The integration and measurement of digital innovation in public schools

At the EU level, there is a wide consensus on the necessity to incorporate digital technologies at all levels of education to prepare young school students for the future. In Italy, many innovative projects have been launched since the initiation of the National Plan for Digital Education in 2015. However, it is not clear how this innovation strategy has been or should be integrated into existing strategic objectives. Empirical data, based on desk research and interviews, indicate that managerial tools and reports used by public schools do not clearly include digital innovation among the key areas of self-reflection, nor help school leaders to visualise the possible outcomes generated by digital technologies. Therefore, the paper elaborates on the advantages of a strategic control system like the balanced scorecard, contributing to the debate on what extent measurement in public sector organisations can be based on frameworks originally developed in a private sector context.