“Relocating to this city has been nothing short of inspirational,” says Susana Martinez. “Venice has given me a boost of energy. When you are exposed to new experiences, your creativity takes off.” Feeling worn out by the daily grind, the 48-year-old software engineer swapped her usual office in Madrid for three months of remote working in the dreamy watery city earlier this year. Martinez is one of 16 employees for the multinational technology company Cisco, who was asked to participate in the remote working pilot in Venice.

Housed in apartments in the central city, and invited to work in various locations, participants were monitored to measure shifts in their productivity, work patterns and levels of wellbeing. The results will help make the final tweaks to Venywhere – a new initiative aiming to draw to Venice international remote workers from around the world – before it goes live in September.