Smart Cities Tailored for the Worker

CHIARA BISCONTI, BOCCONI ALUMNUS AND MILAN CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, FOR THREE YEARS HAS BEEN PROMOTING THE DAY OF SMART WORKING. RETHINKING WORK SPACES AND WIFI: THIS IS HOW CITY COUNCILS GAIN VALUE.

“Let’s call it lavoro agile instead of smart working”, says Chiara Bisconti, Municipality of Milan’s councilor for sport and leisure. “The word was coined here in Milan and is used in the bill currently under discussion in the Italian Parliament”. Bisconti graduated at Bocconi University in 1991 and has provisionally left her job as HR Director at San Pellegrino to “serve my community”. She’s the promoter of the yearly ‘Giornata del lavoro agile’.
What’s the value of smart working for the city?
It radically improves the quality of life and the environmental impact. According to the results of our ‘Giornata del lavoro agile’, which involved 8,000 people, every single worker traveled 50 kilometers less by car and saved two hours of his time. It means reductions in carbon emissions and in congestion in peak time. And I like to think that the two hours saved can be used to be an active citizen. A city that encourages smart working is a more hospitable city at large.
What can municipalities do to facilitate smart working?
They can stimulate reflection on innovative workplaces, such as co-working spaces. They can spread free outdoor wi-fi signals. They can rethink the public space, for instance equipping swimming pools with tables and chairs where people can work or study.
Does the idea of smart working meet any resistance?
There are two different oppositions. The strongest one comes from employers who fear losing control over the performance of their workers. Yet one of the positive effects achieved by the companies with the introduction of flexible working is precisely the shift of attention from the time you spend in the office to the results you get. Smart working does not force people to work in a specific time and place, therefore allowing them to self-regulate.
What about the second kind of opposition?
Today, the contract of a smart worker can face legal problems and insurance litigation. Both things will be amended with the introduction of the law currently discussed in Parliament. Now it’s time to reassure SMEs on the safety and benefits of this new form of work.
Municipalities are large employers. Does the Municipality of Milan allow its employees to work smart?
The Municipality of Milan employs 15,000 people – they’re actually 30,000 if we count subsidiaries. We are experimenting with form of smart working. We have introduced flexible hours. We are developing a software that will allow employees to work in any public office in town.
Did the experience of being HR Director inspire your commitment to smart working?
Yes it did. In Nestlé we began practicing smart working seven or eight years ago. I have seen its benefits. It seemed only natural to promote it to the city level.
 

by Claudio Todesco