GovLab Italy Lead on Co-Design Methods
Anna Toma, Service Design Lead at GovLab Italy, argued that European public sector teams are increasingly moving toward participatory design methods. She stated, "The best solutions surface when we put policy, tech, and frontline service staff in the same room." This highlights a shift towards co-design sprints that include researchers, administrators, and end-users to solve complex service challenges.
- The European Commission is promoting co-creation as a strategic approach to implementing EU policies, particularly for complex challenges like digital transformation. This involves collaborative processes where public administrations, citizens, businesses, and academia work together in designing and evaluating public services. The "Interoperable Europe Act" is a specific example where co-creation is utilized to support digital transformation across the EU. - In Italy, the "Rome Collaboratory" project, developed by LabGov, exemplifies the co-design of urban commons. This initiative brings together the public administration and social innovators to co-design projects of general interest, shifting from a traditional top-down service delivery model. - A significant portion of GovTech funding in Europe is now directed towards AI-focused companies, with 50% of investment deals in 2024 centered on AI. The European Commission's "Apply AI Strategy," launched in October 2025, aims to accelerate AI adoption in the public sector to improve the efficiency and accessibility of services. - Despite increased investment, only 38% of public sector AI use cases in the EU have reached the implementation phase. To address this, organizations are calling for a dedicated EU investment fund to help member states scale trustworthy AI and move promising pilots into everyday public services. - Finland is a notable example of a European country implementing proactive, "zero-touch" public services. By using a modular, API-driven digital architecture and a secure data exchange layer, the government can automatically trigger services based on citizens' life events, a model that aligns with the EU's Digital Compass 2030 goals. - The EU has allocated €100 billion to the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for the 2021-2027 funding period to support the transformation of social services, emphasizing co-creation with service providers and beneficiaries. - The GovTech market in Europe is projected to grow from approximately €564 billion in 2024 to around €1.31 trillion by 2034. This growth is supported by initiatives like the "GovTech Roadmap to 2050," which aims to create a citizen-focused GovTech ecosystem across the EU. - A UK Home Office case study on replacing a legacy licensing system for scientific research demonstrated significant benefits from a user-centered design approach. The project resulted in a 50% reduction in the time taken to process a personal license application and a 30% decrease in the resources needed to answer parliamentary and freedom of information requests.
