The last time we wrote about it, 3-i Spa was an empty box, with a share capital of 45 million euros and an activity that was unclear with respect to its objectives, despite having an administrative structure and million-dollar contracts in place with the big names in the technology sector. In the end, as we feared months ago, the company of the three “Is” – Inps, Inail and Istat – will be incorporated by Sogei which, according to the provisions of the 2027 financial package approved by the government, will acquire 100 percent of it.
What was supposed to be the new public company capable of managing the digital services of large state bodies turned out to be just a box to be delivered elsewhere. Inside, we find budgets in the red, high absence rates and appointments of Palazzo Chigi loyalists placed in command of a non-existent structure. But what has 3-i Spa actually done in its four years of existence and at what costs?
Two jobs in 2025, almost 40 million contracts in 2026: what 3-i Spa has done so far
Established in December 2022 with 45 million of public capital paid in by INPS (49%), Inail (30%) and Istat (21%), the 3-I had to rationalize the digital services of the public administration, optimizing the “management of IT services for a better allocation of resources and to guarantee sustainable and more effective procedures for citizens and businesses”. The 2025 budget recognizes that the company, up to now, has only “organized itself”.
“Until December 31, 2024, he exclusively carried out organizational activities to start the business,” we read in the document filed in October 2026. Revenues remained zero in 2023 and 2024 and the accounts have always been in the red. Among the few activities assigned, two orders worth 200 thousand euros each were “executed and delivered” in 2025: document design for Istat and dematerialization and governance for the Ministry of Labour. The 2025 budget closes the three-year period of activity with 3.3 million euros of production costs and losses of 1.4 million. The 45 million deposited by INPS, Inail and Istat fell to 43.56.
In 2026, service contracts worth almost 40 million euros will arrive with the founding bodies: 29.87 million from INPS to digitize the archives until 2029; 5.37 million from Inail for blockchain, cloud, archives and single labor register; 2.29 million from INPS for “Welfare as a Service” and data management (Eessi and Durc); 1.875 million from the Ministry of Labor for administrative support, privacy and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) procurement. Which structure was supposed to work on these projects?
Contracts to the big names in the sector, cars and consultancy: how 3-i Spa spent the money
3-i turned outside for the services to be developed, effectively disavowing the reason why the company was born. In the register of assignments, the 18.7 million worth stand out for a temporary grouping of companies led by IBM Italia, with McKinsey and other operators. Among these there is also Deas (Defense and systems analysis spa) with CEO and president the former Chief of Defense Staff, Enzo Vecciarelli.
Contracts were then signed for a total of 8.5 million with Telecom Italia, 5.5 million with IBM, 1.25 million with Engineering D.Hub, 1.22 with Almaviva and 1.20 with Fastweb. Hspi is instead entrusted with 4.9 million euros to manage ICT needs and projects. Among the smaller loans there are two car rentals for 36 months: an Alfa Romeo Tonale for 27,864.36 euros and an electric Alfa Romeo Junior for 45,361.80 euros, for a total of 73,226.16 euros in contractual values. Approximately 11,000 euros are added for a parking service in 2025 and more than 6,000 euros in 2026, for two company cars.
In the first six months of the year, payments exceed 750,000 euros. Of these, 520,673.55 are for Italit, a network of companies in the ICT sector. And again, among the most significant items in the balance sheet we find the 748,117 euros of strategic consultancy previously capitalized and then devalued. The expenses were borne by Inail on behalf of 3-ie and subsequently recharged. The company explains the devaluation with the revision of the initial strategic plan and with the failure to use the activities to which those costs referred.
The secretariat of the general management with the record of absences: 68%
From 4 employees at the end of 2024, 3-I went to 20 officers on staff and has remained so. A notice had also been published to find nine more employees to strengthen the organizational structure with administrators, contract and privacy experts and two communication figures. No trace of software developers. The positions are not assigned. Considering employees and seconded staff together, the cost of personnel is just over one million euros.
The data on absences in the office say that the declared rate is 20.70 percent in 2025, rising to 21.70 in the second quarter of 2026. But there is one office that records off-scale numbers: it is the secretariat of the general management, which reaches an absence rate of 68.6 percent. In 2026, the figure is improving but remains significantly above the average of other structures and stands at 44.5 percent and over 33 percent in the second quarter. However, the administrative direction for Legal and Corporate Affairs is worsening, with an absence rate exceeding 48 percent. On the other hand, the Administration, Finance and Control direction holds 38.3 percent.
The Consip president who also manages 3-i (and the salaries of the managers)
The Board of Directors of 3-i is led by Domenico Mastrolitto (15 thousand euros per year), general director of Campus Bio-Medico Spa, president of Bio Pharma and former advisor to Equitalia Giusticia. Vice president is Maurizio Mensi (10 thousand), Luiss and Sna professor, already in the supervision of the Tim network.
Before Mastrolitto, appointed in January 2025, there had been Claudio Anastasio, who resigned on 14 March 2023 after the email in which he resumed Mussolini’s speech of 3 January 1925, and Gennaro Terracciano, who resigned in April 2024. The general management was Stefano Acanfora, who in the meantime became CEO of Infratel.
In his place, Stefano Tomasini holds the reins of 3-i with special power of attorney, at the same time also operational director and president of Consip from July 2024. A former Inail IT manager, previously in Sogei, Tomasini had participated in the preparation of 3-I and is the contact person for the 1.8 million contract with the Ministry of Labour. For the 10 months of his assignment in 2025 he received 192,937.08 euros. There are no declarations regarding 2026, even if the latest documents – until well into October 2026 – all bear his signature as Rup, solely responsible for the procedure.
What happens to the 3-ie the dynamics that return: what has been decided
The IT departments of the three partners remained active, 3-I has its own structure and also purchases coordination externally. The INPS Steering and Supervisory Council had put in black and white that the project was born with the aim of producing “economies of scale” and favoring “direct management rather than the use of external supplies for IT activities”, recognizing that “over the years the project has undergone a redefinition of its objectives”.
As seen, 3-i’s services are all external to the company. The same dynamics as in the past were repeated. The three founding entities outsourced their services before the company was founded and continued to do so even with 3-i in operation. Now, with 43.4 million euros in liquid assets and more than 2.2 million in debt, the 2027 maneuver of Giorgia Meloni’s government pushes 3-i into Sogei.
Armchairs for an empty box: what 3-i Spa really does – by Cesare Treccarichi
After the acquisition, 3-i will manage three national infrastructures currently managed by Agid, the Agency for Digital Italy: the eIdas node, which allows the use of digital identities between European countries; Ipa, the official index of addresses and offices of public administrations and Inad, the list of digital domiciles of citizens and other categories of private entities. After four years of appointments, budgets in the red and contracts worth millions, the question remains: what was the 3-i for?
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