As part of the ECGT project for 2016-2017, twelve students of the Department of European Political and Administrative Studies went on a site visit in order to meet the stakeholders of their case study. This year the three ECGT teams have been selected to work with the ‘European Capital of Innovation Award-iCapital’ finalists. In this project the focus is still on the reform of public administration, and more precisely on digital innovation in public services.
The first team, working with the Innovation department of the City Council of Paris, travelled to Paris. The team is composed of Maria Luena COLLINI (IT), Paul PAQUES (FR), Manuel PEIX CASTIELLA (ES) and Farid SAFI (CH). They met with city officials and 'fablabs' to discuss how the Paris City Council can effectively design and roll out its ‘makers’ strategy to promote a local and regional resilient economy.
The second team, composed of James GALAND-JONES (UK/FR), Alexander MAKELA (SE), Rebeccay RYDER (EI) and Camille SAINT-GENIS (FR), went to Milano to meet with the City Council. They deepened their understanding of the case study, which focuses on 'Manufacturing 4.0: learning from the shared knowledge'.
The third team works on the poverty gap and the social inclusion in Amsterdam through “new” innovative initiatives to boost economic and social well-being. Charline BINARD (BE), Annegret KEMPF (DE), Paul BRANS (US/FR) and Jean-Christophe DELMAS (NO/FR) met and interviewed many actors, including several specialists from the City Council of Amsterdam, a professor at the Vrije Universiteit and a number of local associations and foundations tackling the poverty and promoting the social inclusion in the city.
Having gathered their information together with the help of all contacts at the different City Councils and Accenture, the twelve students returned to Bruges to work on their findings in preparation of their jury presentation in February.