The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to move many daily activities online that could hardly have been conducted in respect of social distancing, from education to free time, to recreation, to contact with friends. The public sector has also suffered from this need by responding with great acceleration on existing digital public services and by facilitating the access of others through online tools and platforms. Through an exploratory research design, this paper qualitatively investigates the effects of the acceleration of digitization on the perceived utility and quality of public services in Italy as the first nation and most affected by the wave of infections. The results show that accelerating the digital transition has positive effects on citizens’ perception of the activity of the Public Administration, specifically, positively influencing citiziens’ perception of digitalized public services in Italy. Moreover, we shed light on four main topic useful to led future strategies in terms of: 1) New technologies integration and citiziens’ assistance; 2) Hybridization of digital services; 3) The role of age: Elderly citizens and socialization; and 4) Digital skills gap reduction strategies. Relevant implications for managers and policymakers are discussed together with some suggestions to led future public digitalization strategies.
COVID-19 and digital acceleration: An investigation about citizens’ perception of digitalized public services in Italy
Andrea Sestino
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
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2021-01-01
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to move many daily activities online that could hardly have been conducted in respect of social distancing, from education to free time, to recreation, to contact with friends. The public sector has also suffered from this need by responding with great acceleration on existing digital public services and by facilitating the access of others through online tools and platforms. Through an exploratory research design, this paper qualitatively investigates the effects of the acceleration of digitization on the perceived utility and quality of public services in Italy as the first nation and most affected by the wave of infections. The results show that accelerating the digital transition has positive effects on citizens’ perception of the activity of the Public Administration, specifically, positively influencing citiziens’ perception of digitalized public services in Italy. Moreover, we shed light on four main topic useful to led future strategies in terms of: 1) New technologies integration and citiziens’ assistance; 2) Hybridization of digital services; 3) The role of age: Elderly citizens and socialization; and 4) Digital skills gap reduction strategies. Relevant implications for managers and policymakers are discussed together with some suggestions to led future public digitalization strategies.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
