Government in the digital era: can we do more with less?

The article deals with the role of interoperability in the process of digitizing public administrations. After a brief illustration of the advantages that the introduction of information and communications technology (ICT) tools can bring also in the public sector, the author assesses in what terms the technical concept of interoperability can be acquired in the legal categories of administrative law. To do this, a brief reconstruction of the technical notion of interoperability is first offered and then the role of interoperability in defining the ICT strategies of administrations is then evaluated. Taking advantage of the example offered by the Microsoft v. Commission case, the author investigates what consequences there may be when IT systems are not interoperable to conclude then by exposing the role of the administrative cooperation principle in choosing ITC solutions for PA.