Digital Society Initiative

General Goal of the Project

The general goal of the project is to address the challenges posed by the refugee dynamic in Europe, specifically in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. The project aims to leverage digital platforms and their principles to improve the coordination and orchestration of relevant stakeholders in crisis situations, with a particular focus on the Ukraine crisis. By developing an orchestration framework, the project seeks to transform the public administration into a platform where various actors, including public administrations, NGOs, private companies, schools, refugees, and volunteers, can collaborate and contribute to the co-creation of better public services. The ultimate objective is to provide reliable information and services to refugees and individuals in precarious situations while consolidating the engagement of civil society and the private sector with the resources of the state.

Government as a Platform

The concept of "Government as a Platform" (GaaP) plays a pivotal role in the project. GaaP refers to the transformation of the public sector into an open platform that fosters innovation and collaboration among internal and external actors to enhance public services. In the context of the Canton of Zurich, adopting the principles of GaaP allows for the platformization of public administration, enabling better coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders. By embracing digital platforms and leveraging their capabilities, the cantonal public administration can harness the expertise, resources, and innovation potential of various actors, leading to more efficient and resilient state organizations. The orchestration framework developed in the project aims to facilitate the implementation of GaaP principles, thereby improving the overall response to the Ukraine crisis and other emergency situations.

05.12.2024

Community Meeting on Estonia Case Study

Organizations collaborate with volunteers and/or hired refugees for communication with refugees.

On 5th of December, our project team hosted a vibrant community meeting, bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government to discuss the future of the Government as a Platform (GaaP) initiative. Inspired by Estonia’s innovative digital governance system, the focus was to discuss how lessons from Estonia could be adapted to Switzerland’s unique federal structure.

The meeting opened with Sasha’s presentation of the project’s progress and a comparative background analysis between Estonia and Switzerland, offering insights into building resilient, inclusive platforms. A key of the discussion was the 10 Principles of GaaP for Resilience, which was summarized from the interviews with Estonian stakeholders. During the interactive session, participants engaged in dynamic discussions and voted on the three most important principles in Swiss environment:

Engage Refugee Community – Actively involving refugees in the development and evaluation of solutions ensures that platforms are aligned with their real needs and challenges.
Responsibility of Stakeholders: Active Communication – Clear, timely, and proactive communication among all stakeholders, including refugees, organizations, and government actors, is essential for effective crisis management.
Know Your Refugee – Gaining meaningful insights about refugee needs and experiences allows for more tailored and impactful services.

The voted results underscored the relevance of these principles in a Swiss context, providing guidance as we move into 2025. With a focus on technical implementation, further user testing, and collaborative refinement, these principles help us to shape the next stages of our platform development.

We extend our gratitude to all attendees and look forward to continuing this journey together. Stay tuned for more updates as we advance the GaaP project!

01.11.2024

New Research Publication: Empowering Refugees with Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

Refugees can get and share their documents using their digital wallet.

We are pleased to share that our team member Sasha, along with Gerhard Schwabe and Liudmila Zavolokina, recently published a paper at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) titled “Resilience in Times of Crisis: Empowering Refugees with Self-Sovereign Identity”.

This research delves into the potential of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) to empower refugees and support public administration by providing a secure, decentralized approach to identity management—especially crucial in crisis situations. SSI empowers refugees by granting them control over their digital identities and personal data, thus enhancing privacy and reducing reliance on third-party verification. This work highlights how SSI can serve as a transformative tool in humanitarian contexts, helping vulnerable populations maintain autonomy and dignity.

The paper is available on ResearchGate. We invite those interested in digital identity, crisis resilience, and humanitarian technology to explore this study.

Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384838387_Resilience_in_Times_of_Crisis_Empowering_Refugees_with_Self-Sovereign_Identity

01.10.2024

Community Meeting

A green landing page of a prototype named Crizzy

On October 1, 2024, our project team held an insightful community meeting, engaging approximately 20 participants from academia, industry, and beyond. The meeting agenda included an introduction round, a project overview, a prototype demonstration, and an in-depth discussion on platform governance and ownership models.

The interactive session highlighted discussions on potential governance structures and the role of a platform owner. Participants shared valuable insights through Miro, focusing on effective ways to ensure accountability, adaptability, and inclusiveness in crisis response applications. These discussions will guide the development of a resilient and responsive digital governance platform for crisis management.

We extend our gratitude to everyone who joined and contributed, helping us shape the future of the “Government as a Platform” initiative.

Check our discussion topics here in Miro: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLYh-gPs=/?share_link_id=457303990176

02.09.2024

Exploring Low-Code Development for Municipal Crisis Resilience

Microsoft Power Platform combines four robust Microsoft technologies, such as Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, formerly Microsoft Flow, and Power Virtual Agents in one powerful application platform.

We are excited to welcome Colin Dean Frutschi from the Department of Informatics, UZH, who joined us in September and is now conducting his master’s thesis on Low-Code Development Platforms (LCDPs) for municipal crisis resilience. His research delves into how LCDPs can enable rapid application development through graphical interfaces, reducing the need for traditional coding—a crucial advantage during crises that demand swift adaptability.

By empowering “citizen developers” to create and customize applications, LCDPs could address developer shortages and enhance municipal agility in crisis response. Colin’s work will contribute valuable insights on how LCDPs might strengthen municipal resilience, broadening participation in crisis management and supporting adaptive governance.

01.07.2024

Governance and Prototypes in GaaP- Team Workshop

In early July, our research team gathered for a three-day workshop focused on advancing our “Government as a Platform” (GaaP) initiative. This collaborative event allow us to discuss platform prototyping, ethics in public administration technology, and effective governance frameworks for supporting refugee communities.

The workshop commenced with an open discussion session led by Sasha, where the team reviewed other GaaP solutions and discussed innovative approaches in platform design. As the day continued, we engaged in deep dives into ethics and publication planning to ensure our project adheres to strict ethical standards while maintaining research transparency.

Day two featured an in-depth prototype demonstration led by Zoya and Renjun, exploring the applications of low/no-code technology and large language models (LLM) for public administration tasks. Later, we shifted our focus to strategic planning, examining governance models and agile methodologies to enhance collaboration between university teams and community partners.

Our workshop concluded with a wrap-up session to outline next steps and align our project vision with forthcoming objectives. The team reflected on the progress made and set actionable plans for the upcoming year, looking forward to making a tangible impact through our research.

This workshop was a pivotal step toward developing a GaaP platform that addresses the needs of vulnerable communities, driven by an interdisciplinary, ethical, and collaborative approach.

10.04.2024

eID solution presented at Federal Office of Justice

In March, Liudmila Zavolokina and Cédric Merz (Ergon AG) had a chance to present their work "Resilience in times of crisis - electronic identities for refugees from Ukraine" at the monthly E-ID Participation meeting of Bundesamt für Justiz BJ.

Currently, in Switzerland a work on the e-ID project is underway, which aims to establish a system of state-recognised, electronic credentials (e-ID) and introduce the associated legislation. The self-sovereign identity (SSI) approach is being pursued. This allows decentralised data storage at the individual user's premises. The data is only stored on your mobile device and it is up to you to decide what data you transmit to whom. As part of this initiative monthly participation meetings are held as a video conference. In the meetings, the current status of the e-ID project is presented and usually external experts to present e-ID-relevant topics.

In their presentation, Liudmila Zavolokina and Cédric Merz showcased how SSI technology could be utilised for early identification of refugees in Switzerland and improve data exchange between private individual and public administration officies. Their research was carried out within the "Goverment as a Platform" project funded by DIZH

Slides:https://github.com/e-id-admin/general/blob/main/meetings/20240307_Resilienz%20in%20Krisenzeiten%20-%20E-IDs%20für%20Geflüchtete.pdf

13.09.2023

Digital ID for refugees based on the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

Late August “Government as a Platform” research group has held a presentation of a pilot project on the potential usage of SSI technology for issue of digital IDs for the refugees in Switzerland. The results were presented to the practice partners from the Swiss software companies Ergon AG and Procivis as well as to the representative from the canton of Zurich and our colleagues from ZHAW. The presentation took place in UZH. The follow-up steps for the usage of SSI technology within the “Government as a Platform” project as well as in Switzerland in general were discussed. The importance and potential of the proposed topic was shared between the participants, and it was agreed that the further research in the field is needed in collaboration between technology providers, governmental organizations and research initiatives in order to work out a suitable solution.

Currently SSI is a widely discussed topic in the field of digital identity. In Switzerland the Public Sandbox Trust Infrastructure based on the SSI technology is currently being tested as the base for the national eID.

Website: https://www.eid.admin.ch/en/why-do-we-need-participation

10.07.2023

Digital Government Conference

We are glad to share that the paper «Data-Driven Governance in Crises: Topic Modelling for the Identification of Refugee Needs» was presented at the 24th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research by Kilian Sprenkamp.

Refugee management contemporarily mostly relies on top-down management approaches by governments. These often lead to suboptimal policies for refugees and highlight a need to better identify and integrate refugee needs into management.
Kilian Sprenkamp, Liudmila Zavolokina, Mario Angst, Mateusz Dolata show that modern applications of Natural Language Processing (NLP) allow for the effective analysis of large text corpora linked to refugee needs, making it possible to complement top-down approaches with bottom-up knowledge centered around the current needs of the refugee population. They developed and tested R2G – “Refugees to Government”, an application based on state-of-the-art topic modeling to identify refugee needs bottom-up through Telegram data. Thus, they contribute to the ongoing discourse on how to design refugee management applications and showcase how topic modeling can be utilized for data-driven governance during refugee crises.

Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370659488_Data-Driven_Governance_in_Crises_Topic_Modelling_for_the_Identification_of_Refugee_Needs

Who are our stakeholders?

In the scope of our project we have interviewed multiple stakeholders involved in the crisis. Among 57 interviews we have talked with 20 people from Ukraine with the status S. Please, meet Mariia, one of our interviewees.

How can we better orchestrate stakeholders involved in a crisis?

To better orchestrate stakeholders in a crisis, it is essential to adopt a coordinated, holistic approach. First, clear communication channels must be established, enabling real-time information sharing. By facilitating this, all stakeholders have access to the same data, minimizing misunderstandings and improving decision-making. Second, clearly defined roles and responsibilities should be established to avoid confusion and duplication of efforts. This can be achieved through an initial meeting or conference where all stakeholders understand their tasks and the part they play in the larger operation. Lastly, regular check-ins and updates are crucial to keep everyone on the same page and adjust strategies if necessary. Utilizing digital platforms for these actions can drastically improve the orchestration of stakeholders.

How can we make the government more resilient during crises?

Government resilience during crises can be increased through several strategies. Firstly, the adoption of a 'Government as a Platform' model allows for better resource allocation and improved stakeholder collaboration. By leveraging digital platforms, governments can enhance their ability to respond to crises swiftly and effectively. Additionally, having a well-prepared crisis management plan that details response procedures and establishes clear roles and responsibilities can significantly enhance government resilience. Continuous training and simulations can ensure the government is ready to implement these plans when a crisis strikes. Finally, resilience also requires learning from past crises and continually refining response strategies based on these lessons.

What support do stakeholder need in these situations?

Stakeholders need clear, consistent communication, access to real-time information, and the ability to collaborate effectively with other parties during a crisis. In addition, they need defined roles and responsibilities, as well as resources and support to fulfill those duties. Digital platforms can facilitate this by providing channels for communication and collaboration, resources for decision-making, and systems for tracking progress. Furthermore, emotional support and care for the well-being of stakeholders involved in managing the crisis can't be overlooked.

What possibilities do modern digital platforms offer?

Modern digital platforms offer numerous possibilities for improving crisis management. They can facilitate real-time communication and information sharing among stakeholders, ensuring everyone has access to the same data, thus making decision-making more efficient. They can also provide tools for project management, role assignment, and progress tracking. Some platforms offer advanced features, such as AI-based analytics to predict crisis trends and outcomes, or automated processes to speed up certain tasks. Moreover, these platforms can reach a broad audience, enabling the wider public to stay informed and engaged during a crisis.

What can we learn from different communication channels?

Different communication channels offer varied advantages and challenges, and learning from them can enhance crisis management. For instance, social media can provide real-time updates and public sentiment but may also spread misinformation. Traditional news outlets offer verified information but might not be as immediate or interactive. Direct communications, such as emails or messaging apps, provide a private channel for discussions but can become overwhelming with high volumes of information. Learning how to balance these channels – leveraging their strengths and mitigating their weaknesses – can lead to a more effective communication strategy in a crisis.