life of users are characterized by an ecosystem rich in services, which expand the potential of these access keys, increase their value and support their diffusion. “.
In 2021 the diffusion of many digital identity systems in Europe increased. From a recent analysis, Italy ranks sixth among the countries analyzed, with 43% of citizens using SPID against 22% a year ago.
