How Innovation Ecosystems Foster Citizen Participation Using Emerging Technologies in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands

1. What are innovation ecosystems and why are they relevant to promote the use of emerging technologies for citizen participation?

Abstract

This chapter introduces the concept of innovation ecosystems as essential frameworks for promoting the use of emerging technologies in citizen participation. It outlines the objectives of the study, emphasizing the importance of mapping these ecosystems to support public administrations in fostering inclusive and effective participatory practices. The chapter also explains the relevance of innovation ecosystems for addressing governance challenges and identifies the benefits of leveraging cross-sector collaboration. It concludes with an overview of the methodology used for the systemic mapping approach applied in this study.

As governments grapple with declining public trust and new demands for citizens to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, actors from across the public sector and broader society are working together to develop new approaches to engage the public in the design of the policies and services that affect them. The OECD Trust Survey identified that the highest trust gaps originate from the perception of citizens’ lack of say in their government actions, where among those who feel they have a voice in government matters, 69% reported trusting their government, while only 22% reported the same from those who felt they did not have a voice (OECD, 2024[1]). In the OECD’s Exploring New Frontiers of Citizen Participation in the Policy Cycle, recommended actions for meaningful participation are embedding citizen participation in policymaking, lowering the barriers to citizen participation, and raising administrative capacity (OECD, 2024[2]). The recent Monitoring Report of the OECD Reinforcing Democracy Initiative (RDI) invites countries to make use of emerging technologies to promote more inclusive participation, build public service capacities, and lower barriers to participation for citizens (OECD, 2024[3]). Recent work has further clarified the role emerging technologies can play in improving citizen participation, presenting replicable solutions to reduce barriers to participation, increase government capacities and ensure accountability (OECD, 2025[4]).

Public administrations provide the demand and legitimacy for citizen participation, yet successful participation initiatives which use digital technologies are the results of the contribution of expertise, relationships and motivations coming from a broad array of actors (OECD, 2023[5]) (Randma-Liiv, 2022[6]).

The OECD Action Plan on Transforming Public Governance for Digital Democracy suggests that leveraging the ecosystem of emerging technologies for citizen participation can provide a useful toolbox for governments to respond to opportunities and challenges of digitalisation for democracies (OECD, 2024[3]).

This study offers an illustrative example of the role played by innovation ecosystems in promoting the use of digital technologies for citizens participation. Through applying a systemic mapping approach to three distinct national contexts, the study draws out the web of relationships between actors engaged in the development, adaptation, and use of emerging technologies and citizen participation. This web of connections is known as the innovation ecosystem of emerging technologies for citizen participation. An innovation ecosystem is comprised of networks of actors which share a common goal (OECD, 2022[7]) – in this case the enhancement of citizen participation through emerging technologies. The actors of the ecosystem are classified along the ‘Quadruple Helix’ for innovation, as either public sector, private sector, academia, or civil society organisations (Curley and Salmelin, 2013[8]).

Innovation ecosystems emerge and are shaped in response to external and internal factors and see different actors performing distinct roles. The ecosystem performance is dependent on the way in which participating actors can coordinate their resources, capabilities, and expertise to establish and sustain an environment in which technology-enabled citizen participation can flourish. In the case of citizen participation, it is also shaped by the legal, regulatory, political, and institutional arrangements of public institutions in which they take place. Understanding what each actor can contribute and identifying enablers and challenges for effective action and collaboration can enable ecosystem actors (including the public administration) to create beneficial links and address frictions that impede innovation and implementation.

Regarding the specific scope of this study, existing literature shows that identification of opportunities for citizen participation and pressure to take into consideration citizen input often comes from civil society actors (Steinbach, Sieweke and Süß, 2019[9]) that are able to lever a culture of innovation and experimentation in public administration (Medina-García, de la Fuente and Van den Broeck, 2021[10]). For the development of technological innovations for citizen participation, an open and co-creative approach can help to address institutional biases that may occur in the top-down development of technologies by the public sector (Skaržauskienė and Mačiulienė, 2020[11]) and ensure that citizen participation initiatives are inclusive and considered legitimate by participating citizens. Collaboration with private sector, academic and civil society actors can be crucial to help strengthen public sector capacities for technological innovation, while other non-governmental organisations such as foundations are able to provide funding to develop and experiment with new approaches for citizen participation (Grobbink and Peach, 2020[12]).

1.1. Scope and objectives

This study is drafted under the project “Improving civic participation with emerging technologies” that Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain lead with the support from the European Commission under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI). The project supports Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain in improving citizen participation through emerging technologies, fostering the ability of public administrations to explore the potential benefits of these technologies for citizen participation.

The main purpose for this study is to showcase how innovation ecosystems can be used to catalyse the development of emerging technologies to improve citizen participation. Through a systemic mapping applied to Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, this study draws out the relationships between key stakeholders, highlights barriers and enablers, and gives insights on the opportunities and challenges that Governments must navigate to work with innovation ecosystem actors across the public, private, civil society and academic sectors. This study offers an illustrative example of a methodological approach that can be further refined and consolidated, while providing already a dedicated support to this project objectives.

This study adopted a mixed-methods research strategy that employed desk research, surveys (Systemic Mapping Survey), interviews and workshops in the three countries (see Annex A for an overview of the research objectives and methods), allowing for the comparative assessment of effective practices and common challenges in these contexts. The generation of networks maps, using a specific software, allows for the visualisation of relevant actors and connections in each country with a view of framing and sharpening the analysis of the innovation ecosystems. The actionable recommendations for governments are sustained on evidence-based insights from this systemic mapping approach.

1.2. Focus and structure

The focal points of this study are the ecosystems of actors with potential to contribute to the development of emerging technology for citizen participation in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. For that reason, the study is structured in the following manner:

• Chapter 1 answers the question What are innovation ecosystems and why are they relevant to promote the use of emerging technologies for citizen participation? This introduction sets out the objectives for the study and explains why mapping innovation ecosystems is valuable for governments and ecosystem actors.

• Then, Chapter 2, titled Innovation ecosystems for citizen participation and emerging technology: insights from Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, features deep dives into each country’s ecosystem. This chapter explores each of the national ecosystems for citizen participation, providing detail on the context for citizen participation and emerging technology in each country, an overview of the configuration of the ecosystem, information on the roles played by different actors, and highlights leverage points for governments to enhance the development of citizen participation and emerging technologies.

• Finally, Chapter 3, What can governments do to improve the innovation ecosystem for citizen participation using emerging technology? provides a comparative assessment of the ecosystems in each country and identifies actions that public administrations can use to enhance innovation ecosystems for citizen participation using emerging technology that are of relevance more broadly. It concludes with potential future directions for this research.

• The Annexes of the study include a brief description of the methodology adopted for these systemic mappings (3Annex A), with the expectation that these field explorations in three countries can provide a demonstrative example of their value and lay the ground for the further refinement and consolidation of this approach to innovation ecosystems. It also includes a glimpse of the cross-national ecosystem at the European level (3Annex B) that presents an overview of challenges and opportunities for the development and improvement of participatory technologies, as identified in the collaborative session organized with international actors to explore and translate the realities of cross-border initiatives.

• A Glossary is featured at the end of this publication to define key terms and concepts used.