The public algorithms in the prism of the Italian case of teacher mobility

Abstract

Nowadays the machine learning algorithms and the big data they feed on arouse a great deal of interest for their ability to “augment” or even “exceed” the human being. However, the present situation shows that both the national legislators and the public administrations still find it very difficult to deal with elementary algorithms, being limited to “accelerate” humans: the deterministic algorithms. The result of the exam of the civil and administrative cases related to the use of the teacher mobility algorithm in the 2016-2017 school year is twofold: on the one hand it will allow to highlight the transversal problems of the automated decision-making and on the other it will enable to analyse the specificities of the administrative decision-making. In conclusion, the impact of the 2016 and 2017 reforms will be assessed, as far as they aim to strengthen the Open Source and the “total accessibility” paradigms in the Italian legal system. It will be proved that the response to the protection needs of the “algorithmic relationship” between citizens and administration can only be the result of the synergetic contribution of both administrative and civil law.