An intuitive platform that promotes co-production between civil servants, businesses, and citizens. A space where cooperation is not hampered by bureaucracy, but rather fuelled by innovation. That is the INTERLINK project. An intensive research and development project to which Dr. Taco Brandsen, PhD candidate Noortje Hoevens, Dr. Marlies Honingh, and Dr. Ina Radtke contributed.
The INTERLINK project consisted of a multidisciplinary collaboration with ten partners*, including three educational institutions, one private research institution, two technical organisations, three government organisations, and a communication company. They developed a digital platform, called Collaborative Environment, where citizens are involved in the co-production of new and innovative public services.
The project aims to overcome barriers that prevent public bodies from efficiently developing and implementing services in a Digital Single Market. Indeed, this requires the right environment that takes into account fast, secure, and reliable infrastructures. Designing the digital platform was a very complex task, requiring various tools that support collaboration. These include promoting interaction, motivating participants, mobilising resources, and facilitating shared decision-making. Moreover, the platform takes into account the specifications of different governance models and meets the requirements that ensure the quality and reliability of the services produced.
As many as 420 users and more than 20 government agencies were involved in the design. Dr Ina Radtke: ''What makes INTERLINK special is the interdisciplinary approach in which we as social scientists worked very closely with colleagues from the information and computer science. We thus followed an approach in which technical questions and governance issues were regarded as equally important in the development and implementation of the digital platform.”
Want to know more about the INTERLINK project? Then watch this final video.
(*) The coordinating institution is the Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK). Other partners are The University of Deusto, Tree Technology (TREE), Cloud'N'Sci Ltd, UCLouvain, Deda Next, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Environment and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia, the Municipality of Zaragoza and the Etopia Centre for Arts and Technology.
