Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INTERLINK (Innovating goverNment and ciTizen co-dEliveRy for the digitaL sINgle marKet)
Période du rapport: 2022-01-01 au 2023-12-31
Governments and Public Administrations (PAs) within the EU are among the most important contributors to innovation and economic growth. In the last years, governance has been undergoing a deep transformation by developing new approaches for delivering public services, often along two main directions:
- on the one hand, the EC with the Digital Single Market Strategy leads the transformation recognizing that digital technologies help PAs deliver better services for less. Yet, “top-down” approaches often fail to involve important private stakeholders, creating outcomes technically sound but with limited adoption due to lack of private actors' involvement, transparency and trust;
- on the other hand, there are many examples of successful “Do It Yourself Government”, where citizens help themselves and other citizens, with the government playing no active role, except providing a facilitating framework. However, these approaches suffer from several limitations, e.g. sustainability, accountability and legitimacy.
INTERLINK's goal is to overcome the barriers preventing PAs from efficiently sharing services in a Digital Single Market by combining the flexibility of grassroots initiatives with the legitimacy and accountability granted by e-government frameworks. INTERLINK’s developed a new collaborative governance model and a set of digital building blocks, called “Interlinkers”, that implement the governance model and standardize interoperable, re-usable, EU-compliant functionalities for service co-creation and co-delivery management, similarly to CEF Building Blocks.
The INTERLINK project concluded successfully, achieving key milestones across all work packages. Highlights include the development of a well-founded governance model with evidence-based recommendations; identification and validation of enablers with 50 Knowledge and 21 Software Interlinkers; and the comprehensive development and deployment of the INTERLINK platform. Additionally, seven co-production processes were completed, generating success cases and valuable lessons for public service co-production. Finally, a post project agreement was negotiated to sustain the most important results beyond the end of the project.
- on the one hand, the EC with the Digital Single Market Strategy leads the transformation recognizing that digital technologies help PAs deliver better services for less. Yet, “top-down” approaches often fail to involve important private stakeholders, creating outcomes technically sound but with limited adoption due to lack of private actors' involvement, transparency and trust;
- on the other hand, there are many examples of successful “Do It Yourself Government”, where citizens help themselves and other citizens, with the government playing no active role, except providing a facilitating framework. However, these approaches suffer from several limitations, e.g. sustainability, accountability and legitimacy.
INTERLINK's goal is to overcome the barriers preventing PAs from efficiently sharing services in a Digital Single Market by combining the flexibility of grassroots initiatives with the legitimacy and accountability granted by e-government frameworks. INTERLINK’s developed a new collaborative governance model and a set of digital building blocks, called “Interlinkers”, that implement the governance model and standardize interoperable, re-usable, EU-compliant functionalities for service co-creation and co-delivery management, similarly to CEF Building Blocks.
The INTERLINK project concluded successfully, achieving key milestones across all work packages. Highlights include the development of a well-founded governance model with evidence-based recommendations; identification and validation of enablers with 50 Knowledge and 21 Software Interlinkers; and the comprehensive development and deployment of the INTERLINK platform. Additionally, seven co-production processes were completed, generating success cases and valuable lessons for public service co-production. Finally, a post project agreement was negotiated to sustain the most important results beyond the end of the project.
During the second reporting period, the INTERLINK project successfully achieved all its milestones, and in particular Mil2 – First release of INTERLINK Platform; Mil3 – Evaluation results of first use-case phase; Mil4 – Second release of INTERLINK Platform; Mil5 – Evaluation results of second use-case phase; and Mil6 – Final release of INTERLINK solution. The final version of the INTERLINK solution included the INTERLINK Platform and Governance model, with plans for sustainability and business exploitation. More specifically, the following work was carried out:
• An Advanced Governance Model was developed through empirical research, including case studies, focus groups, and interviews across eleven countries. The model was validated through use-case evaluations and extensive case studies, enhancing it with stakeholder preferences.
• We delivered a co-business model for long-term co-production, introducing the INTERLINK Token concept. In addition, we developed a fair co-exploitation processes, introducing the INTERLINK Co-Exploitation License (ICEL) and Co-Business Accelerator (CoBA) Interlinkers. The project emphasized a comprehensive approach to maximize gains from co-production while ensuring fairness in benefits distribution.
• The first list of Interlinkers was identified, elicited by the needs of project partners, by the 3 PAs participating in the project and by a fourth public body - the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. The feedback collected during the first pilot validation provided further functional requirements and guided the realization of an expanded catalogue of knowledge and software Interlinkers that was used during the pilot Iteration 2. The final catalogue includes 21 resources, comprising original software, adapted components, and pointers to third-party solutions, with an emphasis on resource reusability and collaboration with end-users.
• We organized, executed, and evaluated 2 iterations of pilots, divided into two sub-phases: pre-pilot and pilot execution. In the actual execution of the pilots, diverse stakeholders co-produced new public services and tested those co-created for them. This evaluation process allowed us to verify the adequacy of the INTERLINK co-production model and its supporting tools.
• Finally, concerning market analysis and business model development, activities involved assessing market demand and supply; exploring the digital public services context in target countries; engaging with potential clients through demonstrations; and studying key competitors. Continuous communication and dissemination efforts have been maintained, resulting in the creation of impactful brand materials and communication products. An animated video and infographics were released to to summarize project achievements, and commercial landing pages were strategically developed.
• An Advanced Governance Model was developed through empirical research, including case studies, focus groups, and interviews across eleven countries. The model was validated through use-case evaluations and extensive case studies, enhancing it with stakeholder preferences.
• We delivered a co-business model for long-term co-production, introducing the INTERLINK Token concept. In addition, we developed a fair co-exploitation processes, introducing the INTERLINK Co-Exploitation License (ICEL) and Co-Business Accelerator (CoBA) Interlinkers. The project emphasized a comprehensive approach to maximize gains from co-production while ensuring fairness in benefits distribution.
• The first list of Interlinkers was identified, elicited by the needs of project partners, by the 3 PAs participating in the project and by a fourth public body - the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. The feedback collected during the first pilot validation provided further functional requirements and guided the realization of an expanded catalogue of knowledge and software Interlinkers that was used during the pilot Iteration 2. The final catalogue includes 21 resources, comprising original software, adapted components, and pointers to third-party solutions, with an emphasis on resource reusability and collaboration with end-users.
• We organized, executed, and evaluated 2 iterations of pilots, divided into two sub-phases: pre-pilot and pilot execution. In the actual execution of the pilots, diverse stakeholders co-produced new public services and tested those co-created for them. This evaluation process allowed us to verify the adequacy of the INTERLINK co-production model and its supporting tools.
• Finally, concerning market analysis and business model development, activities involved assessing market demand and supply; exploring the digital public services context in target countries; engaging with potential clients through demonstrations; and studying key competitors. Continuous communication and dissemination efforts have been maintained, resulting in the creation of impactful brand materials and communication products. An animated video and infographics were released to to summarize project achievements, and commercial landing pages were strategically developed.
NTERLINK’s multidisciplinary approach is reflected also in the diversity of areas where the project reported beyond the state of the art. Many of the technical solutions developed within the project are at the state of the art in their respective sectors: the INTERLINK software platform; the INTERLINK collaboration environments; and several Interlinkers like the authentication/authorization module. This progress resulted in several publications in technical venues (e.g. SpliTech, Communication & Technology) that framed the challenges and opportunities for ICT in co-production and outlined the INTERLINK collaborative environment. Another area where INTERLINK showed substantial progress is the area of digital government, that has brought several paper and panel submissions to international conferences in this sector (DG.O Administrative Science). We reported progress particularly in cross-organizational co-design with public administrations and in fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration through co-production and rewarding.
INTERLINK demonstrated strong innovation potential during the pilots. The INTERLINK Platform and the Building Blocks have demonstrated a good potential of interest during the pilots and commercial visits to third parties (e.g. Municipality of Reggio Emilia, APRIE agency in Trentino). Based on the conducted analysis and an understanding of market dynamics, the most realistic scenario for an offer that can be sold in the market relates to Interlinkers as a concrete example of co-production. These are out-of-the-box configurations ready for use in specific service design contexts that involve a co-design phase followed by service co-production. In addition to the use cases developed by partners, various public services could be suitable for being "pre-packaged" within INTERLINK, creating ready-to-use scenarios.
In conclusion, the INTERLINK Platform and the Building Block approach have already demonstrated a good potential of interest during the pilots and the commercial visits. The basic software components and fundamental functions, when sold individually, may struggle to compete against stronger competitors. Conversely, a platform already customized to address a specific use case incorporates the know-how of its designers, adding significant value. This value can potentially translate into a valuable acquisition for those seeking to address similar problems
INTERLINK demonstrated strong innovation potential during the pilots. The INTERLINK Platform and the Building Blocks have demonstrated a good potential of interest during the pilots and commercial visits to third parties (e.g. Municipality of Reggio Emilia, APRIE agency in Trentino). Based on the conducted analysis and an understanding of market dynamics, the most realistic scenario for an offer that can be sold in the market relates to Interlinkers as a concrete example of co-production. These are out-of-the-box configurations ready for use in specific service design contexts that involve a co-design phase followed by service co-production. In addition to the use cases developed by partners, various public services could be suitable for being "pre-packaged" within INTERLINK, creating ready-to-use scenarios.
In conclusion, the INTERLINK Platform and the Building Block approach have already demonstrated a good potential of interest during the pilots and the commercial visits. The basic software components and fundamental functions, when sold individually, may struggle to compete against stronger competitors. Conversely, a platform already customized to address a specific use case incorporates the know-how of its designers, adding significant value. This value can potentially translate into a valuable acquisition for those seeking to address similar problems