Francesco Raphael Frieri

I am currently General Manager of Resources, Europe, Innovation and Institutions of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Government, a role held since March 2016. I am the Chief Digital Officer of the Region. I am responsible for the management of human and financial resources, logistics, real estate, procurement, the organization and coordination of European policies, of their evaluation, of negotiated and international territorial cooperation, of the development of the ICT, of statistics, internal communication and the deployment of policies of institutional reorganization for the Regional Administration. As part of these activities, I support the administrative functions of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Government in the Conference of Regions (Rome) and in Brussels, as well as in other institutional venues as necessary. In collaboration with my colleagues, I prepare the activities of control and development of the instrumental companies belonging to the Regional Administration.  Over the seven previous years, I served as Director General of the Union of Municipalities of the Lower Romagna Area (near Ravenna, Adriatic Coast, Italy): one of the largest and most articulated associative realities in Italy. The Union of Municipalities achieved major results in terms of integration and cohesion between Municipalities, transferring many of the functions originally carried out by nine Local Government, and at the same time developing a deep- seated process of change management, creating remarkable margins of increased efficiency for more than 100,000 inhabitants, guaranteeing the presence and quality of services for each community of citizens of originating Municipality.  While serving as Director General, I also worked as teacher and trainer for various prestigious Italian universities and research centers. I collaborated with other regional administrations, with numerous Local Governments, with the ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities) and Legautonomie. I had the chance to take part in think tanks for various ministries for the development of performance models for the public administration and the planning of financial resources.  I wrote, with two colleagues, a new book entitled “Digital Transformation & Smart Working in Public Administration”, published by Maggioli Editore in 2021 https://www.frieri.info/td-sw-in-pa I have published numerous articles and essays in specialist reviews and financial newspapers in my areas of specialization; together with two colleagues, I also wrote a manual on the Union of Municipalities, published by Maggioli in 2012.  I am a board member of ANDIGEL (National Association of General Public Managers). Over the early years of my professional experience, I specialized in local finance, especially while working as Deputy Mayor with a delegate to the Budget and Citizens’ Participation for the City Council of Modena (Italy). In that role, I took part in numerous conventions and training activities with regard to Local Finance. In the late 2000s, I served as national coordinator for Local Finance for the League of Italian Local Governments.  I also have a keen interest in participation in public policy. I have had the chance to compare the framework of classical studies of continental Europe where I originate, with direct experience of the most innovative theories of Consensus Building of Anglo-Saxon origin, and to gain meaningful first-hand experience of the Participatory Budget in Porto Alegre (Brazil) in the early 2000s. I have written, experimented and debated a great deal on these issues.  I completed an Executive Master in Business Administration at the Bologna Business School; I graduated in Political Sciences from the University of Bologna, specializing in the economic- administrative field. I wrote my degree dissertation on Public Economics.  I live in Modena; I am a great lover of astronomy, symphonic music and classical art. I was born in Urbino (central Italy), which I remain very attached to and where I frequently return.