The AOC Consortium begins a new stage. On August 7th, it was published in Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya the announcement of the initial approval of the draft new Statutes, agreed by the General Council of the Open Administration Consortium of Catalonia (AOC).
This is an ambitious reform with the aim of consolidating the AOC as instrument shared by all levels of administration in the country to promote digital transformation. Specifically, it updates the mission in the face of new challenges, incorporates a governance model that strengthens the role of the local community and establishes a co-responsible, equitable and sustainable financing system.
This publication opens the public information procedure, which ends on September 15, 2026During this period, all administrations, entities and interested personseresSada can consult the complete text and present any allegations and contributions they deem appropriate.
Information session at the end of September
To explain the new model in detail and answer any questions, we are planning an information session at the end of September, which can be followed in person or online. Soon, we will specify the date and place, and we will send the invitation with the program and registration link.
Why new Statutes?
It has been 25 years since the Parliament, the Government of the Generalitat and the local world, representat by the Localret Consortium, they agreed to promote an action plan for the digitalization of the public sector in Catalonia. The results are evident: today we have a largely digitalized public administration and a citizenry that makes intensive use of electronic services.
However, there are outstanding challenges, such as transforming the Administration so that, in addition to being digital, it is efficient, agile and accessible. And new challenges have emerged that we must face: data governance, the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence and progress towards new common digital solutions that guarantee technological autonomy and make smart governments possible.
The new Statutes are the result ofa year and a half of joint and intense work with the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Localret Consortium, the four provincial councils and the Barcelona City Council, with the following motivations:
- Strengthen collaboration between administrations through a new governance model.
- Guaranteeing economic sustainability in an equitable manner.
- Review the mission and functions of the AOC to face new challenges.
- Modernize the organization, to make AOC more efficient, agile, collaborative and results-oriented.
The key aspects of the draft Statutes are:
A new governance model
The role of the local world and the provincial councils are incorporated with representadirect representation to the executive bodies of the AOC, in recognition of its competences and its key role in digital support for municipalities. This consolidates the Catalan model of digital transformation, based on collaboration between the Generalitat and local administrations.
A new financing model, based on co-responsibility
The main novelty is that all entities that use the AOC services will contribute to the financing of the Consortium, depending on their size and their uses. Benefits and expenses are shared, with an asymmetrical and supportive scheme:
- The Generalitat of Catalonia maintains a majority weight, as the country's Government, due to its leadership in the AOC since the beginning and as the main user of the services. It assumes full the structural costs of the Consortium and the infrastructure of common country solutions.
- The provincial councils will assume, in accordance with their powers, the expenses associated with the municipalities with less than 20.000 inhabitants of their demarcations. This means that 93% of Catalan municipalities will not have to make any direct contribution.
- User administrations will contribute, from 2027, to financing only the marginal direct cost of the services they use, through a public price.
- The county councils They will be exempt from paying the public price, in return for the accompaniment and support tasks they carry out in the deployment of the AOC services.
How will the public price be calculated?
The public price is not the “market price” of the services, but only the marginal direct cost: the additional expenditure generated when a public entity uses the services of the AOC, once the Generalitat has already assumed the structural expenditure and common infrastructure. The amount for each entity will be calculated based on objective variables such as its size and its volume of use of the services, taking as a reference the activity of the last twelve months.
A renewed mission for new challenges
The new text updates the mission, purposes and functions of the AOC to respond to the shared challenges of digital transformation, data and artificial intelligence, areas that will be decisive for the quality of public services in the next decade.
A more efficient and professional organization
The new Statutes define a functioning more efficient of the governing bodies and internal management, formalize the professionalization of management and foresee the creation of advisory bodies and working groups, among other organizational improvements. All with the aim of having a greater impact on citizens and on the administrations as a whole.
Doubts and questions
This is a country project, and we want to build it with you. If you have any questions or queries about the draft Statutes or the new financing model:
- Participate in the information session at the end of September, where we will answer all the questions
Add to multiply
The new Statutes reinforce what has made the AOC great for more than twenty years: the conviction that collaboration between administrations is the best way to serve citizens. With this reform, we take another step towards ensuring that this shared instrument continues to drive, with greater strength and with greater co-responsibility, the digital transformation of Catalonia.
We join efforts to multiply the results.
