Bridging Social Gaps: The Impact of Digital Social Innovation through Living Labs

Digital social innovation (DSI) responds to the challenges of today's society through digital technologies. The methodology used is that of Living Lab (LL) or open innovation ecosystems in which the different actors of the Quadruple Helix (i.e. academia, government, industry and civil society) define, co-create and co-design a solution or improvement in a coordinated, consensual and collaborative way to respond to the challenge.

Based on DSI and LL, “Col·laboratori Catalunya” was created in 2019 by the i2CAT Foundation together with the Government of Catalonia to respond to territorial challenges and create specific LLs in different parts of the region to address needs that are sometimes even specific to these areas. Moreover, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the different activities and challenges, the need to create a specific thematic LL on “health and well-being” was detected as a common demand throughout Catalonia. This was the starting point for the creation of the INTEGER project with EU Horizon funds in January 2023 to generate an ecosystem in 3 European regions (Hamburg, Krakow and Catalonia) to respond to challenges through DSI in the field of health and wellbeing intra- and inter-regionally.

For the sustainability of the LLs, a model with two main pillars is being implemented: structural public funding and project-based (public-private) funding. Thus, in July 2023 and with the accumulated expertise, i2CAT together with the Fonds de Développement du Service Universel des Télécommunications (FDSUT) have started to create 4 LLs in Senegal to stimulate the reduction of digital and gender gaps and the promotion of democratic rights, considering geographical, cultural and economic differences. Currently, different trainings regarding LLs have been carried out both on-site and online (2 of these 4 LLs have already been created) and all the actors involved are working on the definition of research and innovation projects.