How public authorities can accelerate and drive the digital transformation in their area?

Local and regional public authorities have an important role to play in facilitating and accelerating the digital transformation in their areas. By creating an environment that helps speed up the digital transformation of businesses, administration and citizens, public authorities can create momentum and an ecosystem conducive to innovation.

When businesses, people and associations adopt new types of technology, it generates new demands and requirements, along with tailored infrastructures. Cities and municipalities will then need to adapt to these changes, which are in the process of revolutionising the global economy.

In order to encourage the creation of an ecosystem about the city that favours interactions between stakeholders, the ‘Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship’ has identified four main qualities and 12 key factors for successfully implementing a digital transformation.

First of all, the city needs leadership and visionaries who understand the issues and are committed to engaging in digital initiatives. These leaders must be capable of championing a clear vision and sharing it with their organisation. This long-term vision allows local authorities to adapt their digital strategy in line with the major issues facing the city, but it needs to be shared by the city’s different stakeholders:

• Companies that see potential revenue in it and who are seeking new opportunities and new business models.
• Academic institutions and research centres that are fundamental for training tomorrow’s digital talent.
• Citizens should be considered more as partners by involving them more in decisions.

Leadership at regional level is not only for a public representative, as there are plenty of examples where a large company is driving the digital transformation. Cooperation between stakeholders is a vital issue, and the most efficient way of getting companies to work together is to focus on the ‘in-between spaces’, namely areas of interaction and therefore of cooperation. This requires participants to display openness, have a good understanding of what each other can offer, and be committed to building and innovating together.

It’s also essential for the right digital talent to be present in the region, in order to meet the needs of businesses, universities, public bodies and research centres. The city or municipality needs to attract and train this talent, making an acquisition strategy a major priority. Setting up incubators, clusters and accelerators helps to attract different types of talent from around the world. Beyond the ‘digital native’ generation, implementing intergenerational programmes will also help prevent older generations from being affected by ‘digital fracturing’. The goal being targeted in this regard is 3G strategies that will encourage all generations to work together and learn from one another.

Europe, Belgium and Wallonia need entrepreneurs to accelerate the digital transformation process, who may be active at social, economic, cultural or political level. Developing an entrepreneurial culture is the fruit of a lengthy process that starts at an early age. Implementing the right tools must also need to be a priority for public authorities.

By encouraging the setting up of living labs, cities and municipalities are facilitating the testing of innovative solutions, which, combined with the accessibility of city data, create an environment favourable to innovation.

Finally, the infrastructure remains an essential pillar without which any claim to be a connected area is just an illusion. Infrastructure here means bandwidth, Wi-Fi, cloud computing, an IOT network, etc. As you’ll have gathered, public authorities have a key role to play and need to get to grips with the issue of their area’s digitisation by proposing ambitious targets and committing to a lengthy transformation process.

For more details: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8820

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