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Abstract :
[en] The adoption of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain remains a challenging task for the public sector. The difficulty lies not only in the digital transformation of the operational processes of administrations, but also in the multiplicity of involved actors who tend to display a variety of viewpoints, interests, and knowledge regarding these technologies and their governance. In this context, a growing amount of theoretical and empirical work suggests that solutions to complex public problems can be supported by collaborative and participative processes (e.g., Torfing, 2019; Bryson et al., 2015; Hartley et al., 2013; Sørensen & Torfing, 2011). However, it is still unclear which specific tools may successfully enable the development of forms of co-creation and collaborative innovation on public sector digital transformation. In this contribution, we argue that living labs (Gascó, 2017) appear as promising tools to foster collaborative innovation on the issue of public sector digitalization. More specifically, we show that they can contribute to the co-production of relevant collaborative innovation outputs that may help overcoming challenges associated with public sector digitalization. Such outputs are presented as: (1) E-government public value outputs (Twizeyimana & Andersson, 2019); (2) Collectively owned outputs, which reflect joint ownership of new ideas and solutions (e.g., Torfing, 2019; Hartley et al, 2013) for public sector digitalization; (3) Actionable outputs, which can support decision-making on real-life problems using context-bound practical ideas (Carlile, 2002). To that end, we draw on findings from the DIGI4FED living lab which involved a total of 108 public and private stakeholders with the ambition of co-creating a governance model for the introduction of new technologies in two Belgian federal policy domains: the fight against tax fraud and social security infringements. The living lab was deployed in three steps (exploration, co-creation, and testing) articulating several qualitative and participatory techniques such as interviews, workshops, and a Delphi survey. Results indicate that collaborative innovation outputs were delivered through each step of the process. For instance, several collectively owned outputs were highlighted. Living lab workshops permitted to collectively identify and settle on a list of key challenges and solutions to the integration of new technologies in federal administrations. The collective input of stakeholders then allowed for the construction of a governance model for the introduction of new technologies in federal administrations. The present contribution adds to the literature on collaborative innovation (e.g., Torfing, 2019; Crosby et al., 2017; Hartley et al., 2013) and public sector digital transformation by outlining the possible outputs of collaborative innovation processes in the context of a living lab. More specifically, it demonstrates the usefulness of living labs as an approach that leverages participatory and co-creation techniques to support collaborative innovation processes on public sector digitalization. This paper also suggests that living labs can produce a large amount of situated empirical knowledge about the current dynamics of digital transformation in the public sector. In doing so, they generate valuable academic knowledge characterized by a high degree of ecological validity for public administration research (Dekker et al., 2020).
