Philip Willan

Antonio di Pietro, Italy's infrastructure minister, announced the purchase of the island last Wednesday, appropriately enough, on his personal blog. The island is part of the 3-D virtual world created by the U.S. company Linden Research Inc. and recently discovered as a potentially valuable mirror for real-world political activity.

Telecom Italia SpA remained under pressure this week as revelations continued about the illegal espionage allegedly carried out by the security department of the Italian telecom incumbent.

An Italian court has ruled that Intel Corp. is not entitled to claim trademark protection for the word "inside," freeing a small PC assembler -- and other companies -- to continue using it in its logo.

The Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris is close to winning a bidding war for control of Italy's telecommunications operator Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, a spokesman for ENEL SpA, Wind's parent company, confirmed Monday.

Italy and Iraq have signed an agreement to strengthen e-government cooperation as part of a project aimed at creating an intranet linking some 30 ministries and state institutions, Italy's Innovation and Technologies Ministry announced Friday.

Italy and the World Bank have agreed to invest US$12 million in a new information technology system for the Iraqi civil service, a spokesman for Italy

Italy and the World Bank have agreed to invest US$12 million in a new information technology system for the Iraqi civil service, a spokesman for Italy's Innovation and Technologies Ministry said Tuesday.

The first major international conference of Italy's six-month presidency of the European Union will be devoted to e-government, an indication of the importance attached to information technology (IT) by the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Technological Innovation Minister Lucio Stanca said Tuesday in a press conference, according to various press reports.