The European Migrant Integration Cockpits and Dashboards (MICADO) initiative works to develop a digital application to facilitate the exchange between migrants, public authorities and engaged civic society and thus foster the integration process of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe. The app will make it easier for migrants to access national and local social service infrastructures such as housing, education, health care, and labour as well as counselling services. Thus, it will lower the socio-economic effort and expenditure in migrant integration, both for host economies and individuals.
MICADO is an interdisciplinary and EU-funded international project that involves research institutions, public authority agencies and SMEs from Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Austria, whose purpose is to co-develop a MICADO-“one-fits-all”-solution (generic solution) that can be adapted by the local actors to their respective local challenges and manage migration issues with a local solution.
The first usability tests of the app have confirmed that it is very effective in facilitating the contact between authorities and administrations with civil society in general and refugee and migrant communities in particular. To make the app accessible for a broad user group, a chatbot language interface and automated translation features will constitute essential features, innovative for public migrant integration processes. With them, MICADO wants to lower the threshold for the reception of public services substantially.