Many new innovations that tackle social problems are being developed online, using apps, platforms and data systems. This exciting area is called Digital Social Innovation (DSI): digital innovations for social purposes.
Digital Social Innovation in Europe (DSI4EU) supported digital social innovation networks in Europe. The aim of DSI4EU was to support communities in sharing data, distributed technology and new economic models. Social entrepreneurs, hackers, communities and academics were brought together in important DSI areas that focussed on themes such as the maker movement, the sharing economy, open democracy and digital rights. This included a disruptive approach to scale, expansion and interconnection of the DSI network in Europe.
DSI4EU took the next step in the development of digital social innovation by focusing on social goals. The project defined six thematic 'clusters', each of which was provided by another project partner. The clusters were:
- Migration and integration (Betterplace Lab)
- Food, environment and climate change (Waag)
- Care and health (WeMake)
- Skills and education (Fab Foundation)
- Digital democracy (ePanstwo Foundation)
- Urban development (Barcelona Activa)
This thematic approach enabled the project to make new connections in the growing field of digital social innovation. The project could also make the DSI idea familiar to those involved within the themes that were not yet aware of the digital social possibilities.
Waag was responsible for the involvement of the communities, the mutual exchange of knowledge and the publication of results.
