Signed Electronic Filing for Business Entities (TELEMACO)

All Italian firms must enter their details on a Business Register which records detailed information on individual firms (legal status, date of establishment, company capital, tax number, sector of activity, corporate bodies and their powers of representation, number of employees etc.). It also lists firms according to a number of key indicators and provides details of the most important changes they undergo, (closure, liquidation, bankruptcy, changes in company officers and transfers). This registration process is compulsory in Italy. The overall objective since 1999 has been to reduce the cost in time and money associated with a company's compulsory interaction with the register. There was a wish not only to speed up and simplify the process, but also to make it more transparent as well. The overall objectives can be described as: - To reduce the total time taken to register new information. - To remove the need to attend the Chamber of Commerce in person to make reports. - To reduce costs of transactions. - To give transparency to the registration process. The TELEMACO project was designed and implemented to provide the solution. It uses electronic filing to process the registration of an organisation on the Italian Business Register using digital signatures and electronic payment systems.

Main results, benefits and impacts

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Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

More than 5 million enterprises work with the Register held by the Italian Chambers of Commerce, and the service is accessible on the web irrespective of office opening times, available 24x7x52. It allows for transparency in the processing of declarations by the Chambers of Commerce, the possibility to verify progress on-line and easy payment for the electronic declarations. In addition, it also improves the quality and accuracy of data stored in the databases that are updated from the declarations, and reduces costs by limiting the need for paper document handling, scanning and electronic storage.

Scope: National