This chapter explores how Biscay is governing digital government, managing digital government investments, and developing digital talent and skills in its public sector. Leveraging on OECD standards and international best practices, it examines the province’s institutional structure, strategic approach to digital government, investment portfolio management, and capacity-building initiatives for its public service. The chapter identifies strategic areas of opportunity to better face future challenges and improve value for money.
Digital Government Review of Biscay, Spain
Towards a Future-Oriented Public Sector
Abstract
Correctly governing the development and implementation of digital government policies is a fundamental step to achieve a mature, coherent, and trustworthy digital transformation of the public sector. This first chapter examines the governance of digital government in Biscay against the standards and recommendations developed by the OECD. It also examines digital investments and digital talent and skills as two key capabilities to support the design and implementation of digital government policies. The overall assessment is based on three key OECD policy frameworks on the governance of digital government (OECD, 2021[1]), digital government investments (OECD, 2025[2]) and digital talent and skills in the public sector (OECD, 2021[3]).
The following sections evaluate five main aspects of Biscay's governance and capabilities for advancing its digital government policies and initiatives. The first three sections evaluate governance based on OECD’s Framework on the Governance of Digital Government (Figure 2.1). The first section explores the political, social and economic contextual factors in the province that frame the development of its digital government agenda. The second section assesses the institutional set-up driving digital transformation in government. The digital government strategy is analysed in the third section. The fourth section reviews the investment mechanisms and tools ensuring that public spending delivers value for money, supports service quality, and meets citizens' increasing expectations. The last section assesses Biscay’s approaches for digital skills and talent.
The three governance facets and each of their four dimensions
Note: Facets refer to the fundamental features of governance. Dimensions are the main elements that make up each facet.
Source: (OECD, 2021[4]).
Biscay is a leading economic pole supported by strong industrial and innovation ecosystems. This is underpinned by political stability, a robust welfare system, and a clear strategic vision for digital transformation. Yet, it faces a major demographic challenge as ageing accelerates, demanding inclusive strategies to sustain growth, wellbeing and innovation.
Biscay province plays a central economic role within the Basque Country and Spain. It contributed to over half of the Basque Autonomous Community’s GDP and maintains a per capita income of EUR 39 000 as of 2022, above the Spanish average of EUR 31 600 and EU average of EUR 35 9001 (Eurostat, 2025[5]), reflecting strong purchasing power and social wellbeing. This economic strength is anchored in a diversified industrial base and a dynamic innovation ecosystem. Biscay has positioned itself at the forefront of technological development, leveraging disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and data-driven solutions to enhance competitiveness and attract talent. Initiatives like the Bizkaia Accelerator Tower (BAT) and the GovTech ecosystem foster entrepreneurship and public-private collaboration, while initiatives such as BAIDATA2, the Basque Quantum Hub3, the Basque Artificial Intelligence Centre (BAIC)4 and the Association of Knowledge and Technology Industries of the Basque Country (GAIA)5 aim to consolidate Biscay as a reference point for advanced industries and digital innovation. These efforts are complemented by investments in connectivity, cybersecurity, and infrastructure modernisation, ensuring that the territory remains an attractive hub for investment and a driver of economic growth in the region.
This economic dynamism is underpinned by political stability and robust governance structures, which have characterised Biscay and the Basque Country since Spain’s transition to democracy in the late 1970s. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has maintained leadership in both the Basque regional government and Biscay’s provincial government almost continuously since 1980, providing a stable institutional framework for policy implementation and long-term planning. A key element of this stability is the region’s fiscal and financial administration autonomy, guaranteed by the “Concierto Económico”6 or Economic Agreement, a unique arrangement that allows the Basque institutions to collect and manage most taxes and transfer an agreed quota (cupo, in Spanish) to the Spanish State for common services. In addition to fiscal and budgetary powers, the Basque Country also exercises competences in health and public security, transferred by the Spanish State, reinforcing its policymaking and service delivery autonomy. This system has enabled sustained investment in social protection, education, and infrastructure. Indicators confirm high levels of social cohesion and economic resilience: the Basque Country ranks among the regions with the lowest Gini coefficient in Spain (INE, 2024[6]), reflecting low inequality, and labour productivity is 19% higher than the regional average of the country (OECD, 2024[7]). Additionally, poverty rates are the lowest among other autonomous communities in Spain and European regions (Eurostat, 2025[8]), and unemployment has historically been lower than in Spain overall (INE, 2023[9]), supported by a diversified industrial base and innovation-driven sectors.
Yet, Biscay faces a major demographic challenge as ageing accelerates. In 2021, 23.4% of its population was aged 65 or older, a proportion significantly higher than the Spanish average of 19.6% and the EU average of 20.6%, placing Biscay among the most aged regions in Europe. This trend is more pronounced among women and is projected to intensify, with estimates suggesting that by 2041, one-third (33.1%) of residents will be over 65 (Eustat, 2022[10]). The ageing process is driven by longer life expectancy and declining birth rates, creating a structural demographic imbalance. These shifts have profound implications for social services, healthcare systems, and economic sustainability, as the dependency ratio rises and the working-age population shrinks. Addressing this challenge requires inclusive strategies that combine digital empowerment, lifelong learning, and innovative care models to ensure wellbeing and maintain productivity. This has been the case of projects such as EtxeTIC7, which supports dependent persons to remain at home through advanced teleassistance, and the use of predictive analytics to estimate the likelihood and timing of institutionalisation for dependent individuals8. This demographic shift also has important implications for the public sector, particularly in service delivery, as it will need to design and adapt services for an ageing population. Moreover, the ageing of the public workforce in the region will require continuous skills development to keep pace with technological change, as well as proactive talent attraction to sustain capacity and innovation. Ultimately, Biscay’s public sector must remain permanently prepared for economic, social or geopolitical exogenous shocks that could alter the stable context under which it currently operates, reinforcing the need for resilience and adaptability at all levels of governance.
Finally, the digital transformation of the public sector at the national level creates a favourable environment for sub‑national governments to build upon according to their competencies. In the 2025 edition of the OECD Digital Government Index, which reflects its efforts at the federal level of government, Spain scored 0.752, up from 0.599 in 2023 and above the OECD average of 0.695 (Figure 2.2). This progress, driven mainly by more data‑driven and user‑centred approaches, is likely to elevate expectations for more proactive policies and services and provides sub‑national governments with more favourable conditions to scale their broader digital transformation efforts.
2025 Digital Government Index, results by country
Note: 2025 data is not available for Germany and the United States. 2025 data cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. 2023 data is not available for Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United States.
Source: (OECD, 2026[11]).
The governance of Biscay’s digital transformation reflects a structured institutional model aligned with the OECD principles for digital government. At its core, the configuration demonstrates a centralised co-ordination approach, where a leading body orchestrates the digital agenda across the administration. This approach ensures coherence and avoids fragmentation, while leveraging strong technical support to maintain agility. This institutional structure is in charge of leading the Digital Agenda 2027, which is developed under the broader framework of the regional Mandate Plan 2023-2027 “Biscay for All” (Bizkaia Denontzat). This strategic approach is further assessed in the following section.
The General Secretariat of Co-ordination acts as the strategic centre, responsible for defining the vision, setting priorities, and monitoring progress. Its mandate includes steering innovation and ensuring interoperability across departments. It also ensures the connection of the Digital Agenda with the highest levels of the provincial government. Working alongside it is the Department of Public Administration and Institutional Relations, and within it the Directorate for Good Governance, Citizen Services and Digital Services, which designs and leads the digital strategy for the Provincial Council and its public sector entities. It co-ordinates multichannel citizen services (in-person, telephone, and digital), promotes shared technological infrastructures, simplifies administrative procedures, and enables interoperability. It also defines and oversees the corporate data strategy and governance framework for the organisation. These two directorates collaborate closely with Lantik, Biscay’s provincial technology company and in-house provider, which guarantees the technological backbone for implementation. Lantik manages infrastructure, cybersecurity, and bespoke digital solutions, and plays a key role in innovation through GovTech programmes. Figure 2.3 explains how these organisations are positioned within the Provincial Council.
Source: Biscay Provincial Government, translated by Authors.
This triad forms the institutional set-up envisaged under the OECD’s dimension on organisational models: a strong organisation-in-charge supported by operational arms and technical enablers. Some of their relevant mandates are summarised in Table 2.1.
Source: (Provincial Council of Biscay, 2025[12]); (Provincial Council of Biscay, 2026[13]); Encargo DFB-Lantik 2025.
Co-ordination with local governments is a key component of Biscay’s digital governance model. The Provincial Council works closely with municipalities to ensure that digital transformation reaches all levels of administration and that services are interoperable and accessible across the territory. In this context, BiscayTIK, a public entity owned by the Provincial Council, plays a pivotal role. Its mission is to support municipalities in adopting digital tools and modernising their administrative processes. BiscayTIK provides shared technological platforms, training, and advisory services to local authorities, enabling them to deliver online services to citizens and comply with interoperability and security standards. This collaboration strengthens territorial cohesion and ensures that smaller municipalities benefit from economies of scale and technical expertise. Additionally, Biscay aligns its digital policies with those of the Basque Government and the provincial councils of Álava and Gipuzkoa via the Basque Advisory Council for Electronic Administration9. Within this council, the Basque Government, provincial councils, and provincial capitals collaboratively formulate unified strategies, governance frameworks, and technical and legal standards.
Under the principle of High-Level Co-ordination, Biscay has established the Digital Agenda Monitoring Committee, which convenes periodically to review progress, approve priorities, and ensure that digitalisation remains a cross-cutting policy objective across the provincial government. This committee brings together senior officials from all departments and affiliated entities, fostering a multidimensional perspective on digital transformation. Its decisions influence resource allocation and set the tone for interdepartmental collaboration.
Complementing this is the Technical Secretariat of the Digital Agenda, which acts as the operational arm for Organisational and Technical Co-operation. The Secretariat harmonises standards, facilitates technical collaboration among departments, and ensures that projects adhere to shared architectures and interoperability principles.
Source: (Provincial Council of Biscay, 2024[14]), translated by Authors.
While Biscay’s internal governance is solid, engagement with external actors like citizens and industry is active but remains less formalised. For instance, several initiatives align with the OECD dimension on Civic Participation and Collaboration, such as:
Digital Friendliness Programme: Initially focused on training older adults to reduce the digital divide, this initiative now includes collaborative work with associations and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, addressing equipment access, adaptive digital environments, assistive technologies, and awareness training for public agents10.
Participatory Design and Living Labs: Spaces where citizens co-design services and provide feedback on administrative processes, leveraging both digital platforms and physical forums.
Youth Engagement and STEAM Promotion: Programmes such as STEMLab Biscay encourage young people, especially women, to pursue careers in science and technology through podcasts, contests, and outreach events.
Digital Volunteer Network: A pool of citizens registered to participate in improving government services, activated through calls for collaboration on specific projects.
Feedback and Evaluation Mechanisms: Tools like WhatsApp surveys and satisfaction dashboards capture real-time citizen feedback on services, feeding into continuous improvement cycles.
Industry collaboration is also promoted through GovTech pilots and partnerships with local technology firms (see Chapter 5 for a more detailed analysis), as well as alliances with universities to develop applications for public transport optimisation, such as the real-time route optimisation and predictive occupancy tools for Bizkaibus11, and cultural dissemination, such as the virtualisation of heritage sites and interactive platforms for cultural archives12. These efforts are complemented by a broader ecosystem of public-private collaboration. For example, BEAZ, the provincial entity under the Department of Economic Promotion, plays a pivotal role through accelerators, incubators, and instruments such as Seed Capital Bizkaia, public procurement of innovation, investment funds, and grants, fostering entrepreneurship and reducing barriers for innovative firms to collaborate with government. The B Accelerator Tower (BAT) further amplifies this dynamic by providing a physical and virtual hub for startups, investors, and enterprises to experiment and scale disruptive technologies13. Other initiatives complement these efforts, such as BIQAIN (Bizkaia Quantum Advanced Industries), an industrial strategy promoted by the Provincial Council to develop and market quantum technologies in the territory, and GAIA, the ICT cluster of over 300 technology companies and research centres working closely with the Provincial Government in testing new technologies and fostering data usage to improve digital public infrastructure, services, and impact the broader economy. Finally, the provincial government and the private sector often interact through other type of scenarios, like idea-generation and project-conceptualisation breakfasts14 or sectorial roundtables and meetings with GAIA, BAIC and BAIDATA.
Despite these initiatives, the participation of these actors in the governance process of the digital strategy remains largely ad hoc or occurs through broader participatory processes. This approach is aligned with the Participation Plan of the Provincial Government, which fosters adopting participative processes while creating provincial strategies, plans and norms15. The OECD could verify that this occurs through actions like focus groups, thematic workshops or consultations, as described above. However, more formalised spaces for civic and industry engagement through mechanisms like an advisory or consultation body for digital projects and policies could strengthen social buy-in and shared ownership of the digital agenda. This is critical to ensure resilience against political shifts and to embed digital transformation as a collective endeavour. For example, the Services Australia Independent Advisory Board, France’s National Digital Council, and Belgium’s Digital Minds under the SmartNation strategy illustrate how formalised engagement can be embedded into the governance of digital government policies. Australia’s Advisory Board brings together experts from industry, academia, and civil society to provide independent advice on the design and delivery of digital services, ensuring that transformation efforts reflect diverse perspectives16. Similarly, France’s National Digital Council acts as an independent body advising government on digital policy, fostering dialogue on ethics, inclusion, and innovation while amplifying citizen voices in strategic decisions17. Belgium’s Digital Minds offers a formalised advisory mechanism composed of 22 experts from academia, business, and investment sectors, guiding the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and FPS-BOSA18 on strategic priorities such as digital identity, inclusion, data governance, and innovation. This group connects cutting-edge developments from national technological ecosystems with policymaking, ensuring that large-scale investments align with the digital strategy objectives and the EU Digital Compass 203019. These examples illustrate how formal mechanisms can build trust and credibility with external stakeholders, supporting digital transformation in government as a collaborative effort.
The Digital Agenda 2027 stands at the heart of Biscay’s ongoing efforts to digitally transform its government and society. Conceived as a strategic roadmap, it provides direction for advancing digitalisation across the territory, ensuring that technology becomes a lever for inclusion, sustainability, and competitiveness. This agenda is a living and open document, designed to adapt to evolving needs and technological trends, hence its emphasis on a citizen-driven digital transformation.
As outlined earlier, the agenda was developed through a collaborative process involving internal departments, public entities, and external stakeholders, in line with its motto, “a digital transformation led by citizens”. Its design began with a diagnostic phase assessing the current state of digitalisation, followed by the identification of priorities and opportunities linked to emerging technologies. The resulting strategy was approved by the Council of Government and subsequently enriched through iterative engagement with departments and affiliated entities. Aligned with Spain Digital 2026 and the EU Digital Decade 2030, the agenda ensures coherence with national and European frameworks while responding to local priorities. It embraces principles such as citizen-driven services and policies, fostering digital rights, and promoting sustainability and innovation.
The mission of the Digital Agenda is to transform Biscay digitally, generating value to improve citizens’ quality of life and promote territorial progress. Its vision seeks to position Biscay as an international reference in digital society and a hub for technological talent. The agenda is driven by five strategic objectives, supported by four strategic axes, 18 lines of action, and 77 initiatives (see Box 1):
Enhance the omnichannel experience for citizens and businesses in their interactions with the Provincial Council.
Develop digital skills and capacities among citizens and public sector professionals.
Build secure, advanced technological infrastructures.
Foster innovation and public-private collaboration to boost competitiveness and attract talent.
Apply digitalisation to strengthen well-being, sustainability, and social cohesion.
Axis 1: Citizenship and Quality of Life
This axis places people at the centre of the transformation, aiming to empower citizens and reduce the digital divide. Key initiatives include:
Empowerment and Digital Skills: Programmes to develop competencies and promote STEAM careers, with a strong focus on women and young people. Actions include the STEMLab Bizkaia podcast, contests, and outreach activities to foster inclusion and interest in science and technology.
Amigabilidad Digital: A flagship project offering workshops, awareness sessions, and collaborative dynamics to understand the needs of vulnerable groups and make Bizkaia a reference for digital inclusion.
Cybersecurity Awareness: Communication campaigns and training to strengthen citizens’ confidence and autonomy in digital environments.
Social Care Innovation: Initiatives such as EtxeTIC, which combines home-based care with digital technologies, and Zaintzapp, an app for caregivers to access resources and interact with social services. Predictive models using AI help anticipate residential care needs, while projects for people with disabilities leverage IoT and 5G for safety and autonomy.
Mobility and Infrastructure: Deployment of smart mobility solutions using 5G, IoT, and digital twins to optimise transport and infrastructure safety. Projects include digitalisation of roads, environmental monitoring, and the Bizkaia Connected Corridor for testing autonomous mobility technologies.
Culture and Heritage: Digitalisation of the Foral Library, immersive experiences for iconic sites like the Bosque de Oma, and audiovisual upgrades in museums. The JOSI Bizkaia portal fosters collaboration to promote Euskera digitally.
Environmental Sustainability: IoT-based monitoring and digitalisation of rural areas, plus initiatives like the LANDATEK app for the agricultural sector and projects promoting circular economy through platforms like Waste Lab Bizkaia.
Axis 2: Technological Infrastructures
This axis ensures robust, secure, and scalable infrastructures to support digital services:
Modernisation of Core Systems: Continuous evolution of platforms like BiscayTIK for municipalities and the Bizkaiko Azpiegitura Teknologikoa (BAT) for internal operations. These upgrades incorporate cloud solutions, automation, and AI-enabled services.
Cybersecurity and Secure Access: Implementation of adaptive cybersecurity measures and the Ruta SASE architecture based on Zero Trust principles to guarantee secure remote access.
Data and AI Platforms: Creation of enabling infrastructures for advanced analytics and AI, including the Atlantic Data Infrastructure (ADI) data centre and initiatives to democratise data use ethically and securely.
Connectivity Expansion: Deployment of high-speed broadband and 5G in underserved areas, ensuring territorial cohesion and inclusion.
Axis 3: Digital Government
Focused on creating a proactive, citizen-centric administration, this axis includes:
Strategic Governance: Establishing frameworks and alliances for coherent digital policies and ethical use of technologies.
Data Governance: Strengthening interoperability and promoting a data-driven culture through projects like GeoBizkaia and BAIDATA, alongside regulatory frameworks to protect citizens’ rights in digital environments.
Citizen Experience: Redesigning services for simplicity and proactivity. Initiatives include a new omnichannel model for citizen attention, automation via RPA, and enhanced digital identification. Projects such as Batuz (tax compliance), Nueva Sede Electrónica, and digitalisation of urban planning processes exemplify this approach.
Workforce Digital Skills: Although developing public sector capabilities is a strategic objective, the agenda prioritises only one initiative, the Digital Training for Public Employees programme. This will be further detailed in a dedicated section below.
Axis 4: Innovation and Competitiveness
This axis drives collaboration and technological leadership:
GovTech Bizkaia: A programme fostering partnerships with startups and tech centres to co-create solutions for public sector challenges.
Bizkaia Lab and Living Labs: Spaces for prototyping and testing digital services with citizen involvement, reducing risk and accelerating innovation.
Talent Attraction: Initiatives like 42 Urduliz Bizkaia campus, Talent Office & Talent House, and collaborations with hubs such as the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub aim to position Bizkaia as a magnet for digital talent.
Emerging Technologies: Projects under the Basque Quantum strategy and the Nagusi Intelligence Center leverage quantum computing and Silver Economy opportunities to boost competitiveness and social well-being.
The Digital Agenda is complemented by Lantik’s own Strategic Plan for 2027, designed to provide the technological backbone and advisory capacity required for its implementation. The plan commits Lantik to accompanying the Provincial Government in the digital transformation of public services through strategic, functional, and technological support, ensuring continuity and resilience in service delivery. Key areas of action include technological leadership and proactive service delivery, robust and flexible infrastructures, secure and reliable solutions, high-quality and accessible data for decision-making, and promotion of public–private collaboration to accelerate digital transformation.
As it has been shown, Biscay benefits from a stable political and institutional environment, strong governance structures, and trusted inter-departmental relationships. These conditions provide a solid foundation for digital transformation but also risk fostering institutional inertia. While mechanisms for innovation exist – such as GovTech programmes, open data initiatives, and experimentation with emerging technologies – the challenge lies in maintaining future focus and strategic prioritisation. Current efforts could benefit from systematic foresight to anticipate emerging risks, such as cybersecurity threats, demographic shifts, and potential political disruptions, as well as technological opportunities like leveraging digitised cadastre for advanced planning. Embedding disciplines such as scenario planning and monitoring of investments will be critical to sustain momentum and ensure that Biscay’s digital transformation remains resilient and forward-looking.
To do this, Biscay should build on the existing mandate of the Technical Secretariat of the Digital Agenda, which already includes functions of trends’ surveillance and analysis, by extending its remit to include structured foresight on systemic risks and resilience (e.g. how digital government policies and services could maintain continuity under changes in political or economic stability). Currently, several actions are being developed under this objective, such as innovation and horizon-scanning, inspirational “Talks and Breakfasts” sessions, technology scouting and trend analysis, strategic/technological benchmarking, and the dissemination of disruptive-technology knowledge through the Bizkaiatech magazine20. SWOT analyses and similar tools are used to design and update regional digital strategies, including the Mandate Plan, Digital Agenda, and Lantik Strategic Plan. Further strengthening this capability could involve institutionalising foresight practices like scenario planning and PESTLE analysis as recurring exercises to identify external shocks, demographic shifts and their interaction with technological trends. Digital twins can also be used to simulate alternative futures and enlarge the scope of tools available for prospective analysis. For example, the government of New South Wales is using spatial digital twins to facilitate evidence-based planning and decision-making, as well as more informed citizen participation and private sector actions (Box 2). Biscay has already developed a 3D Cadastral Digital Twin of its buildings, which could be further leveraged to simulate future scenarios, modelling potential material changes and service continuity under different scenarios, bringing its approach closer to international best practice. Ultimately, prospective processes should be meant to force constructive friction in a context of stability, driving excellence and resilience.
The Spatial Digital Twin of New South Wales (NSW) is an advanced platform that integrates 3D and 4D (3D plus time) spatial data to support evidence-based planning and decision-making across the state. Developed by the NSW Government, the twin provides a dynamic, real-time representation of the built and natural environment, enabling stakeholders to visualise past and current conditions and simulate future scenarios. This capability is particularly valuable to anticipate demographic shifts, infrastructure needs, and environmental challenges.
The platform aggregates data from multiple sources (such as transport networks, utilities, and land use) into a single interactive environment. By doing so, it facilitates collaboration between public authorities, private sector actors, and citizens, ensuring that planning processes are transparent and inclusive. As an instrument for foresight, it allows policymakers to test the impact of different interventions before implementation.
More broadly, Biscay could consider adopting elements of anticipatory governance, which emphasises “the use of strategic foresight to perceive, make sense of, and act using insights of possible future changes in the present, and then developing government policies and programmes to address them” (Tõnurist and Orlik, 2025, p. 8[15]). Building foresight abilities, flexibility and agility into systems and processes and keeping alive a range of different strategic options allows to more easily shift or pivot to alternatives as more information is known, and to understand where and when to best intervene, without waiting for processes and trends to become locked in, and thus expensive and difficult to shift (OECD/CAF, 2022[16]).
Source: (Tõnurist and Orlik, 2025[15]).
For example, Irish Strategy for embedding innovation in the Public Service includes among its goals the development of strategic insights for future trends and requirements. This goal seeks to raise awareness of emerging global innovations and trends that will have societal and economic impacts, enabling to achieve Ireland’s vision of becoming a worldclass innovation leader. The strategy sets up a foresight function to scan national and international solutions, trends and emerging possibilities to help inform and guide future innovations in government. It is also complemented with an ‘Innovation Board for the Public Service’ that mixes public servants and external actors to provide strategic vision, oversight and guidance to the Public Service's innovation function (Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, 2020[17]).
In Greece, the strategic foresight function has been incorporated into the highest levels of government. Its Special Secretariat of Strategic Foresight (under the Presidency of the government) is applying foresight to detect future challenges, risks and opportunities for the country.21 It serves as a central mechanism to embed anticipatory thinking into policy-making, ensuring that long-term trends and systemic risks inform strategic decisions, and that Greek citizens are actively involved in shaping the future. Norway has outlined priorities around the use of strategic foresight. According to the national foresight framework, published in 2022 and updated in 2024, foresight (fremsyn) is actively applied across Norwegian public administration to strengthen policymaking, strategy development, and innovation. Practical examples include the County Governors’ leadership programme VIDSYN, which employs scenario development and blind spot analysis to build future-readiness; the Correctional Services’ strategic mapping of long-term change drivers; and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development’s integration of foresight into policy design. These initiatives demonstrate how foresight is embedded as a tool for anticipating uncertainty and shaping robust, forward-looking decisions, ensuring that public leaders and institutions are better equipped to navigate complex and evolving challenges.22
Biscay has established robust investment mechanisms for digital government, complemented by an institutionalised GovTech ecosystem that fosters collaboration with startups and innovation actors. This creates a fertile ground for leveraging GovTech as a policy lever to accelerate delivery capabilities and enable safe experimentation through controlled environments such as innovation labs and sandboxes (see Chapter 5). Key investment mechanisms include:
Business Case Models: Biscay uses a structured methodology to justify and evaluate digital and technology projects through standardised business case models. These include the Vision and Scope (Visión y Alcance – VyA) documents, which define project objectives and scope, and two levels of business case models: basic and standard. These instruments ensure that every initiative is supported by a clear value proposition, cost-benefit analysis, and alignment with strategic priorities. The use of business cases is mandatory for all data, digital, and technology projects, reinforcing accountability and transparency in investment decisions. Lantik oversees the development and compliance of these business cases, ensuring consistency and methodological rigour across the administration.
Integrated Quality Management System (Sistema Integral de Gestión de la Calidad – SIGC): The Integrated Quality Management System (SIGC) is Lantik’s comprehensive framework for quality assurance, designed to guarantee continuous improvement and compliance with functional specifications, legal requirements, and user satisfaction (Figure 2.7). Based on internationally recognised standards, SIGC structures its processes into macroprocedures that cover all organisational activities. A key component is PDS-1, which governs the development, adaptation, and enhancement of software systems, ensuring that applications meet client requirements while minimising service disruption during updates. Additionally, SIGC includes procurement-related processes such as specification drafting, supplier evaluation, and contract monitoring, embedding quality assurance throughout the lifecycle of digital projects and ICT acquisitions.
Annual Contracting Plans (Planes Anuales de Contratación – PAC): Biscay’s digital procurement strategy is operationalised through Annual Contracting Plans (PAC), which outline the planned public procurement activities for each fiscal year. Both the Provincial Council and Lantik publish their respective plans, providing transparency and predictability in ICT acquisitions. These plans detail the scheduling of tenders and framework agreements, enabling efficient resource allocation and strategic purchasing aligned with the Digital Agenda. By consolidating procurement needs into annual plans, Biscay ensures coherence between budgetary planning and technological priorities, fostering a proactive approach to market engagement and supplier management.
Framework Agreements (Acuerdos Marco): Framework agreements are a cornerstone of Biscay’s procurement model, allowing repeated purchases under predefined conditions and reducing administrative burden. These agreements standardise terms for ICT goods and services, ensuring cost efficiency and compliance with quality standards. They are frequently used alongside open public tenders and direct purchases below formal thresholds, providing flexibility while maintaining governance. This mechanism supports agile procurement for evolving digital needs, enabling the administration to respond quickly to technological changes without compromising transparency or competitiveness.
In-House Commissioning (Encargo a Medio Propio): The In-House Commissioning (Encargo a Medio Propio) is an annual agreement through which the Provincial Council entrusts Lantik, its in-house technological arm, with the provision of ICT services. This arrangement covers the development, maintenance, and management of information systems, as well as the implementation of the Council’s ICT policy. Acting as a strategic partner, Lantik delivers integrated solutions and ensures continuity of critical digital services for both the provincial administration and dependent entities. The medio propio model reflects Biscay’s commitment to leveraging internal capabilities for digital transformation while safeguarding efficiency, security, and innovation in public service delivery.
Source: Lantik.
The OECD Digital Government Investment Framework, structured around the pillars of planning, implementation and oversight, offers a recognised standard for ensuring that public sector digital initiatives deliver value and remain aligned with strategic objectives (Figure 2.7). Applying this lens provides an opportunity to assess whether Biscay’s current investment tools and mechanisms comprehensively cover the investment cycle. Evidence suggests that Biscay demonstrates strong coverage of strategic planning through instruments such as business case standards and annual contracting plans, and coherent implementation, supported by quality systems and framework agreements. However, the oversight pillar could be further strengthened to ensure systematic evaluation of outcomes and adaptive governance across the portfolio. These mechanisms could be further reinforced with systematic monitoring, accountability, and agile implementation practices to ensure that investments deliver measurable value. For example, Brazil created the Interoperability Calculator, a tool that assesses the cost and the amount of time required to perform different tasks by the citizen and by the government if interoperability tools were not available. According to the calculator, it is estimated that Brazil saved USD 1 billion between January 2020 and December 202423. Iceland also has developed a tool and methodology that allows an agency or government entity to measure the potential benefits of a process they want to digitise24. Biscay could harness the strong political support to its Digital Agenda, its stable administrative environment, and high internal trust to embed a culture of benefits realisation and ROI-based prioritisation. This discipline would allow Biscay to focus resources on high-value, cross-government enablers (such as shared platforms and data infrastructures) while progressively retiring low-yield legacy systems that drain capacity without generating proportional benefits. ROI in this context is not only financial but also includes social and operational impact, aligning with broader provincial objectives.
Source: (OECD, 2025[2]).
The OECD has recommended establishing robust oversight functions to reinforce accountable and results oriented investments, adopting approaches and policy tools that help report on and monitor investments’ progress and evaluate intended results (OECD, 2025[2]). Monitoring should be understood as a structured discipline for tracking progress, ensuring accountability, and enabling adaptive course correction. It should operate at portfolio level (i.e. looking beyond individual projects and managing the entire set of digital initiatives as a coherent investment portfolio), with proportional checkpoints and independent confidence reviews where needed, to keep initiatives aligned with strategic goals and resilience requirements. For instance, Australia has developed a comprehensive approach to overseeing digital and ICT investments. Its Digital Transformation Agency has been mandated to provide such an oversight function across the administration. To operationalise this function, it developed the Digital and ICT Investment Oversight Framework (IOF), an integrated, whole-of-government framework for managing digital and ICT investments across their lifecycle. The IOF spans the full investment lifecycle through six states: strategic planning to set long-term priorities, prioritisation to rank proposals, contestability to validate alignment and robustness, assurance for delivery oversight, sourcing to secure value-for-money, and operations to monitor real-world performance and inform future decisions (DTA, 2025[18]). At the sub-national level, New South Wales in Australia has also developed a centralised monitoring and accountability framework to govern significant ICT and digital investments across the public sector (Box 2.4), offering a practical example of how this oversight function can be implemented.
The Government of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia, through Digital NSW within the Department of Customer Service, has instituted a robust and centralised monitoring and accountability framework to govern significant ICT and digital investments across the public sector. This framework ensures alignment with strategic priorities, delivers value for money, and proactively manages risk throughout the project lifecycle. All projects exceeding AUD 5 million (around EUR 3 million) are registered with the Department, with high-risk or strategically significant projects below this threshold also subject to oversight. A structured, risk-based approach determines the appropriate level of monitoring, supported by formal mechanisms such as Gateway Reviews (providing independent assessments at key decision points) and Health Checks, which offer rapid, targeted support to address delivery challenges. Continuous monitoring through dashboards and regular engagement enables timely interventions and agile course correction.
Governance is reinforced through Cabinet-level oversight, a cross-agency Digital Transformation Board responsible for the monitoring of the digital strategy and investments, and an AI Review Committee guiding the safe and ethical implementation of artificial intelligence. Between 2017 and 2020, this model delivered a 93% reduction in cost overruns, a 55% decrease in average project costs, and a 17.5% reduction in delivery times. NSW’s approach provides a proven, scalable model for jurisdictions seeking to strengthen monitoring and accountability of digital investments.
Note: These statistics were generated at a point in time (Feb 2021). Due to multiple factors, statistics are not possible to be confirmed or reproduced.
Source: adapted from (OECD, 2025[2]) and based on information provided by the NSW Department of Customer Service.
Biscay is developing initiatives to build a digitally empowered public workforce capable of delivering innovative, citizen-centric services while driving the region’s broader digital transformation. Biscay has launched a comprehensive set of initiatives to strengthen digital competencies among public servants. A cornerstone of this effort is the IKANOS working group, an inter-institutional collaboration led by the Basque Government and joined by the Provincial Council of Biscay, Osakidetza, the University of the Basque Country, and other administrations. This group aims to standardise professional digital profiles across public administrations in the Basque Country, aligning them with the European DigComp framework. Activities include defining digital profiles for administrative roles, mapping tasks and tools, and creating tailored competency pathways to ensure consistent skill development across the public sector. These pathways are complemented by itineraries offered through IVAP, which provide structured training aligned with DigComp standards.
Recruitment processes also embed digital readiness as a prerequisite. Most positions in the Biscay’s Provincial Government require official certifications in office automation tools issued by the Basque Government, alongside specific technology knowledge for certain roles. Certifications such as BAIT and IT Txartela serve as benchmarks for evaluating digital competencies, ensuring candidates possess the necessary skills for modern public service delivery. These certifications, open to all citizens, promote lifelong learning and provide an objective measure for public employment offers, reinforcing Biscay’s commitment to digital literacy across society.
To support continuous learning and practical application, Biscay has deployed DigiLan365, a web-based platform offering resources, manuals, and training materials to foster collaborative work and change management using Microsoft 365 tools. Additionally, the e-government site hosts guides and training sessions on transversal tools for electronic administration. The provincial government also adopted in 2025 a Training Plan that includes, among a wide range of skills, the development of soft and hard technological capabilities adapted to different roles within the administration25. Beyond theoretical learning, Biscay encourages hands-on experience through pilots and innovation projects, enabling civil servants to apply digital skills in real contexts. Initiatives such as GovTech Bizkaia exemplify this approach through an open innovation lab that connects public challenges with startups and technology providers, fostering agile methodologies and cultural change within the administration (see Chapter 5). Through GovTech, multidisciplinary teams co-design solutions, run pilots, and iterate based on user needs, creating a dynamic environment for experimentation and learning. These tools are supplemented by capacity-building initiatives designed to assist newly appointed public servants in navigating digital platforms and adapting to the workplace environment throughout their onboarding process.
The Digital Agenda 2027 also recognises public employees as key enablers of digital government. Under its strategic axis on Government Digital, the agenda includes a dedicated line for ‘Training and Digital Workplace’, which seeks to design future competency profiles, deploy upskilling programmes, and create a modern digital workplace. This involves initiatives for attracting and retaining talent, embedding new technologies into daily workflows, and fostering a culture of continuous learning. The agenda also promotes an action line on ‘Digital Talent’ at a broader population level (beyond public employees), targeting advanced skills in emerging technologies such as AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and IoT, alongside STEAM education to prepare the next generation of professionals. Complementary projects like the technology training site ‘42 Urduliz Bizkaia’ and the ‘Talent Office & Talent House’ aim to position Biscay as a hub for digital talent, offering training, accommodation, and integration services for professionals and students.
A strategic approach for digital talent and skills development
Biscay has made significant progress in embedding digital skills across society and the public service. Prioritising digital capabilities remains essential for sustaining inclusive transformation, improving service delivery, and ensuring resilience in the face of technological change. Regional initiatives such as IKANOS, DigComp-aligned certifications, and internal platforms like DigiLan365 have laid a strong foundation for digital literacy and competence. However, the accelerating pace of innovation and demographic challenges, including an ageing workforce, demand a more strategic and forward-looking approach.
To consolidate progress, Biscay could formulate a comprehensive digital skills and talent strategy for the public service. This strategy could go beyond generic training and emphasise tailored development for distinct groups (e.g. leaders, technical specialists, and frontline staff) while fostering supportive work environments that encourage experimentation and collaboration. Continuous workforce training could be embedded as a cultural norm, complemented by targeted measures of success such as competency benchmarks and performance indicators. These elements echo the OECD Framework for Digital Talent and Skills in the Public Sector (Figure 2.8), which advocates structured pathways, organisational enablers, and robust evaluation mechanisms to ensure impact.
Source: (OECD, 2021[3]).
The provincial government is already taking steps in this direction through the initiative Digital skills of the civil servant of the future. This proposal, pending internal validation, aims to assess baseline profiles, define target digital roles, create competency frameworks, and deploy tailored learning itineraries, supported by recognition and certification mechanisms. Such steps are aligned with international good practice and represent a positive direction for embedding digital skills as a core organisational asset. A comprehensive digital skills and talent strategy for the public service could build in this initiative, together with existing assets. IKANOS can serve as the backbone for competency mapping and inter-institutional co-ordination, while DigComp-based certifications like BAIT and IT-Txartela provide standardised validation of skills. Internal initiatives such as DigiLan365 and the Provincial Training Plan could be scaled to support collaborative learning and digital workplace adoption. Crucially, Biscay must anticipate workforce renewal by designing pipelines that hedge against ageing and guarantee continuity, through partnerships with educational institutions, targeted recruitment, and reskilling programmes for emerging technologies.
Experimentation as a key component of digital skills development
These initiatives could be further strengthened by more explicitly linking skills development to structured opportunities to testing, learning and iterating with digital technologies. Several ongoing projects in Biscay already move in this direction. The Digital Agenda 2027 includes the Bizkaia Lab action line, which provides spaces for piloting prototypes, proofs of concept and services. As part of it, the Provincial Government has engaged in collaborations with the private sector to encourage technological experimentation, such as the Bizkaia Connected Corridor26 for testing mobility technologies, and the BIQAIN strategy for quantum technologies, even if the latter is primarily focused on industrial rather than governmental applications.
These initiatives operate within a broader ecosystem of experimentation and innovation where the public sector plays an active or collaborative role, including projects such as BAIDATA, the Basque Artificial Intelligence Centre (BAIC) and the GAIA cluster, which are oriented to digital technologies, and the B Accelerator Tower (BAT)27, the Nagusi Intelligence Center28 and the Energy Intelligence Center29, which target other sectors and engage a broader business community. The Provincial Government has leveraged this ecosystem through the GovTech programme as a channel to bring this momentum into the public sector, enabling public organisations to get closer to technological experimentation and adopt more agile and problem‑oriented ways of working. However cultural and organisational barriers persist and can still constrain uptake, particularly institutional inertia (e.g. preference for familiar options and suppliers) and perceived transaction costs of piloting and iteration (see Chapter 5 for an extended discussion).
Consequently, Biscay could place stronger emphasis within a digital skills and talent strategy for the public service on (i) building public servants’ experimentation skills (e.g. problem framing, user research, prototyping, evaluation and iteration), (ii) creating enabling conditions that make experimentation a normal part of delivery rather than an exceptional activity, and (iii) on fostering a culture of experimentation that encourages innovation, tolerates well‑managed risk and supports collaboration. Existing efforts, such as communities of practice and networking spaces (e.g. GovTech Breakfasts), provide a promising foundation, but they would benefit from more structural, role-sensitive incentives and supports. Biscay could extend the lessons and practices learned in the GovTech programme to all departments and align them systematically with the emerging digital skills and talent strategy for the public service. Experimentation could be treated as a core professional capability of all public servants, embedded across everyday administrative practice. Potential measures include:
Conducting a diagnostic assessment of the culture of experimentation to identify institutional and behavioural bottlenecks and opportunities for change.
Integrating measurable experimentation objectives into performance agreements for managers, including recognition and rewards for learning from experiments as well as for successful outcomes.
Protecting time for experimentation (e.g. a defined allocation each quarter) and providing micro-budgets so that experimentation is not perceived as “too time-consuming”.
Strengthening “experimentation skills” through more frequent training, coaching and peer learning.
Designate senior executives to visibly champion, support and sponsor experimentation across the administration, signalling that taking managed risks and learning from failure is encouraged.
Establishing safe and accountable experimentation practices by implementing a simple, cross‑government documentation standard (e.g. hypotheses, baselines, success metrics, ethical/privacy checks, and stop/scale decision rules) for digital or service‑related experiments that meet certain size thresholds or exhibit significant learning potential.
Institutionalising simple learning loops (e.g. each pilot produces a short learning note and quarterly show-and-tells), so evidence is shared and reused across teams.
In line with the first pillar of the OECD Framework for Digital Talent and Skills in the Public Sector, such measures would help align incentives, capabilities and organisational conditions, thereby consolidating a culture of safe experimentation with digital technologies as a normal part of how Biscay designs and improves public services.
References
[21] Atxutegi, A. (2025), Bizkaia se apoya en la Inteligencia Artificial para anticiparse a las necesidades de sus mayores, https://www.deia.eus/bizkaia/2025/11/24/bizkaia-apoya-inteligencia-artificial-anticiparse-mayores-dependientes-necesidades-10390129.html (accessed on 15 January 2026).
[17] Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (2020), Making Innovation Real - Delivering Today, Shaping Tomorrow, https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/publications/making-innovation-real-delivering-today-shaping-tomorrow/ (accessed on 19 November 2025).
[18] DTA (2025), Digital and ICT Investment Oversight Framework, https://www.digital.gov.au/investment.
[23] Etxanobe Landajuela, E. and P. Biscay (2023), Bizkaia Denontzat. Plan de mandato 2023-2027, https://www.bizkaia.eus/documents/842933/17352503/BIZKAIA+DENONTZAT.+PLAN+DE+MANDATO+2023-2027act2.pdf/ff783acf-17db-f9d1-3e5c-b90da58c231f?t=1736843963953 (accessed on 2 July 2025).
[8] Eurostat (2025), Living conditions statistics at regional level, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Living_conditions_statistics_at_regional_level#People_at_risk_of_poverty (accessed on 16 January 2025).
[5] Eurostat (2025), Regional accounts - an analysis of the economy for NUTS level 3 regions, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Regional_accounts_-_an_analysis_of_the_economy_for_NUTS_level_3_regions.
[10] Eustat (2022), Panorama estadístico de las personas mayores 2022, https://en.eustat.eus/panoramaestadisticodelaspersonasmayores/2022/poblacion.html#:~:text=En%20el%20a%C3%B1o%202021%2C%20el,%2C2%20%25%20en%20los%20hombres.
[6] INE (2024), Atlas de distribución de renta de los hogares (Serie 2015-2023), Índice de Gini y Distribución de la renta P80/P20, https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Datos.htm?t=53688 (accessed on 16 January 2025).
[9] INE (2023), Tasa de paro por CCAA y periodo, https://www.ine.es/jaxi/Datos.htm?path=/t00/ICV/dim2/l0/&file=21201.px (accessed on 16 January 2025).
[11] OECD (2026), “Digital Government Index and Open, Useful and Re-usable Data Index: 2025 Results and Key Findings”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 90, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6347ec74-en.
[2] OECD (2025), “Effectively Managing Investments in Digital Government: An OECD Policy Framework”, OECD Public Governance Policy Papers, No. 76, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5c324e91-en.
[19] OECD (2025), Governing with Artificial Intelligence: The State of Play and Way Forward in Core Government Functions, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/795de142-en.
[7] OECD (2024), Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2024: The Geography of Generative AI, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/83325127-en.
[4] OECD (2021), The E-Leaders Handbook on the Governance of Digital Government, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ac7f2531-en.
[1] OECD (2021), The E-Leaders Handbook on the Governance of Digital Government, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ac7f2531-en.
[3] OECD (2021), “The OECD Framework for digital talent and skills in the public sector”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 45, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4e7c3f58-en.
[16] OECD/CAF (2022), The Strategic and Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector of Latin America and the Caribbean, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1f334543-en.
[13] Provincial Council of Biscay (2026), Departamento de Administración Pública y Relaciones Institucionales, https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/administracion-publica-y-relaciones-institucionales#com_liferay_journal_content_web_portlet_JournalContentPortlet_INSTANCE_vdH4GrmivnmVbipo_contenedor_pestanias5 (accessed on 11 February 2026).
[12] Provincial Council of Biscay (2025), “BOLETÍN OFICIAL DE BIZKAIA, No. 71”, BOLETÍN OFICIAL DE BIZKAIA, https://www.bizkaia.eus/lehendakaritza/Bao_bob/2025/04/11/I-433_cas.pdf?hash=4779b5dae09a0efad22736b&Dep=7&Idioma=CA (accessed on 15 January 2026).
[22] Provincial Council of Biscay (2024), Agenda Digital de Bizkaia 2027.
[14] Provincial Council of Biscay (2024), Agenda Digital de Bizkaia 2027, https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/estrategia-digital/agenda-digital (accessed on 11 February 2026).
[20] The World Economic Forum/OECD (2025), AI in Strategic Foresight: Reshaping Anticipatory Governance, The World Economic Forum, Cologny, https://doi.org/10.1787/aa573076-en.
[15] Tõnurist, P. and J. Orlik (2025), “Towards anticipatory governance guidelines for public sector organisations”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 82, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a5203d0b-en.
← 1. GDP per inhabitant expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS). For a methodological explanation see Eurostat (2025[5]).
← 2. BAIDATA acts like the Iberian node of the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) network. It adopts and promotes IDSA’s standards and reference architecture for secure, interoperable, and sovereign data exchange. For more information, see https://www.baidata.eu/.
← 6. The “Concierto Económico” is a fiscal agreement between the Basque Country and the Spanish State, dating back to the 19th century and reinstated after 1978. It grants the Basque institutions full authority to collect and manage most taxes, while paying a quota to the State for national-level services. This arrangement is constitutionally protected and forms the basis of Basque fiscal autonomy.
← 8. “Institutionalisation” in this context refers to the process of moving a dependent person from home care into a residential care facility or institution (such as a nursing home or long-term care centre). The project resulted from an innovation challenge launched by the Department of Social Protection and Beaz, a public enterprise from Biscay. For more information see https://socinfodigital.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20230116_DocumentoBiok_Premios_SoCinfo-1OK.pdf and (Atxutegi, 2025[21]).
← 11. These projects involve collaborations with engineering faculties to design algorithms and digital solutions that improve mobility planning. Some of the ongoing initiatives described by the Department of Transport during the fact-finding mission included the integration of GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification standard) data for accurate arrival times; AI-based prediction of bus occupancy to anticipate saturation; pilots for demand-responsive transport in rural areas; or big data and machine learning applied to optimise fleet assignment and reduce emissions.
← 12. The Culture Department has been developing initiatives in partnership with faculties of journalism and cultural studies to create immersive experiences and leverage open cultural data, both for research and recreational purposed. Some of these include the digitalisation and virtualisation of cultural assets such as the Santimamiñe cave and the OMA forest (https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/web/bosque-oma-basoa/descubre-las-obras#OMA-Visita-libre), the virtualisation of archaeological sites like the Castro de Arrola site (https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/web/comunicacion/noticias/-/news/detailView/19422), and the participation in the Europeana digital heritage programme of the EU through the Euskariana platform (https://www.euskariana.euskadi.eus/euskadibib/es/home/home.do).
← 18. The Federal Public Service, Policy and Support (FPS- BOSA) assists the government, supports employees of government services with a wide range of expertise, services and training in various domains, including IT, HR, organizational management, integrity policy and public procurement. See https://bosa.belgium.be/en.
← 20. Biscay undertakes a range of prospective actions such as strategic advisory services through Gartner and regular inspirational sessions such as Talks and Breakfasts aimed at fostering innovation and knowledge exchange. Lantik’s innovation and technology teams also carry out systematic technology scouting and trend analysis to identify emerging opportunities. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat of the Digital Agenda conducts structured foresight activities, complemented by strategic and technological benchmarking and continuous monitoring of digital transformation indicators and their strategic impact. To promote awareness and adoption of disruptive technologies, Biscay publishes Bizkaiatech, a reference technology magazine designed to disseminate knowledge and stimulate innovation across sectors.
← 23. https://www.gov.br/governodigital/pt-br/infraestrutura-nacional-de-dados/interoperabilidade/calculadora-de-impacto
← 24. https://island.is/en/o/digital-iceland/benefits-of-digital-processes/digital-processes-benefits
← 25. https://ifas.bizkaia.eus/fitxategiak/dokumentuak/artxiboak/TABLON%20DE%20ANUNCIOS/2025/JG%20Julio/PLAN%20DE%20FORMACION%202025%20JUNTA%20DE%20GOBIERNO.pdf?hash=c8a78a6dcce628049c390a2e67bf1c1a
← 28. The NIC is a strategic project of Provincial Government focused on exploring businesses and knowledge around aging, health, and long-term care. It is led by the Departments of Social Action and of Economic Promotion, together with the General Secretariat of Co-ordination. See https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/web/nic.
← 29. The EIC is a public private initiative created with the objective of developing new energy generation models. See https://www.investinbiscay.com/es/energy-intelligence-center-bizkaia.