In recent years, the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) in the most advanced countries have been carrying out an in-depth analysis of their cultural, organisational, and technological context. The need of such analysis is connected to the new challenges NSIs are experiencing resulting from the considerable changes of the external (e,g. new statistical needs, new data sources) and internal context (e,g. budget cuts , self-contained organizational structures). To face these challenges NSIs are adopting an holistic approach in managing their business activities, and one of the key elements of the new approach is the Enterprise Architecture. At international level, Eurostat’s Vision 2020 has defined a roadmap based on the development of an Enterprise Architecture to support the modernisation process and the sharing of information and experiences between different countries. The paper will provide a high level description of Istat’s Enterprise Architecture, implemented according to the international standards, and the application of EA principles to a strategic project launched in Istat.