The sky in a monitor. Technologies and work practices of Air Traffic Control Officers [Il cielo in un monitor: tecnologie e pratiche di lavoro dei controllori del traffico aereo]

The paper presents some findings of an ethnographic research concerning Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCO) working in four Italian Aerodrome Control Towers (TWR) and Area Control Centres (ACC). Specifically, drawing on the theoretical model of workplace studies, the attention is mainly focused on situated working practices. In particular, we deepen the analysis of two key themes within the literature on centers of coordination: technologies as material practice and structures of participation. In addition we suggest other relevant issues able to improve the knowledge of working practices in these contexts: the use of discretion and, specifically, the exercise of the so-called best judgment and the ‘creative’ use of technological artifacts.