- Innovation
Innovating in public administrations: a responsibility
April 21st is the World Creativity and Innovation Day. A good moment to claim that innovation is not just a matter for the private sector and competitiveness: it is also essential for public administrations despite apparently having no competitors. And not only desirable, but absolutely essential, despite the aversion to error. As the popular saying goes: “without breaking eggs you can't make omelettes”.
We find ourselves in a changing environment with many uncertainties where society is changing rapidly and citizens' expectations are evolving every day. Faced with this scenario, administrations cannot be left behind. Innovating is not a luxury, it is the only way to continue being useful and relevant. It is the path to guaranteeing quality public services that are accessible, efficient and designed for people.
Innovating is not just about using technology
Often, when we talk about innovation, we only think about technology. But public innovation goes much further: it is changing the way we think, work, and solve problems. It is putting people at the center, listening to them, understanding their needs, and co-creating solutions that truly add value.
Innovating involves rethinking public services, questioning what we do "because it's always been done this way", collaborating between administrations and experimenting with courage. And this cannot be done without a clear methodology and a culture that favors constant learning, error as a source of improvement and transversal work.
The AOC's recipe for innovation
At AOC we have been committed to this way of doing things for years. That is why we have developed a own recipe for innovating digital public services, a methodology that combines the “Double Diamond” model with the principles of the “Lean Startup”. It is a flexible and adaptive formula that starts from a clear premise: innovation cannot be improvised, but neither can it be constrained by bureaucratic rigidity.
This recipe goes through four phases:
- Discover: deeply understand the challenge and real needs of users.
- Define: narrow down the problem and identify real opportunities for change.
- To develop: generate ideas, prototypes and experimental solutions.
- to deliver: implement and validate with data whether what we have created works and adds value.
This approach allows us to build digital public services that are truly useful, scalable and sustainable. And we do it with rigor, but also with a passion for transforming administration and bringing it closer to citizens.
Catalonia, at the forefront
This vision is not just theory. Catalan public administrations have been demonstrating for years that digital innovation is possible and real. And we are not only making progress: Catalonia leads the digital transformation throughout Spain and exceeds the European Union average in the vast majority of digital indicators.
A clear example is the use of common services such as e-TRAM, e-NOTUM or VIA OBERTA, which facilitate procedures, electronic notifications and the exchange of data between administrations. Thanks to this collective commitment, the Catalan town halls are the ones that use digital services most intensively at the state level, as reported in the AOC study published in 2025.
Furthermore, according to data from the European Commission, Catalonia exceeds the European average in 87,5% of the Digital Decade indicators: digital public services, connectivity, digital skills and use of technologies by companies and administrations.
Innovating is serving better
In short, innovating is not a fad or an option. It is a responsibility. Because behind every easier procedure, every improved digital service, there is a person who saves time, who better understands what the administration offers them and who feels better served.
That is why, this April 21, we celebrate creativity and innovation as drivers of real change in public administrations. And we encourage all institutions to join this transformation, because a more innovative administration is a more humane, closer administration and better prepared to face the challenges of our time.