Challenges and Opportunities for ICT in Co-production: A Case Study of Public Service Innovation in an Italian Municipality

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on how ICTs can be exploited to support the co-production of public services by exploring the case study of an Italian municipality that is experimenting new forms of governance and co-production practices. We examined the process followed by a network of stakeholders for the co-design and co-delivery of a digital portal for citizens, a single access point to online services, trying to depict the organizational model, the dynamics among the network participants and the opportunities and barriers offered by ICTs to co-production. We identify specific areas in which pitfalls and shortcomings related to the actual achievement of co-production might be practically overcome through digital technology, addressing in particular: capacity building, step-by-step guidance, simplification of handovers, transparency of network status and process accountability, lowering the costs of citizens engagement, continuous evaluation, and sustainability by design.