Il servizio idrico integrato. Innovazione, project financing egovernance: la prospettiva dei large technical systems

The aim of this paper is to portray an industrial analysis of the Italian water service, analyzing in particular the governance and the financing systems of infrastructural projects, in light of law requirements and the recent changes given by the result of referendum upon the involvement of private subjects in some segments of water system. The Italian water service will be examined as a “Large Technical System”(Hughes, 1987 and 1992) resulting from the integration of several CoPS (Complex Products and Systems; Hobday, 1998), eventually defining the features of the risks that influence both public and private investments. This analysis illustrates the causes of the scarcity of project financing and water infrastructures in the Italian system, as well as the potential of the new provisions, with their consequences on innovation, governance and financing of water businesses.