Project Interlink
Project Interlink

INTERLINK: Innovating goverNment and ciTizen co-dEliveRy for the digitaL sINgle marKet

The goal of INTERLINK (Innovating goverNment and ciTizen co-dEliveRy for the digitaL sINgle marKet goal) has been to overcome the barriers preventing PAs to efficiently share services in the EU digital single market by combining the enthusiasm and flexibility of grassroot initiatives with the legitimacy and accountability granted by top-down e-government frameworks.

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Results

It took 190 internal meetings for partners to design a platform suitable for different stakeholder networks to facilitate co-production of public services. Designing such a platform was a highly intricate task, requiring digital tools that support various collaboration aspects, such as fostering interaction, motivating participants, mobilizing resources, and facilitating shared decision-making. Moreover, the platform should accommodate the specificities of potentially diverse governance models and adhere to requirements ensuring the quality and trustworthiness of the produced services. Additionally, compliance with EU regulations was essential, as they impose specific restrictions and recommendations on the digital services adopted by public administrations.

The platform has been tested in three distinct use cases, which include 80 work sessions in pilot initiatives, providing a robust and user-friendly Collaborative Environment as a community web portal. Key features include:

  • Co-producer organization, team, and process management
  • A comprehensive guide for co-production processes, providing a step-by-step "how to" guide based on a given co-production process schema
  • Recommendation of Interlinkers most suitable for chosen co-production tasks
  • Selection, instantiation, and registry of usage of a given Interlinker, contributing to the completion of co-production process tasks
  • Interlinker catalog showcasing imported and co-produced Interlinkers
  • Cloning of processes for internal replication and reuse of previously created co-production processes.
  • Publication of success stories from cloned and pruned co-production trees, encouraging third-party replication and providing a valuable resource for those setting up their collaborative processes.

The Collaborative Environment offers a multitude of capabilities, including:

  1. Defining Co-Production Approach: tailoring co-production strategies based on service type, delivery stage, and regulatory frameworks.
  2. Building Public-Civic Communities: facilitating the creation of interest communities around specific public service provisions through brokerage and networking tools, leveraging mobile communication capabilities and apps.
  3. Provisioning Tools: enabling the seamless deployment, activation, and execution of services, utilizing the required enablers and the Interlink platform.
  4. Running and Monitoring Adoption: collaboratively overseeing the adoption process with citizens, private bodies, and civil society.

At the heart of the INTERLINK approach is the aim to create or customize services within specific contexts, whether it be a city, private organization, or a community of citizens. This approach allows for the creation of new services by PAs or private entities, defining a series of activities crucial for the co-production process:

  • Engagement Enablers: utilizing technological, non-technological, and partnership enablers essential for the service.
  • Service Customization: options for integrating with other tools, setting up notifications, or other specialized actions that provide users with a more tailored experience, and adaptation to local regulations.
  • Team Formation: allowing citizens, private entities, and PA officials to apply for defined roles in a controlled and transparent manner.
  • Dissemination Activities: conducting activities necessary for promoting the service within the community, such as instantiating templates for promotional materials and creating communication and feedback channels for end-users.

Funding

European Union, Horizon 2020

Partners

Fondazione Bruno Kessler, University of Deusto, Tree Technology (TREE), Radboud University, Cloud'N'Sci Ltd, UCLouvain, Deda Next, The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia, The Municipality of Zaragoza and the Etopia Center for Arts and Technology

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