Italian Smart Working: An Innovative Approach to Improve Productivity in Public Administration

Abstract

Smart working is a particular way to organize work performances, based on two main characteristics. The worker is located outside the traditional workplace and carries out his/her work through new information technologies. In Italy, the use of smart working, in the public and private sectors, was heavily implemented after the health emergency linked to Covid-19. Many companies and, above all, public administrations have now to manage a new way of working, but they don’t have an adequate organization. The question is whether Italy will succeed, in the coming months, initiate incisive processes of restructuring and training, to progress towards more flexible working organizations. The contribution provided by the in-depth study of this issue should guide the transition to smart working for many categories of workers for the future, beyond the Coronavirus emergency. The aim is to encourage the initiation of restructuring and progression processes towards an economy based on innovation and change. The importance of opting for flexible and intelligent forms of work is all the more true if we consider that work traditionally understood is in a phase of full transformation, and, therefore, it is necessary to rethink its traditional forms.