At a time of profound change towards smarter local governments, where walls need to be broken to share data and generate public value, the Revolutionary Local Governments conference held on March 17 at the L'Illa Auditorium, served to share advances and visions for the future of theLocal World Data Space.
The session was attended by representants from different organizations, who provided a collective vision on the need to promote a shared model of governance and data-based services: Jordi Gervas (Lleida Provincial Council), Astrid Desset (Girona Provincial Council), Ferran Rodriguez (Tarragona Provincial Council), David Gutiérrez (Barcelona Provincial Council), Albert Worker (Local), Màrius Boada (Barcelona City Council), and the representaAOC members, David Pastor i Pep PuddingThe institutional diversity showed that the success of the project is only possible through cooperation and the addition of efforts.
Data as the foundation of the new administration
The session, initiated by Pep Budí, he stressed that data has gone from being a technical resource to becoming a essential strategic asset for the modernization of the administration. Many local entities still work with fragmented information, heterogeneous systems and a culture oriented towards documents rather than data, which hinders interoperability and the ability to obtain real public value.
Based on this shared diagnosis, he highlighted that:
- Data is the foundation of proactive, efficient and people-centered public services.
- Common governance is essential to ensure quality, security, interoperability and trust.
- Without specialized profiles, shared tools and a data-oriented organizational culture, digital transformation is limited.
These reflections converged on a central idea: Transforming public services requires transforming the way data is managedOnly in this way can we move towards a smarter administration, capable of measuring, anticipating and improving. In other words: without data, there is no smart government.
The Smart Local Government Network: a country model
The Local World Data Space is part of the Smart Local Government Network, a major institutional agreement that brings together the Generalitat de Catalunya, the four Catalan provincial councils, Localret, Barcelona City Council and the AOC. This network's mission is to ensure that all local entities, regardless of their size or resources, can access advanced digital solutions and take advantage of the potential of artificial intelligence. It is what makes the principle of "no local entity left behind" a reality.
The network is based on a shared vision:
- A single governance framework, which provides coherence and standardization.
- A common infrastructure, which saves costs and reduces complexities.
- Accompanying and supporting local entities, especially the little ones.
- A federation of data spaces, aligned with national and European strategies.
This deeply collaborative model places Catalonia in a leading position in the construction of a data ecosystem for the local world.
Results and examples that are already reality
The session offered several practical examples that show that this model is not just an idea, but a reality that is already generating impact. The speakers explained that the Local World Data Space goes far beyond a technological platform: it is a comprehensive model that combines governance, infrastructure and services oriented to real needs, currently in the construction, piloting and progressive production phase.
- La Deputation of Lleida, presented models for analyzing the financial health of municipalities and advanced dashboards for analyzing water and tax data-
- La Girona Provincial Council, presented cases of file analysis as well as SAIP requests, which allow bottlenecks to be detected, deadlines to be improved and the process to be strengthened. transparència.
- La Deputation of Tarragona, He explained his catalog and data lineage, essential for organizing and recovering the organization's knowledge.
- La Diputació de Barcelona, shared the Local.IA strategy as the meeting point in governance and data management as well as the deployment of AI in local entities, as well as the Corporate perspective with services such as the Actor Map and the 2030 viewer of corporate programs.
- Barcelona City Council, explained how data portals, public and corporate, are vectors of innovation and allow data to be shared to act and evaluate public services and policies and become a resilient city.
- local, presented TaxCat, the common platform for calculating the waste rate, an example of how sharing technology allows us to move forward faster and with greater rigor.
- El AOC Consortium, by the hand of David Pastor, shared data services; digital gap map, municipal ODS viewer, efficiency in processing and dashboards of the AOC services themselves. Finally, he presented automation solutions such as the document anonymizer as well as the citizen assistant for requests.
These results demonstrate that the Local World Data Space is already a operating instrument capable of transforming processes and improving services.
Data to share, decide and improve
The day concluded with a reflection on the central role of data in public decision-making. Governing with data means leaving intuitions behind and basing public policies on indicators, analysis and evidence.
For this reason, ideas such as:
- The data allows detect problems, anticipate decisions and measure the impact.
- Sharing information between administrations multiply the public value.
- AI can automate processes and free up time for more valuable tasks.
- An administration that measures is an administration that can improve.
As he recalled David Pastor of the AOC, with references to Galileo, Watt, BernersLee or Turing, great revolutions have always been associated with a change in the way information is understood and managed.
Building, together, the administration of the future
The presentation conveyed a resounding message: we are building the administration of the future collectively, through shared models, institutional cooperation and a clear commitment to data as a pillar of modernization.
The Local World Data Space representa a firm step towards more efficient, transparent and people-centered local governments, and shows that we are collaboratively building the foundations of smart local governments.
You can recover the video of the session and the presentation.
