Starting from 1999 our sustainability reports have been assured by external auditors.
Since 2009 we have based our sustainability report on the following AA1000 AccountAbility Principles Standard (APS) 2008:
- inclusivity: identification of the stakeholders and their expectations, and the development of strategies of involvement aimed at improving the Company’s sustainability performance;
- materiality: identification of the important issues for the organisation and its stakeholders;
- responsiveness: a description of the initiatives carried out by the Company to meet the expectations of the stakeholders.
The Telecom Italia report's compliance with the AA1000 standard is verified by the auditing company Price WaterhouseCoopers.
The verification procedures performed on the Report are summarized as follows*:
- "comparison between the economic and financial information and data included in the Report with those included in the Group consolidated financial statements as of 31 December 2010;
- analysis of design and implementation of governance and management system of sustainability topics related to strategy and operation of Telecom SpA, as well as of the processes and instruments used to identify the stakeholders and the most significant issues to them;
- analysis of the processes underlying the generation, recording and management of quantitative data included in the Report. In particular, [meetings and discussions have been held] (ndr) withTelecom Italia SpA, Telecom Italia Sparkle SpA, Tim Participaçoes SA and HR Services Srl management representatives selected on the basis of a quantitative and qualitative risk analysis, in order to achieve a general understandig of information, accounting and reporting system in use to prepare the Repot, as well as of the internal control processes and procedures supporting thje collection, aggregation, processing and transmission of data and information to the department responsible for drawing it up;
- meetings and discussions with Telecom Italia SpA, Telecom Italia Sparkle SpA, Tim Participaçoes SA and HR Services Srl management, in order to understand and evaluate the processesutilized to comply with the Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness principles included in Appendix 1;
- verification of the engagement of stakeholders, through:
- participation, as observers, to some of the focus groups organized,
- analysis of the most relevant aspects arisen and documented in internal minutes and comparison with data and information included in the Report,
meetings and interviews with some employees to understand their awareness on the sustainability reporting process;
- obtaining a representaion letter, signed by the legal representative of Telecom Italia SpA, relating to the completeness and reliability of the Report and of the information and data included in it, as well as to the compliance with the principles referred to in paragraph 1."
* quote by the Independent Report on the Limited Assurance Engagement of the Sustainability Report 2010 by the indipendent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers.