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Background and scope

This report provides an overview of the main activities of the expert consultation and stakeholder engagement conducted as part of the JRC research on ‘Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society’ – DigiGov in short.

The aim of these activities was to enrich and validate the results of the study while gaining insights into future research directions and policy developments.

To this end, it was decided to engage effectively with a group of recognised experts, as well as representatives of key stakeholders, drawn from a diverse range of academic disciplines and practices in the areas of digital government and data for policy at European and international level.

This engagement laid the foundations for the DigiGov Community*, which has been established as an online community of practice facilitated by the JRC and the partners in the research consortium supporting the project.

Consultations with experts and engagement with stakeholders form a crucial aspect of any science for policy endeavour. This is especially true when embarking on a journey characterised by a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholders environment, with the aim of not only assessing the current state of play, but also co-designing innovative research instruments and envisioning future policy solutions through the use of system-thinking and foresight.

More specifically, three events were organised as a core part of the DigiGov research, to discuss the key findings of the study and gain insights for further work and policy implications:

• The first workshop was held at JRC Ispra, Italy on 13-14 May 2019. It focused on discussing the review of the state of the art and the first draft of the conceptual framework for the study.
• The second event consisted of a Policy Lab, and took place at JRC Seville on 24-25 October 2019. It focused on co-designing the revised version of the conceptual framework, and validating the findings of the four experimental case studies.
• The final workshop took place on 9 July 2020. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, the event was organised online. The workshop discussed avenues for shaping Digital Government Transformation in the EU, and included a foresight discussion to imagine the future of digitally enabled governments.

Additional information

Scientific & Technical Lead:  Gianluca Misuraca

* The DigiGov Online Community is a restricted and secured virtual space dedicated to discuss the DigiGov research activities, managed by the contractor on behalf of JRC. To join access:  https://dgov.eu/digigov/