Abstract

The use of digital tools in the design and delivery of social policies is a topic of growing interest in public and scientific debate. An important part of this debate is devoted to active labour market policies (ALMPs). In Italy, digitalization can provide an opportunity to fill some historical gaps and overcome structural limitations of ALMPs, particularly within the framework of the investments envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). This article first aims to offer an empirical account of the actual tools and processes introduced in four cases of ALMPs’ digitalization in Europe, selected according to the degree of development of digital services and their multi-level governance: the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Flanders. This description illustrates the governance of ALMPs, and then focuses on the dimensions of employment assistance that are most affected by digitalization: access, diagnosis, and job matching. This exercise is then made relevant to Italian ALMPs, finalizing it to identify some policy directions for initiating a strategy for the digitalization of ALMPs in such country.