Digitisation as a tool to enhance learning processes and organisational knowledge in Social Services. First results from a qualitative study conducted in the North East of Italy

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the swift digitisation of social services, forcing the use of ICT to ensure continuity of service despite the lockdown. This article presents the results of a qualitative study aimed at identifying whether the imposed digitisation was transitory and destined to fade post-pandemic, or whether, on the contrary, the digitisation was long-term, leading to learning and innovation in the organisational knowledge of social services. Methodology. The study was of an exploratory qualitative nature, based on semi-structured interviews. From the end of May to the end of July 2023, all managers of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region’s 18 social service areas were interviewed. Several issues were covered in these interviews, namely: which ICTs were introduced and where; which target groups were involved; how ICTs were received by social workers and users; and finally, what impact they had on their relationships. Results. According to the interviewees, the COVID-19-imposed digitisation was welcomed by most social workers and by many users. No specific training interventions had taken place: digitisation unfolded through self-learning initiatives that arose spontaneously among social workers. It triggered a dynamic of change that mainly concerned the organisational dimension of the services and partially social workers’ practices with users. Discussion. The organisational change seems to represent a true innovation. Indeed, it has led to new ways of conceiving and using ICTs. However, alterations in direct social worker interventions with users do not appear to represent a true innovation: they have not embodied a real discontinuity regarding the previous approaches to the social worker-user relationship. This is probably due to the COVID emergency and the informal ways of learning how to use these technologies. Such a hypothesis, however, needs to be deepened through further research. Conclusions. To represent a form of learning leading towards innovation in social work organisations as well as social worker practices, the introduction of ICT needs to come with training processes capable of developing social worker reflections on how these tools should be used. At the same time, social workers must adopt and active as well as proactive approaches to new technologies and their implementation in organisations. For this reason, it is also necessary to invest in structured training courses capable of developing innovative teaching and learning methods based on the use of new technologies.