About the project

Located in central Italy, the city of Arezzo is home to 100,000 people. The citizens of Arezzo, especially those in vulnerable socio-economic groups, enjoy many personal care services thanks to related targeted policy. The local administration has developed a project called “Digital Grandparents” to facilitate access to online services and other digital tools for the over-65s. Furthermore, Arezzo is one of the cities that have been identified as a major centre with a high degree of digital readiness. To improve its capability to assist citizens in the use and development of digital services has joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022.

The government of Barcelona has launched an ambitious digital transformation strategy that will place the city council at the forefront of social innovation and user-centricity. The City of Barcelona joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021.

Catalonia takes advantage of the use of technology and digital information to innovate public services, boost economic growth and promote a smarter, sustainable and inclusive society. The Generalitat, which is the name of the Government of Catalonia, is responsible of providing a wide range of public services to ensure the welfare of 7,5M people and the dynamism of its economy and society. The Catalan digital administration unit works to digitise public services around four areas: people, processes, data and technology, delivering real value to citizens and government units. Catalonia joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022. 

The Brussels-Capital Region through its agency responsible for administrative simplification, easy.brussels, wants to overcome the challenges of urban development through technology, simplifying regional institutions in order to reduce the administrative burden for public service users. To target this, the agency relies on strategic and operational objectives, as well as concrete actions towards citizens. The Brussels-Capital region joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022.

Ghent is a vibrant port city in northwest Belgium, at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. Ghent not only strives to be a smart city that embraces technology but also a city that puts the citizen at the heart of service-design and offers simple and proactive digital services. The City of Ghent joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022.

The Digital Glasgow Strategy lays out Glasgow's ambitions to take advantage of the digital age's opportunities and to develop online services that are genuinely customer-centric. The City of Glasgow joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021.

Helsinki’s functionality is based on the Nordic model of high-quality city services and transparent governance, pursuing the vision of living a good life. As part of this goal, the city has designed an ambitious digitalisation programme, focusing on a more customer-oriented approach and utilising data to make better decisions. The City of Helsinki joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021. 

Kronoberg Region mission is to promote health, sustainability and growth in the south of Sweden. The vision pursued is a good life in a viable Kronoberg. It should be attractive to stay, work and live in the region. Region Kronoberg has the overall responsibility for areas that contribute to regional development throughout the county. Healthcare dominates the business. Kronoberg Region joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022. 

The city of Kyiv is a pioneer in digital transformation. Most recently and against the backdrop of the Russian invasion, the city’s administration under the leadership of its Chief Digital Transformation Officer Petro Olenych, has used agile and resilient digital tools to meet the needs of their citizens and provide them with life-saving digital solutions. Kyiv Digital, the city’s smartphone application has been transformed from a mobility app to a life-saving tool for citizens and the city’s Wi-Fi network has expanded its reach. Kyiv municipality joined the UserCentriCities project as an associated partner in 2022.

Lisbon has evolved into not only one of Europe's most popular city-trip destinations, but also one of the continent's smartest cities. Portugal's capital has a smart city plan that prioritizes its people and their needs and joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021.

In 2016 the capital of Slovenia was awarded the European Green Capital prize and is considered the hidden gem of Europe by travellers, providing a rich cultural and culinary offer. Being one of the least populated capital cities, public administration opts for a friendly interaction with its citizens. The City of Ljubljana joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021. 

Madrid is a cosmopolitan, innovative and inclusive city. It provides one of Europe’s best healthcare systems, taking good care of its citizens. Spain’s capital boasts a remarkable digital transformation agenda, focusing on welfare and citizens, while seeking to close the digital gaps that have widened in recent years by guaranteeing digital connectivity and the transformation and digitalisation of public administration services through an integral model to achieve an inclusive, green and digital growth. The City of Madrid joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2021.

Mataró, capital of the Maresme region on the central Catalan coast, is a living city in constant transformation and with an important cultural heritage that gives it its own personality. Since 2018, the city council has been promoting an ambitious project transforming the local administration to adapt it to the citizens' needs and expectations. This transformation will not only be based on technology, but also on a profound change in its organisational culture. The creation of a new model of relationship with citizens based on the design of services and public policies focused on the citizen, digital by default but with the necessary support so that no one is left behind in this transformation process stands out. Mataró joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022.

Near the mountain of Montserrat, Olesa de Montserrat is a historical village located in Catalonia’s Region. Working on its digital transformation, the City Council has developed numerous projects willing to promote public access to the administration’s data as well as improve information on the services offered to citizens. One of the biggest obstacles was the digital shortcomings of its systems and the way we communicate with other administrations and people of interest. Having its focus on helping the population with its limited resources, Olesa de Montserrat joined UserCentriCities in 2023.

Paris, the capital city of France is known not only as the city of lights, but also as the city of digital transformation. Under the leadership of its Chief Information Officer, Paris is accelerating the digital transformation of its public sector as part of its policy to improve effectiveness and the quality of the services provided to the citizens. The IT department of the city has been developing in-house and expanding its city services and fully open source software « Lutece » for 21 years. The city of Paris joined UserCentriCities as an associated partner in 2022.

The City of Porto intends to stand out in the national and international panorama as a city of innovation and creativity. With Porto Digital as key-actor in the design and implementation of smart and sustainable city strategies and policies, the city seeks to facilitate the design of experiences and interactions with potential to connect and generate significant value for the citizens and for those who manage the city, by increasing efficiency and agility.

Riga has started a long-term transition process to become a mobile, well-connected and a climate neutral city. Strategically well-balanced digital transformation of the city is playing a major role in the process to become an intelligent BALTIC digital metropolis. Working on innovations of city-owned companies, fostering city support for the creation of 5G infrastructure and development of safe and environmentally friendly mobility. To ensure a systematic digital transformation, the Riga Digital Agency was established in April 2022, offering support and promoting the execution of the strategic goals of the municipality by providing innovative, high-quality and secure ICT products/services. Riga joined UserCentriCities as an associate partner in 2022.

Terrassa City Council is a local entity firmly and resolutely committed to the use of information and communication technologies as a lever of value for the transformation and optimization of the internal organization itself and, by extension, for the improvement of public services for citizens. This has allowed to be a leader and benchmark in electronic administration, both in terms of internal management circuits and citizen interaction with the city council. In 2019, many companies and organisations had to accelerate the digitalisation process to facilitate teleworking due to the pandemic. This was the case of the Terrassa City Council, where the situation of confinement of municipal workers led to the need for a digital transformation system that would prevent the paralysis of municipal administrative activity and guarantee the achievement of the objectives set out in the government program.

The City of Utrecht provides a vibrant, creative, inspirational environment for leading innovations. The city is developing from a medium-sized provincial city into a regional capital of European importance. Utrecht is the fastest growing city and the healthiest city of The Netherlands. On top of that, Utrecht is one of the happiest cities in the world according to the United Nations. We believe that Healthy Urban Living makes people happier. The City of Utrecht became an associated partner to Centricities in 2023 because the network offers a valuable space for inspiration and knowledge transfer. The City is committed to increase their accessibility through improved digital services, while offering custom services where needed. This innovation process includes a City Living Room-setting through which Utrecht citizens are encouraged to share their experiences and ideas for improvement.

The IE Center for C-Centricity is part of the IE University in Spain. They focus their research on citizens, who must sit at the heart of organisations in order to ensure successful growth and overall human satisfaction at a societal level.