Intelligent digital workspace in the era of smart working

In the last years, but more intensively during the pandemic emergency, the private sector and public administrations have massively implemented smart working and remote work practices. In this context, the Emilia-Romagna Region policymakers wonder how to use, also thanks to a more efficient and AI-driven management, the data produced by these new work organization models to push towards the achievement of strategic objectives defined in the Pact for Work and Climate, the Italian and European Union strategy for climate neutrality and transition towards a new, more environmentally and socially sustainable economy. 

Problem or opportunity (Strategic objectives)  

In particular, the Emilia-Romagna region aims to increase its quality of administration and staff performance, with a focus on the following commitments:

• Speeding up the environmental transition by promoting more sustainable mobility, reducing private motorised traffic, and fighting buildings’ energy waste and optimizing its own workspaces.
• Adopting good practices and creating innovative welfare, such as improving the workers’ work-life balance to reconcile work, personal, and family plans.

The data available to support the development of digital transformation solutions contains personally identifiable information and is not attached to the story:

The employee registry: 

• Employee_id: identification number in our HR system (0123456789)
• Birthday: date in DD/MM/YYYY format (12/12/1975)
• Gender: string indicates gender (M/F/NB)
• Organisation unit: organisation unit internal code (D032)
• Smart working flag: flag indicating if the employee has smart working rights (S/N)
• Workplace_id: office code (BO30)
• Country, region, province, city, address, zip code: Geographical informations as separated fields (Italia, Emilia-Romagna, BO, BOLOGNA, VIA DELL’INDIPENDENZA 1, 40121)

The offices registry: 

• Workplace_id: office code as is in employee registry (BO30)
• Country, region, province, city, address, zip code: Geographical informations  as separated fields (Italia, Emilia-Romagna, BO, BOLOGNA, V.LE ALDO MORO 30, 40128)
• Status: Boolean flag indicates if the office is still available (true/false)

Expected benefits

The main beneficiaries of the actions would be, in the first place, the about 4000 employees and collaborators of the Emilia-Romagna Region. Specifically, more flexible forms of labour should contribute to creating a better working environment and, not least, facilitate the work and life needs of vulnerable categories of workers, such as expectant mothers, people with disabilities, and rural inhabitants who are struggling to reach their workplaces. The increase in well-being and optimal use of the public assets would also improve the productivity of the Organization, reduce energy consumption and pollution, and hence produce benefits for the entire community. Finally, remote working may support the repopulation of rural villages in the territory.