This study provides an assessment of how the “innovation ecosystems” in Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands support the use of emerging technologies for citizen participation. These innovation ecosystems consist of the network of actors that work together to develop new technologies, products, or services to achieve common shared goals, in this case to enhance citizen participation.
This study highlights specific features of these three national ecosystems, identifying their strengths and weaknesses:
In Portugal, public sector actors, particularly municipalities, are pivotal in creating demand and incentives for emerging technologies in participatory processes. However, the use of such technologies remains relatively limited.
In Spain, a segmented ecosystem sees local governments and civil society organisations playing leading roles in fostering technology-enabled participation, often tailored to specific regional or sectoral needs.
In the Netherlands, close-knit relationships among public, private, academic, and civil society actors underpin a collaborative ecosystem where the private sector often leads the development and implementation of participatory technologies, with municipalities acting as key promoters and supporters.
The analysis also provides insights into the functioning of these innovation ecosystems in general:
National and regional government bodies provide an enabling environment for the development, adoption, and use of emerging technologies for citizen participation through policy guidance, regulatory frameworks (e.g. experimentation enablers) and incentive mechanisms. However, actors working on citizen participation and emerging technologies in all three countries point out that national governments could provide more support for technology development for citizen participation.
Local governments, particularly municipalities, are key drivers in the ecosystem across all three countries given their proximity with citizen needs and demands for participation. They channel demand, funding, and opportunities to experiment with new approaches for citizen participation, regularly collaborating with actors from the private, civil society and academic sectors.
National and international networks nurture such ecosystems by enabling the exchange of new ideas and approaches to develop new technologies for citizen participation. Portugal's Network for Participative Municipalities (RAP) and the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) in the Netherlands promote and support such knowledge exchanges. At the international level, networks such the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), raise the profile of technology-enabled participatory approaches and provide frameworks for action.
However, the actors in the ecosystems in the three countries identified common challenges such as the need to formulate a strategic direction for the adoption of emerging technologies for participation at the national level; concerns over digital inclusion; and limited public sector capacities for managing technological participatory processes. To address these issues:
National governments can offer clearer strategic direction, define shared standards, and provide sustainable funding support for the ecosystem. The creation of co-ordination bodies to connect actors at different levels and ensure coherence could help strengthen the ecosystem.
Local governments can draw on the support of network organisations to drive innovation, share knowledge and experiences to enable the replication and scaling-up of good practices. Experimentation labs and other safe spaces for innovation (e.g. hubs) can enhance public sector capabilities to facilitate, develop and implement new technological initiatives for participation.
The ecosystem can capitalize on networks for multi-sectoral collaboration at the intra- and inter-national level to foster knowledge-sharing and scale up existing initiatives. Technology for citizen participation should be developed following ethical guidelines and with guardrails in place to ensure inclusion and accessibility.
This systemic mapping identifies the main actors and the web of relationships and connections among the innovation ecosystems in Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands. Its value lies in drawing out these relationships and respective characteristics, highlighting barriers and enablers, and providing key insights to help governments harness their innovation ecosystem in using emerging technologies for citizen participation.
