The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that excellent digital public services have become essential. Innovative govtech companies are necessary to deliver them, but they face procurement practices more suitable for large incumbents than fast-growing startups. To address these challenges, dedicated govtech initiatives are flourishing across European countries and the European Commission is bringing them all together in the Govtech4all govtech incubator. The recently approved Interoperable Europe Act provides new instruments to tap into this network of public sector bodies, research institutions and start-ups across borders to accelerate digital transition. 

Why is the govtech ecosystem so important? What are the bottlenecks to the creation of a single govtech market? And what role can the Interoperable Europe Act play in nurturing this ecosystem, and what tools are and should be made available to support this endeavour? 

To address these pressing questions, Govtech4All, a consortium of 26 cutting-edge govtech initiatives across Europe, convenes the policy roundtable “Growing a European Govtech Ecosystem,” bringing together leading decision makers from European countries to share lessons learnt and build a roadmap for the next digital policy cycle. The roundtable will take place alongside the SEMIC conference, the main European conference on interoperable digital services. 

If you would like to attend the policy roundtable, please send an email to govtech4all@lisboncouncil.net with “Govtech Roundtable” in the subject heading. Only registered participants will have access to the venue.