Transparency in Open Administrations: communication, accountability and community’s quality of life. Evidences from innovative practices in Italian Local Governments

This research aims to analyze how open innovation in Italian publicorganizations supports transparency in communicating entrepreneurial andinnovative initiatives and how this practice reflects on the communities’quality of life. As open government approach is based on the principles oftransparency, in terms of participation, collaboration and accountability, thisstudy examines particularly the transparency as an appropriate communicationprocess devoted to citizens, in which the stakeholders’ involvement is criticalto identify their economic and social needs and, at the same time, to definepriorities for promoting local development.This study is based on a statistical descriptive analysis carried out on a sampleof Italian public municipalities located in different geographical areas inorder to identify what constitutes good communication practices in the publicsector, in compliance with the Italian law. We complete the analysis with anexploratory case study, which represents a good example of open administrationin communicating entrepreneurial initiatives in a transparent way.