Abstract

The present article aims to provide an analysis of the introduction of digital innovations in local welfare in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular the article will try to clarify if a) these innovations have responded to long-standing deficits in local welfare and which sectors have been prioritised to apply digital innovations, b) whether the changes produced in the policy design are simple incremental adjustments or represent a paradigm shift. Having defined the structural deficits of local social welfare and framed the complex relationship between welfare and digital innovation, the article will propose tools for analysis and apply them empirically to the Lombardy region case study.