Digital Social Innovation in Catalonia: The Col·laboratori Cat Sud experience

11/06/2020

What are collaboratories? What is the purpose of a universal digital innovation ecosystem? How can citizens take part in such a transformation?

The i2CAT Foundation is working to accelerate the adoption of universal innovation ecosystems through the Digital Citizenship Lab project, an initiative by the Ministry for Digital Policy and Public Administration of the Government of Catalonia which aims at deploying functional labs and collaboratories in Catalonia. These structures will grant digital citizen sovereignty and create new rights and responsibilities for a new era, promoting innovation throughout entire territories and reaching citizens beyond cities.

The Cat Sud Collaboratory is the first pilot program put in place to test the definition and construction of new structures for digital social innovation. On June 11th, the promoters and participants of Col·laboratori Cat Sud presented the work and results of this first experience in an online event. Attendees learned about this pilot collaboratory, its activities, the work of labs, and about real experiences of cooperation.

Collaboratori Cat Sud presentation

Noemí Llauradó Sans, President of the Diputació de Tarragona; Maria José Figueras, Rector of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Jordi Puigneró, Minister for Digital Policy and Public Administration of the Government of Catalonia and president of the i2CAT Foundation welcomed attendees to the session. Mr. Puigneró stressed that:

“Catalonia needs to become an innovation lab and a digital country, including the whole territory in this innovation scheme”

Artur Serra, i2CAT’s deputy director, and Sergi Figuerola, its CTIO, represented the center in the event. Mr. Serra explained the concept of labs and collaboratories, its history and impact, and highlighted digital social innovation as a tool to create new structures that will reach citizens throughout Catalonia. Mr. Figuerola, for his part, reminded attendees that research in innovative digital technologies needs to change and adapt to the needs of societies. Projects like the Digital Citizenship Lab and the Cat Sud Col·laboratory are the means to reach these goals.

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This event has been co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of the Programa Operatiu FEDER de Catalunya 2014-2020 and under the “Impuls de la Transformació Digital i Mobile” project (GO10-010783)