Elena Ragazzi
I'm an applied researcher in social sciences, with a specialisation in policy evaluation, regulated industries and regional themes. I work at the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in the Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth in Turin. I teach Managerial Economics at the Turin Politecnics.
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in the labour market represents an important vehicle of social inclusion. In fact, individual exclusion
from the labour market could have economical (poverty), sociological (disrepute and weakening of
relational networks) and psychological (impoverishment of self-esteem) effects that eventually could
bring to a spreading and persistent social exclusion. Vocational training policies, as they are
conceived in Piedmont and more generally in Italy, are particularly helpful in contrasting such
individual weakness and social exclusion. This is due to its pedagogical and didactical methods and to the attention that vocational training policies pay to the improvement of individual relational and professional skills. Both the programming and management phases of vocational training policies need, to be effective, to include an evaluation process that highlights its weak and strength points.
Aware of this, the Province of Turin is enhancing its evaluation competences by directly implementing and/or by externalizing some vocational training policies evaluation projects. This article describes some of these projects with the aim of analyzing both the existing and the potential connections between the evaluation and the programming phases in vocational training policies.
in the labour market represents an important vehicle of social inclusion. In fact, individual exclusion
from the labour market could have economical (poverty), sociological (disrepute and weakening of
relational networks) and psychological (impoverishment of self-esteem) effects that eventually could
bring to a spreading and persistent social exclusion. Vocational training policies, as they are
conceived in Piedmont and more generally in Italy, are particularly helpful in contrasting such
individual weakness and social exclusion. This is due to its pedagogical and didactical methods and to the attention that vocational training policies pay to the improvement of individual relational and professional skills. Both the programming and management phases of vocational training policies need, to be effective, to include an evaluation process that highlights its weak and strength points.
Aware of this, the Province of Turin is enhancing its evaluation competences by directly implementing and/or by externalizing some vocational training policies evaluation projects. This article describes some of these projects with the aim of analyzing both the existing and the potential connections between the evaluation and the programming phases in vocational training policies.
EU countries (and the individual states in the U.S.) have adopted different regulatory strategies; some of them are still in an early phase of initial prospection on the problem. In that context, the Ofgem (UK) experience is a very interesting example, because its process to establish a comprehensive regulatory approach for cybersecurity is at a very advanced state. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), supporting the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA), is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. We will review here some recent updates concerning cybersecurity. As Ofgem is still working on the legislation for the next regulatory period (called RIIO-22 starting in 2021 for all the sectors except Electricity Distribution which will start in 2023), our analysis covers the main principles used and the process of consultation with the stakeholders.
As stated in the conclusion of the guidelines, several tools and approaches may be adopted while designing a cybersecurity regulation, but it must be clear that no turnkey solutions are available. The guidelines suggest that the contents and features of the regulation should be defined not through a one-step decision, but through a process, including for each step the collection of information, the consultation of relevant stakeholders, and time for internal reflection. For this reason, it is interesting to show an example of this process, even though it is not yet concluded.
EPRI CS metrics is based on 120 data points. These provide operational statistics collected from various points in utility operations. The data points that provide the metrics foundations are all measurable quantities. The simple indicators are the bases for the calculation of scores.
The source of the list presented in this appendix is the EPRI report: Suh-Lee, C. (2017). Cyber Security Metrics for the Electric Sector: Volume 3. Palo Alto, CA: EPRI. The report is freely available from https://www.epri.com/#/pages/product/3002010426/?lang=en-US
An exercise based on hypothetical realistic data shows how to apply these definitions in order to calculate the costs and the benefits connected to the implementation of the regulation.
В декабре 2016 г. ЮСАИД и НАРУК начали работу по кибербезопасности с целью передачи регулирующим органам энергетики Армении, Грузии, Молдовы и Украины технических средств и возможностей, позволяющих энергокомпаниям предотвращать и нейтрализовать кибератаки, а также совершенствовать и поддерживать общую энергобезопасность в регионе. Перечень ресурсов кибербезопасности, разработанных ЮСАИД и НАРУК см. в сноске.1
Регулирующие органы энергетики играют особую роль в сфере кибербезопасности. Хотя за реализацию мер кибербезопасности отвечают обычно операторы энергосистем, регулирующие органы обязаны добиваться, чтобы средства, вложенные в кибербезопасность, были рациональными, обоснованными и результативными. Цель «Методических указаний» -- содействие регулирующим органам в расчете тарифов на основе такого подхода к регулированию, который обеспечивал бы должный уровень кибербезопасности энергосистем, а также руководствовался современной литературой и практикой. «Методические указания» помогут органам регулирования ответить на следующие вопросы:
Какие общие принципы регулирования лучше всего подходят для оценки обоснованности расходов на кибербезопасность?
Как выявить затраты на кибербезопасность, провести их сравнительный анализ и установить соответствующие нормативы?
Как определить адекватность мер противодействия киберугрозам?
Как оценить рациональность затрат, связанных с выбранными мерами противодействия?
Возможно ли оценить результативность расходов на кибербезопасность?
Кто должен выявлять, сравнивать с нормативными показателями, измерять и оценивать меры противодействия в условиях различных режимов регулирования?
Настоящие «Методические указания» — первый документ такого рода. Он наглядно демонстрирует лидерство ЮСАИД и НАРУК в расширении возможностей органов регулирования в поддержке и поощрению устойчивости энергосистем, которая достигается посредством обоснованных и эффективных капиталовложений в кибербезопасность на подведомственных предприятиях. В настоящих «Методических указаниях» изложены общие принципы, процессы и методика, но не содержится списков конкретных советов и готовых рецептов.
По мере того, как энергосистемы в регионе модернизируются, переводятся на цифровую основу и объединяются, в них обнаруживаются всё новые уязвимые точки, которые могут быть использованы при кибератаках. Атаки на электрические сети и системы могут иметь серьезные последствия для безопасности государства, его экономики и благосостояния населения. Они могут угрожать любому государству мира. Хотя настоящие «Методические указания» разработаны для региона Европы и Евразии, многие содержащиеся в них сведения имеют универсальную применение. НАРУК призывает регулирующие органы США и других стран изучить их применимость с учетом собственных внутренних обстоятельств и условий.
• Which regulatory frameworks are best suited to evaluate the prudency of cybersecurity expenditures?
• How can regulators identify and benchmark cybersecurity costs?
• How can regulators identify good countermeasures for cybersecurity?
• How can regulators assess the reasonableness of the costs associated with these countermeasures?
• Is it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity investments?
• Who should identify, benchmark, measure and evaluate the countermeasures in different regulatory frameworks?
In conclusion, these guidelines provide tools and approaches, often discussing several alternatives for each action. Often the philosophy behind their application is discussed as well, but never unique turnkey solutions are suggested because the regulatory strategies are deeply linked to a country’s values and objectives.
These guidelines are a first-of-their-kind resource to empower energy regulators to support and encourage grid resilience by ensuring prudent and effective investments in cybersecurity by their regulated entities. The guidelines, melting skills and knowledge from different disciplines, strive to provide space for concepts, processes and methods rather than prescriptive lists or ready-to-use formulas.
While these guidelines were developed for the Europe and Eurasia region, much of their content can be applied universally.
THE PROJECT
In November 2018, the CNR-Ircres signed a contract with NARUC, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners of the United States (www.naruc.org), for the development of guidelines (https://www.naruc.org/international/news/evaluating-the-prudency-of-cybersecurity-investments-guidelines-for-energy-regulators/) aimed at addressing the cybersecurity of electrical systems in countries of the Black Sea area: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The contract is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID www.usaid.gov).
Since December 2016, NARUC has been working with regulators from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and later on from the Balkans area, as part of the USAID-supported Europe and Eurasia Cybersecurity initiative. This partnership aimed to help regulators and utilities develop a cybersecurity policy framework that establishes baseline standards and sets in place minimum defense capabilities and good practices at utilities.
In this context, the development of cybersecurity tariff guidelines is intended to provide the regulators with a means of cost-effectively improving energy sector security and resilience against the emerging threat of cyberattacks. As power systems modernize, digitize, and integrate, they are increasingly exposed to additional vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cyberattacks. Attacks on the power grid can have devastating effects on a nation’s security, economy, and public welfare, and are a potent threat to all nations worldwide.
Energy regulators have a unique role to play in the field of cybersecurity. While the implementation of cybersecurity measures is typically the responsibility of power system operators, regulators have an obligation to ensure that investments made in the name of cybersecurity and funded through tariffs are reasonable, prudent, and effective.
Regulators both in the Europe and Eurasia region and across the globe have struggled with understanding and quantifying the degree to which the power grid is better protected based on utility investments made in the name of cybersecurity. In the Europe and Eurasia region, especially the Black Sea countries of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, this is an issue of considerable importance given consumers’ sensitivities to rate hikes.
CNR-Ircres has decades of experience in the study of the economics of the power system, with a more recent focus on the specific theme of cybersecurity. In particular, the ESSENCE project (Emerging Security Standards to the EU power Network controls and other Critical Equipment, 2011-2014, funded by the EU CIPS Programme, http://essence.ceris.cnr.it/) carried out an exercise estimating the cost and the benefits of implementing security measures to protect critical infrastructures from cyber-attacks that has never been repeated later on. Then, it represents a unique background for the guidelines, both for the methodological approach and as a source of empirical evidence.
The development of the guidelines was carried out with the constant involvement of regulators, operators and experts, as well as melting skills and knowledge from different disciplines. The project includes also a final assistance activity directly involving the regulators to personalise the results and to pave the way for a practical implementation.
This first complete picture of the implementation system of this policy managed by Inail is equipped with a wide range of qualitative and quantitative information and is open to future analyzes dedicated to the analysis of effectiveness.
investimenti che riducano il rischio di infortunio o di contrarre malattie professionali.
Tale primo quadro completo del sistema di implementazione di questa politica gestita dall’Inail è dotato di un ampio corredo di informazioni qualitative e quantitative ed è aperto a futuri approfondimenti dedicati
all'analisi di efficacia.
Il lavoro svolto parte dal rapporto con la Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sul fenomeno degli infortuni sul lavoro e delle malattie professionali, con particolare riguardo al sistema della tutela della salute
e della sicurezza nei luoghi di lavoro, istituita presso il Senato della Repubblica durante la XVII legislatura.
Consapevole dell'importanza dell'attività di valutazione nei settori oggetto della propria attività, la Commissione ha coinvolto un gruppo di esperti del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. A partire da ciò l'Inail, che nel proprio Piano delle attività di ricerca 2016-2018 aveva già intrapreso un percorso di indagine valutativa, e il CNR hanno stipulato una convenzione che è stata la base per la ricerca qui presentata.
Benati I., Lamonica V., Ragazzi E., Sella L. (2018) “Gli esiti occupazionali delle politiche formative in Piemonte. 4° rapporto annuale di placement 2014 - Indagine su qualificati e specializzati nell'anno 2013” Ircres-CNR, Moncalieri (TO) (Italia). http://www.ircres.cnr.it/index.php/it/produzione-scientifica/pubblicazioni?id=115
contesto locale, a partire dall’ipotesi che trascurare il problema sociale e umano del giovane abbia conseguenze devastanti non solo sulla persona ma anche, di conseguenza, sul futuro percorso di affermazione individuale e di inserimento lavorativo e sociale.
La ricerca, effettuata nel corso del 2008, è stata concepita e realizzata in stretta connessione con le fasi più operative del progetto Opere Sociali. Il rapporto comprende:
- l'analisi del modello di riferimento
- il contest socio-economico provinciale
- la dispersione scolastica in Provincia di Catania
- buone pratiche di contrasto alla dispersione
In this panorama, the Italian case is particularly interesting. In 2008, a system of economic incentives has been introduced (d.lgs. 81/2008, art. 11), which assigns to various public entities the provision of grants addressed to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMEs) that realize investment projects in the field of health and safety at work. The most important intervention, in terms of both the number of beneficiaries and the provided amounts, has been realized by Inail. Since 2010, Inail has financed OSH projects for about 2 billion euros, which go under the name of "ISI calls".
Up to now, the evaluation analyses performed by Inail on the ISI calls mainly concerned implementation processes and performance monitoring, reporting, and accounting. Recently, the need for an ex-post evaluation of the effects emerged, in order to improve the policy effectiveness. Therefore, Inail intends to plan a research aimed at identifying the appropriate models to assess the impact of the incentives and to highlight their strengths and criticalities as an economic support to SMEs.
This paper overviewes the main theoretical and methodological aspects in the counterfactual evaluation of OSH policies. This overview is fundamental because the topic is not sufficiently addressed by both national and international literature, while studies on this topic are not so widespread. In particular, we reflect on: the possible evaluation questions that emerge when studying the impacts of OSH policies and their implications; the most appropriate evaluation designs that could answer the evaluation questions; and the consequent methodological issues (e.g., internal and external validity, feasibility of an evaluation based on administrative data, etc.).
The Social Agency Model integrates in a structured way public and private action against poorness, above all the activity of the third sector. The paper shows the Social Agency Model, based on the following principles: policies centred on the person through unified service points and demand financing systems, local networks of public and private actors.