Towards Digital Autonomy in South Tyrol - The FUSS Project Contribution
The first step towards greater Digital Independence in South Tyrol took place in 2004 with eSüdtirol 2004-2008, the Action plan for the development of the information society in South Tyrol. Chapter 3 was dedicated to promoting Free Software in public administrations, schools, and for fostering innovation in the economic sector with the support of a Competence Center. In this talk I show how the FUSS Project contributed to achieve these goals in public schools by bringing Free Software into classrooms, building local expertise, and helping turn our digital autonomy from a policy goal into a practical reality.
FUSS is a digital‑sustainability and sovereignty initiative for schools that started in 2005. It introduced free software tools throughout South Tyrol, Italy, equips teachers and students with open‑source educational apps, promotes eco‑friendly ICT practices, and builds community expertise for long‑term, cost‑effective digital learning.
Graduated in 1998 with a degree in Computer Engineering from Padua, he began working on one of his first passions, Computational Linguistics, at EURAC Research and then at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering of the Free University of Bolzano. In 2008 he left research and joined the IT Division of the Province of Bolzano, where he worked for the Office of Strategic Orientation and IT Planning in the Enterprise Architecture Group. In 2016 he was appointed to the Directorate of Italian Education and Training as Technical Inspector and Coordinator of the FUSS Project. He began exploring the world of Free Software in the 1990s while studying at the University of Padua. After returning to Bolzano, together with some friends he helped found the Linux User Group Bolzano–Bozen–Bulsan (LUGBZ) with the aim of promoting the Free Software culture in South Tyrol–Alto Adige.