New Public Procurement Code: Cybersecurity Requirements

On 31 March 2023, Legislative Decree No. 36/2023 ("Public Procurement Code"), providing an updated regulation of certain aspects of public contracts, was published in the Official Journal. The Public Procurement Code is intended to help the digitisation of processes, in order to develop a national ecosystem of digital procurement. It follows that cybersecurity issues are of the utmost importance. In fact, pursuant to Article 108 of the Public Procurement Code, when assessing the best possible offer for the procurement of IT goods and services, public entities shall always take cybersecurity requirements into consideration, particularly where the protection of strategic national interests is concerned. Hence, compliance with cybersecurity-related laws and regulations becomes a criterion that matters when awarding public contracts.