The first edition of the Nets4Dem project’s Democracy Lab begins today, with local government officials and democracy experts from across Europe gathering in the host city of Barcelona.
Participants at this innovative event, organised by Eurocities and the Barcelona City Council, will work together to develop new ideas to improve democratic processes and encourage citizens to get more involved in decision-making.
In this first Democracy Lab event, they will focus on the increasingly pressing need to enhance democratic processes in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. The rise of digital technologies has brought opportunities and threats for local democracies, making safeguarding and exercising citizens’ digital rights a key challenge.
As a result, participants will look for solutions to local challenges such as the use of artificial intelligence, using technology to boost citizen’s involvement in local elections, and ensuring access to information and open digital infrastructures to drive democratic decision-making.
As the event kicks off, Eurocities spoke to Mária Kostická, Head of the Innovation Development Digitisation Unit for the City of Bratislava, who shed light on what urban digital innovation means.
Given the complex nature of the topic, Mária explained why digital innovation is crucial if cities are to ensure the safety of their citizens and improve their daily lives. She also outlined some of the ground-breaking projects Bratislava has undertaken to improve its digital services and build the trust of its residents.
Can you explain Bratislava’s approach to urban innovation and how it can help tackle the challenges cities are facing?
The challenges cities face today are increasingly complex and adaptive. Topics like city resilience to climate change, improving quality of life, attracting talent, and the need for digital transformation are cross-cutting issues without a clear owner, requiring the involvement of many participants and sectors. It is crucial to avoid top-down solutions for such challenges and instead actively consider and gather input from various stakeholders and city residents.
In Bratislava, the innovation team has been applying principles of design thinking, service design, and user-centric approaches for four years. By mapping user needs, we can discover their underlying problems and provide adequate solutions. The goal is to increase user satisfaction and their quality of life. Engaging citizens in our innovation initiatives ensures that our solutions are aligned with their needs and have their support.
We strive to deliver solutions in an agile way, testing them with end-users and gradually scaling up, which allows us to improve with each iteration. We have had several successful pilot projects where we have applied this approach, and we are currently working to systematise this methodology and apply it at the city-wide level. The team’s vision is to be a leader in initiating positive change through innovative solutions and approaches that increase the efficiency of city management and improve the quality of life for residents.
What innovative digital actions is Bratislava offering to citizens to improve the services you provide?
Currently, we are actively involved in projects related to parking and the city police, where we see great potential for cost savings. Through our internal development team, we have developed a city parking app, the first mobile app fully developed using internal capacities.
We are also developing a system to streamline the collection of parking fines. For four years, we have offered digital property tax payments and online ticket sales for city swimming pools through the Bratislava ID. This city portal aims to consolidate all digital services offered by the city and its organisations in one place.
Through the Bratislava Account, residents can apply for selected services fully digitally, such as filing a property tax return, applying for a binding opinion on investment activities, or registering their front garden or community garden. We are gradually adding more services to the account, with the next one being an application for rental housing in the fall.
In the digitisation section, colleagues are coming up with equally innovative ideas, which may be less visible externally but are equally important. Among many, I will mention automated invoice extraction and processing, digitising internal document circulation, mapping city land and buildings using drones, and increasing the resilience of internal infrastructure against outages or cyber-attacks.
Why is it important to develop innovative approaches to the way in which our cities are governed?
The times we live in are relentless, and many crises (pandemic, energy, economic) and also emerging threats connected to increasing cyberattacks show us daily that many processes and approaches that served the city for decades are no longer sufficient. Innovation is no longer a choice but a necessity.
The innovations we strive to bring to Bratislava are not just technological or digital. They often involve changing procedures, new approaches, ways of thinking, and the courage to do things in ways that no one has done before – if it makes sense, of course!
The success of innovation initiatives heavily depends on the efficiency of internal processes and the ability to collaborate effectively. Even the most user-friendly design cannot hide process inefficiencies.
Given the complexity of today’s challenges, it is essential to innovate not only our solutions but also our collaboration methods. Projects can no longer be handled in isolation within individual departments; instead, multidisciplinary project teams composed of experts from various fields are becoming crucial. From the outset, we aim to identify product owners within the relevant departments who become part of the core team and participate throughout the entire process.
Without changing how the office operates, we would never address the root causes of problems and would merely be skimming the surface with our projects.
If we don’t continue to innovate the services provided by our cities, what do you think the consequences will be?
We believe that through quality and reliable services, the city can build trust with its residents. If the city can deliver fast and efficient 21st-century services, it increases residents’ confidence that it can respond quickly and adequately and take care of them even during more challenging crises. Our goal is to create a better relationship with residents through quality services and then communicate better with them, present relevant content, and give them the opportunity to participate.
Unlike the private sector, where companies are motivated to improve their services to succeed before the competition, cities often have the advantage of being the sole provider of a given service. However, this does not give us a reason to become complacent; quite the opposite. The role of cities is to ensure the best possible quality of life for their residents, which greatly depends on the quality of provided services. If the city fails to fulfill this role, the threat of residents deciding to live in another city increases sharply.
Why is it important for cities to lead this work? Isn’t it the job of national governments?
Cities have a unique proximity to their residents, allowing for more direct and immediate feedback. This enables cities to be more agile and responsive in implementing innovative solutions that address the specific needs of their communities. By leading this work, cities can foster a more inclusive, efficient, and resilient urban environment.
However, the role of national governments is equally crucial. National governments should create a supportive legal and regulatory framework and provide funding and resources that enable and encourage urban innovation. Facilitating coordination and collaboration between cities and regions and establishing platforms for knowledge sharing is another vital role, ensuring that best practices and insights are shared effectively.
In an ideal scenario, by working together, cities and national governments create a synergistic relationship that maximizes the potential of urban innovation.
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The Nets4Dem project’s Democracy Lab takes place in the city of Barcelona from 17 – 19 September 2024. Find out more about the Democracy Lab in Barcelona and its focus on ‘Democracy Innovation in Digital Transformation.’
All photos in the article are copyright of the City of Bratislava.
The Nets4Dem project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EU Horizon. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
