Shaping the Welfare Society: Unleashing Transformation Through ICT-Enabled Social Innovation

This chapter is set to provoke a debate on how to envision the future of welfare systems, with a specific focus on the European society. To this end, building on the discussion of the man trends and implications of the digital transformation on social protection systems, an institutional perspective to navigate through the social innovation narrative emerged in the last decade, with a particular attention to the role of Information and Communication Technologies to shape a new generation of social services and design policies to foster more resilient communities is proposed. The chapter goes on debating the drivers of change and possible governance innovation mechanisms required for addressing the macro-trends identified and defines two main dimensions of impact directing the future social development of our societies. These will be characterized by the trade-off between stability and change on the one side, and openness and engagement in the digital world. Within this context solidarity and collaboration emerge as key values upon which welfare production mechanisms will be built and resulting in a mix of welfare arrangements based on competition, cooperation and partnership models. The resulting scenarios are then presented, depicting four possible future welfare systems as thought-provoking proposals. While the Collaborative Multi-Layer-Nested Welfare Model represents somehow the ideal scenario to which we should aspire, how to reach such a future is not easy to be answered. Some suggestions are however outlined in the conclusions of the chapter, where it emerges clear that new governance systems and a profound institutional redesign are needed to address old and new societal challenges and make sure that collectively we can build a more resilient welfare society, where solidarity, openness and cohesion are the keyword for a renewed inclusive growth, which take advantage of the potential of digital technologies combined with social innovation and innovative financial mechanisms.

The Role of ICT-Enabled Social Enterprise for Promoting Social Investment

Europe is facing unprecedented challenges, from globalisation to migratory flows, changing family structures, ageing populations, inequality and social exclusion, unemployment, and so on. To meet these challenges, we need to modernise EU social protection systems by expanding the social investment dimension of social spending, while taking advantage of technological advancements and multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive change in the welfare system. Within this context, this chapter focuses on the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) enabled social enterprises for promoting social investment. First, we outline the social enterprise landscape in Europe, going beyond fuzzy concepts to highlight the key characteristics of social enterprises that make them important for social change. Second, we outline key ways in which social enterprises are using ICT in their activities to achieve varied socio-economic goals: from using social media to scale up, to improving organisational management, and expanding service offerings in healthcare, education, the labour market, and other social fields. Our analysis is based on findings from our study on the role of social enterprises in delivering ICT enabled social innovation initiatives promoting social investment approaches, carried out by the authors in the framework of the European Commission’s ICT-Enabled Social Innovation (IESI) project. (See https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/iesi.) We find that ICT-enabled social enterprises are particularly important for social investment, given their ability to combine technological and social innovation, and their focus on meeting community-specific needs that can be scaled up. We encourage research and policy commitments to further test and validate how social enterprises can catalyse public-private partnerships for the delivery of public goods to safeguard our Social Europe.

Digitalising Public Employment Services: Benefit to Social Justice in the Labour Market?

A basic strand in the mission of Public Employment Services is promoting labour market transparency, which is considered of importance for reducing unemployment and for improving patterns of labour allocation in several other ways. Self-evidently therefore, always a strong connection existed between PES operations and information and communication technology. Already the organization itself can be considered a social specimen of such technology. The ICT revolution of recent decades positively influenced general market transparency with a variety of easily accessible market places on the Internet. It also brought innovations to the PES. It changed the content of its services and the formats of their delivery. These things happened around Europe. Here the Dutch case is presented in more detail. ICT-induced innovations are followed over three subsequent stages from mid ‘80s onward. While the transformation of services was impressive and PES played a part in the increasing labour market transparency, its role in labour allocation has not noticeably strengthened. Its market share did not really increase. Neither did its contribution to less unemployment and/or a more equitably distributed entrance to job opportunities. Nevertheless, unexploited opportunities for the latter may still exist. Some are suggested for further exploration.

Maximizing the Role of Digital Social Innovation in Building the Future of Social Protection Systems

Social protection systems are in a major process of transformation. Solutions from the past are no longer valid, or at least valid without important adaptations, to address future adequacy, sustainability, and quality of social protections systems. Ageing, changes in the world of work and in the evolving aspirations of citizens will impact, even more than today, on the features of the welfare of the future. Supporting a social investment approach in the agenda of modernization to be pursued, which recognize the relevant role to be played by social innovation, will be a key aspect of the reforms that are needed. ICTs would help in ensuring cost effective services, reducing fragmentation, and favouring integrated social services. This will be, no doubt, a multi-faceted and complex process, but there are choices that can make a difference in maximizing the potential that ICT, s can bring: An adequate leading role of public authorities and institutions at different territorial levels; a full involvement of all relevant stakeholders in a framework of reinforced and changing relationships; and a strategic outcome-based approach, supported by evidence-outcomes will contribute to unleash this potential. This article analyses, based on relevant successful experiences, some of the major interactions involved in the development and translation of enabling-ICTs to the fulfilment of social policy objectives.

Networks, Communities and Value Chains in Digital Social Innovation for Social Services

This chapter provides strong empirical evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, concerning the use, relevance and impact of digital technology on social innovations for social services, and develops some underpinning conceptual frameworks for understanding this impact. It draws on a wide range of literature plus an examination of 30 successful in-depth case studies in which ICT is a major feature. The chapter analyses the role of ICT in social service value chains, in communities and social capital formation, the network effects, as well as the governance, operational and strategic considerations, drivers, barriers, and policy implications.

Innovation Policies and Big Data: Opportunities and Challenges

Innovation policies are considered to be one of the main tools to turn innovation into wealth, well-being and competitiveness in territories worldwide. However, given the ever-growing data-centered ecosystem where such policies coexist nowadays there is a founded suspicion that traditional methods for policy analysis, design and evaluation begin to fail, particularly when faster and more effective answers to societal paradigms are requested in a context characterized by sharp technological changes and unprecedented economic, scientific, political and social scenario. This chapter addresses the question whether Big Data analytics can become a tool capable of overcoming the current obstacles and adapt the public policy cycle to the new reality as it seems to be happening in the case of the private sector. We also explore if Big Data analytics can be the definitive tool to develop best policy solutions in a subjective, uncertain and dynamic environment, underpinned by different interests, as well as the degree of maturity for its application. To this end this work explores and exposes the role played to date by data in the design of innovation policies, concluding with a reasoned insight on the practical issues and unsolved research challenges that should be surpassed before empowering innovation policy making processes with Big Data analytics.

Perspectives for Digital Social Innovation to Reshape the European Welfare Systems: An Introduction

This chapter summarizes the argument of the book “Perspectives for Digital Social Innovation to reshape the European Welfare Systems”. We consider different and parallel perspectives that can support welfare innovation and namely the rise of information and communication technologies in the public sector, the burgeoning initiatives of social innovation in the welfare sector and social changes challenges to the current welfare settlement. This chapter introduces the terms of the discourse starting from the current debate in EU on new policy trends for social protection and its financing. It discusses nature and effects of digital thinking and connects the long-lasting history of social innovation to its recent interpretation as a complex institutional space that changes “the dominant cognitive frames that frame the social problems”. We describe the theoretical implications and the need for multidisciplinary research in a number of fertile areas. Holistic approaches to welfare innovation, emerging digital technologies and the conditions for DSI to produce structural social change need to be studied in depth. Furthermore, the collection reports many situations in which digital social innovations respond to instances in the welfare sector and contribute to the democratic debate with social experiments. Post-hoc analyzes produce interpretative models that will be useful for informing policy decision-making when political agendas are mature. We intended to recreate the lively debate going on in the field of welfare innovation and represent the many “orders of the discourse” a reader may encounter. The innovation of the book itself concerns the logic of presentation of new theories, descriptive models and empirical cases, and the resonance of the subtexts that run through all the chapters.

Multi-Stakeholder Digital Collaboration and Social Innovation in Social Services: The Cross Project and the Smart Cities

The chapter outlines an overview of the state of social protection in Europe and focuses on a significant component of it, the social services sector and its reform needs. Most social services are provided at the municipality level. Innovation in the cities has recently developed in the framework of the Smart Cities, though the “urban smartness” discourse reveals to be ineffective when marginal conditions are involved. Since the first half of 2010’s Digital Social Innovation (DSI) has proved the capability to create public value. DSI owes much to the vision of the commons which is actively reshaping the relationships between state, market and civil society, and underlining the importance of the non-monetary economy. DSI and commoning are considered by practitioners as a promising approach for delivering social innovation powered by digital technology in the social service sector, since public services can be considered commons. Within this conceptual framework four European cities, Roma, Turin, Seville, Manchester committed in 2012 to the “Citizens Reinforcing Open Smart Synergies” (CROSS) project. CROSS aimed at engaging citizens and creating new synergy between the diverse stakeholders of the social service urban ecosystem, thanks to digital tools, such as social cryptocurrencies, collaboration processes and mobile apps. CROSS provided immediate relief to people in need while trying to convince public administrations to open a new way for co-producing services and change the relevant policies. The chapter reports a successful technological strategy and comments on the nonmonetary contribution of the works in the sector and. Finally, the impact analysis demonstrates how far the initiative has carried benefits to many citizens and social care professionals, has combined social and economic value creation, as well as it has empowered the cities with the opportunity of data-driven policy making.

Positive Innovation Networks

In this contribution, we introduce the concept of Positive Innovation Networks (PINs) as a framework to understand processes of co-creation and open collaboration involved in digital social innovation. Drawing on positive psychology, an emerging field focused on the empirical investigation of optimal human functioning, we deconstruct two assets that PINs can leverage to achieve transformative social change: networked flow and positive psychological capital. Networked flow is an optimal group experience that can unlock the creative potential of a PIN by maximizing the “we-intention” of its members. Positive psychological capital refers to the capacity of a PIN’s core team to accrue and spread hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. We show how these positive psychological resources can be measured and developed for improving PIN performance. Finally, we summarize the key traits of PINs and illustrate them through a case study.

ICT-Enabled Social Innovation in Children’s Services

ICT has become increasingly prevalent in the development and provision of social services for children and families. ICT has enabled social innovation in children’s services and the wider social services sector through its contribution to the transformation of service management and implementation, cost-efficiency improvement and the effectiveness of service delivery. ICT-enabled social innovation (IESI) can help to address the increased demand on social welfare services, for example through improved coordination between professionals and enhanced communication with service users. These changes are presented through a number of case studies of ICT in children’s services in Europe. One of these is the development of tools for data collection by the National Child Protection Observatory in cooperation with local authorities in France. Another example is the KOMBIT standardised ICT system for the case management of children at risk in Denmark. One further example is Alborada, a shared information system in Andalucía (Spain), which facilitates data sharing and coordination between professionals from health, education and social services working with children with developmental difficulties. The analysis of the case studies has allowed the formulation of some key recommendations for the development of ICT-enabled innovation in children’s services in terms of the role that policy can play in driving forward ICT-enabled services, ICT’s role in meeting children’s needs, and professionals’ training and development for the successful introduction and implementation of ICT in children’s services.