DSI4EU consisted of three main work packages alongside the project management work package.
Work Package 1 redeveloped the digitalsocial.eu website into a community hub where innovators and others interested in DSI could search projects, identify potential collaborators, and find funding, support and event opportunities. Alongside this, we maintained an active blog featuring news stories, opinion pieces and interviews, and a collection of case studies of DSI in different social areas. In April 2017 we launched an interactive data visualisation of the website’s database, which allowed people to visualise their own and others’ networks and to more easily digest the information in the database. The website and data visualisation are open-source, so that others can build upon them and repurpose the foundations for their own purposes as necessary. Over the course of the project, we grew the database to almost 2,000 organisations and over 1,000 projects; we published over 60 blogs and 20 case studies; and 15,000 people visited the digitalsocial.eu platform in 24,000 sessions (up to May 9th).
Work Package 1 also included research which analysed DSI across Europe through the DSI4EU database and other methods (such as social media scraping), and, through literature review and interviews, explored the barriers to growth of DSI in Europe. The final report, What next for digital social innovation? Realising the potential of people and technology to tackle social challenges was published in May 2017 and is the most comprehensive overview of DSI in Europe today.
Work Package 2 focused on dissemination and engagement. It was closely linked to Work Package 1, engaging the DSI community in the platform. Through Work Package 2 we sent a monthly newsletter to over 2,000 subscribers; managed an active Twitter account which gained over 2,500 followers; and held several events: namely two policy workshops in Brussels and a major event in May 2017, held at Nesta’s offices in London, attended by over 200 people.
Work Package 3 consisted of an experimental training programme which engaged DSI innovators, particularly those in the maker movement, through offline workshops and online meetups to develop strategies for growth and scale based on open design. This work package led to the development of mentoring guidelines for DSI and the DSI Toolkit, published alongside the final research report in May 2017.
Through these work packages, DSI4EU has successfully mapped and explored DSI across Europe; developed collective understanding of barriers to growth; put forward policy and practical actions to accelerate the growth of DSI; proposed avenues for further research; connected hundreds of innovators and provided a hub for DSI across Europe; engaged with high-level policymakers to put DSI on the European Commission’s agenda; co-designed tools for innovators to successfully grow their initiatives; and provided a wealth of knowledge about good practice.
