Il Sirti group - innovation hub in the field of network infrastructure development and digital and cybersecurity services – e Open Fiber – which is building an ultra-fast network in Italy in cities, small towns and industrial areas – finalized the Prison Work Program at Rebibbia Prison, which has the objective of creating qualifying job opportunities for prisoners in the telecommunications sector.
It was made official today regular recruitment of a class of 7 prisoners who - having successfully completed the training course lasting over 160 hours - will join the teams of Sirti and the Open Fiber Network Solutions (OFNS) consortium as operators for fiber optic splicing activities for network infrastructures in Italy.
The initiative is part of a large project by social inclusion promoted by Italian institutions in collaboration with the most important Italian players in the telecommunications sector. A concrete path to allow inmates to acquire new skills, which can also be used at the end of the detention experience, while at the same time offering valid job opportunities inside and outside prisons, in the manner prescribed by law.
The activity carried out at the Rebibbia Prison has made it possible to give continuity to the first pilot project announced in early 2022 at the Turin prison, which saw the training and subsequent recruitment in Sirti of an additional class of 7 prisoners already operational since October 2022.
"The Prison Work Program represents a concrete example of how crucial issues for the country, such as the shortage of skilled labor and the necessary rehabilitation of prisoners, can be tackled through innovative tools, thanks to the systemic collaboration between institutions and private companies" , commented Clement Perrone, Chief People, Organization & Communication Officer of the Sirti Group. “It is an approach particularly in line with our philosophy of 'doing', which represents one of the strategic cornerstones that has distinguished our work for over a hundred years. For this reason, we have enthusiastically decided to join the project and to be an active part of it, in the hope that it will inspire an increasing number of companies in the future".
"Participation in a large digital infrastructure project in the country offers prisoners a new opportunity by enhancing the re-educational function of the sentence", said Ivan Rebernik, Director of Personnel, Organization and Services of Open Fiber. “Once the training course has been completed, the inmates will be hired on the basis of national category contracts by the Open Fiber Network Solutions consortium, which represents a novelty in the telecommunications chain. OFNS today has 600 people who will become 1000 in 2023, to contribute in particular to the coverage of small municipalities and industrial areas".
Prison Work Program is an innovative project of collaboration between private and public, which is unprecedented, even at an international level. In addition to guaranteeing the presence of adequately trained workers, therefore, it will provide prisoners with a paid job opportunity, as well as the possibility of learning a trade that will be in high demand in the coming years.
