The digital transition impact on social systems and on the evolution of the link between rights and citizenship: the role of the Third Sector in the strategy and in achieving other health, integration, and inclusion objectives of the NRRP

From non-profit institutions to social cooperatives, from associations to foundations, the Third Sector, taking advantage of the acceleration of the digital transformation process imprinted by the health crisis and carried out by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), is increasingly oriented to take on a key and strategic role in guaranteeing the effectiveness of social rights and welfare in line with the achievement of the objectives set out in Missions 5 and 6 of the NRRP. Digitalization is a fundamental part of the strategy aiming at increasing and improving the presence of Third Sector entities in the area, provided, however, that they have the ability to meet evolutionary, transformative, and resilience needs (identifying organizational models and decision-maker alternative to traditional ones), both in ordinary situations and in health emergencies. The real challenge launched by the NRRP, in fact, consists precisely in converting a contingent experience into a strategy based on awareness that enabling digital tools is useful first and foremost to re-evaluate Third Sector identity and role on the territory, as well as to pursue procedural simplification, the efficiency of organizational processes, and the implementation of know-how necessary to plan decisions aimed at raising the quality and efficiency of the services provided to users and to find the resources to allocate to them. This objective appears to be consistent with the affirmation of a cooperative governance model that postulates the attribution of decision-making power also to Third Sector Entities (TSE) which should be included in the social, educational, and administrative co-design and co-programming of the interventions of NRRP Missions 5 and 6, especially in view of the demographic increase of the elderly population whose optimal management presupposes a long-term strategic vision and the integration between processes and services. The paper aims at verifying the impact of digital skill development and the increase in the training offer on the TSE organization, which must also be recognized as having a leading role in the process of transition to digitalization, as an essential condition for the full integration of services, taking charge of and protecting the person in his or her global dimension