Goals
For digital solutions, the underlying governance setting is crucial.
digital-water.city aims at identifying conditions that improve decision-making in urban water management and helping to increase citizens’ life quality and environmental awareness.
A specific objective of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) governance analysis within DWC is the development of a guiding protocol that will enable to screen existing governance frameworks, policies and stakeholders and be a case-study basis considering local, national and European levels.
A particular focus will be on favourableness to innovation. Subsequent assessments will identify facilitating and hindering non-technical factors for the uptake of digital solutions.
Approach
Digital solutions will be developed specifically to foster public engagement, including:
- an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile application in Berlin visualising geology and groundwater to highlight their relevance as drinking water resource and “hidden part “ of the water cycle,
- a web-based serious game in Milan to raise awareness and engage the public to overcome social and economic barriers to water reuse,
- and a mobile application to communicate bathing water contamination risks to residents in Paris.
Through workshops and focus groups, social scientists will accompany the technical development of these digital solutions by supporting technology providers in meeting end-users expectations, and assessing the benefits, public perception, acceptance and use of the digital solutions.