Agile working in public administration

The short Italian history of agile working began well before the publication of Law 81/2017, which regulated its essential aspects. Ten years ago, a number of large companies (such as San Pellegrino, Nestlé and Solvay) led the way, facilitated by advanced organisational contexts and good industrial relations that allowed them to anticipate the innovation of work and its ‘geography’ (not necessarily limited to places ‘within’ the traditional company perimeters). However, an often overlooked fact is that the public administration (PA), even before that pioneering phase, had also been able to place itself among the forerunners in the introduction of agile working, albeit having to deal with some of its atavistic rigidity (first and foremost, the delay in the digitalisation of services and related procedures associated with the cultural gap in terms of organisational re-design) and having to come to terms with the multifaceted nature of the various operational contexts, targets and territorial differences that complicated the overall framework of public work (and continue to make it very intricate).