Abstract

This paper analyses the policy-making process of the Territorial Service Centres as promoted in the Italian national plan for e-government. After a preliminary analysis of the impact of information and communication technologies on e-governance at the local level, Centres are described through a critical analysis both as a typical multi-level governance policy and as a model to be implemented in the Italian Regions. The difficulty of promoting a homogeneous policy throughout the entire national territory is discussed, as well as the risk of an emergence of "regional centralism" due to the key role played by regional administrations in negotiating financial support with the central government and territorial policies and priorities with local authorities.