Digital Nomads, from Palermo the start of Nomad Sicily

There is the Sicilian who used to work in Germany and now sits at a table some fifty paces away from Palermo's Politeama theatre, engrossed in a busy meeting. But there is also, a few tables away, the German who has decided to come and work in Palermo and continues, in a certainly different climate, to do what he has always done. Two sides of a medal, smart working, which has made the Sicilian capital one of the favourite destinations, certainly for those who left for work but above all for those who choose to come and work in Palermo, the so-called digital nomads. A dimension that has now been certified by surveys released in recent weeks: one of these places Palermo 22nd in the world, far from Dubai (first) but ahead of Athens and Tuscany.

"Palermo today runs faster than the rest of Italy: it is 22nd in the national rankings with employment growth of 7%, three times the national average," says Roberta Pellegrino, cofounder of Ludwig. "A Mediterranean climate with 300 days of sunshine, a cost of living 20% lower than in Rome and 35% lower than in Milan, 5G coverage that reaches 97% of the urban population, and a unique cultural, gastronomic and naturalistic offer, with the sea just 15 minutes from the centre. Coworking spaces are growing and in high season there are direct flights to 32 destinations between Europe and the UK. Of course, challenges remain: rising rents (+18% between 2022 and 2023), a shortage of medium-stay solutions, only 30% of 18-35 year olds speak English at B1 level or above, the bureaucracy for non-EU visas is still complex, and there is a lack of public spaces equipped for flexible working. We need a strong and shared identity, a unified brand like a Palermo Remote'.

A phenomenon, that of digital nomads, which is clearly perceived in the city. And it is from the analysis of this phenomenon that Nomad Sicily was born, not the association of Sicilian digital nomads but a network of subjects that promote smart working and offer services. "We can certainly work on measures to encourage digital nomads to stay in Sicily. The ideal would be the fiscal ones, even if they are more complex, but also, let's say, the spaces, that is, individual entrepreneurs, individual realities that, interpreting this phenomenon a bit, are investing to provide services to these professionals,' says Ugo Parodi Giusino, founder of Magnisi Studio. 'It is necessary to team up, to network, alone you are always small. If there are many of us, we broaden the debate, we make a more structured reasoning, we confront each other and maybe we can coordinate to intercept this opportunity'.

A network that met, in what we can define as the founding meeting, in the premises of Magnisi Studio right in the heart of Palermo, launching a project that aims to give concrete form to an ecosystem that already exists but is often not perceived as such. Thus, around the Politeama, subjects representing various experiences, and not only from Palermo, met, demonstrating that the ambition is to create a regional network, which obviously also includes Catania, a fertile city for several reasons. From Radica Hub, the "Remote Workers Hub" in Campobello di Licata to South Working Castelbuono, the project set up to foster the development of agile work in this medieval village in the Madonie mountains; from Epyc, the European Palermo Youth Centre, which considers itself the first Youth Centre in Italy, to BeeHive, the co-working centre in Trapani.

"We have always thought that networking is the trump card, it is a bit of our philosophy. Which in this case finds an ulterior motive: a series of actors coming together plastically demonstrates the existence of an ecosystem,' says Biagio Semilia, CEO of Digitrend, which created the Innovation Island platform. We think that institutions should dialogue with this ecosystem, which has great value not only in terms of, let's say, digital tourism, but also in terms of contamination and the birth of new initiatives. Attracting digital nomads means attracting intelligence and skills that help the innovation system grow'.