WeGovNow at the Open Government Week in Turin

The Open Government Week is a unique seven-day event full of conferences workshops, webinars, hackathons and public debates initiated across Italy – all dedicated to promoting a culture and practice of transparency, participation and accountability both in public administrations and among citizens. On the occasion of the second edition, which took place from February 5-11 2018, WeGovNow partner and pilot site City of Turin has contributed by organising a public discussion on 8 February at Open Incet, the Open Innovation Center of Turin.

In keeping with the meeting’s title “Trasparanza, Partecipazione, Nuove Interazioni” (transparency, participation, new interactions), the city had the opportunity to discuss the importance of innovation, participation and data privacy in the context of digital citizenship with a dedicated audience. The event has been initiated in collaboration with the University of Turin and introduced various projects and technologies implemented by the municipal administration to improve and foster civic engagement in decision making processes. Alberto Rudellat, representative of the WeGovNow project for the City of Turin, presented the civic engagement platform and its functionalities and capabilities as a new way to interact with citizens, starting a constructive debate with the attendees, these including interested citizens as well as representatives from public authorities, universities, businesses and civil society organisations.

The event in Turin has been an excellent opportunity to raise awareness for the importance of transforming public administration processes, and for the constructive stimulus European projects – such as WeGovNow – can initiate among municipal governments. At the same time, the debate once again emphasised the centrality of everyone’s contribution to develop a culture characterised by the values of transparency, participation and innovation not only within public administrations but across the whole society.