The Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (SSPA) was established in 1957 as part of the Prime Minister’s Office, Funzione Pubblica, to provide training programmes for civil servants in the Italian Public Administration at national, regional and local levels. The School has over fifty years’ experience in programming and delivering training and consultancy for Public Administration personnel, acting as a catalyst for modernization, economic development and reform, in support of government policy and strategic priorities and initiatives both at home and internationally. New guidelines for training and recruitment of public servants accompanied administrative reforms in the 1990’s, and beginning in 1995, no less than 1% of the total national budget allocated to personnel has been consistently devoted to training.