Context
Madrid, Digital Capital is the Digital Transformation Strategy of the Madrid City Council (2023–2027), designed to ensure that the city continues to improve in the digital realm. It is designed for all individuals and businesses within the city, its neighbourhoods, districts and the City Council itself. The strategy encompasses technological initiatives that facilitate the green and digital transition, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing the city’s habitat, well-being and quality of life. Among the main digitalisation projects that contribute to the sustainable development of Madrid are the Madrid Multicloud Strategy, the Easydro project for advanced workplace management, organisational culture change towards digitalisation and digital skills, and the Shock Plan for Boosting Electronic Administration.
Objectives
Each of the three sustainability-focused initiatives has specific goals. Madrid Multicloud aims to offer high availability of municipal services, optimise processes and response times, establish adequate storage and processing of information, and implement an efficient, effective, and quality technological management model. For Easydro, the goal is to prepare municipal teams for continuous learning covering all training needs, enhancing digital skills, adapting to administrative changes, adopting new work tools and staying updated on technology opportunities. The Shock Plan for Boosting Electronic Administration aims to (i) increase the use of digital administration, (ii) facilitate citizen and business administrative procedures, (iii) reduce paper notifications, (iv) shorten procedure processing times, (v) implement emerging technologies for improved public services, and (vi) enhance municipal employee training in electronic processing. In line with all of the above, the Madrid, Digital Capital Strategy strengthens these measures with specific commitments for the next four years: a 90 per cent reduction in paper usage, a 50 per cent reduction in processing times through robotic process automation and artificial intelligence, and achieving over 50 per cent electronic notifications.
Implementation
The Madrid, Digital Capital Strategy allocates at least €1 billion over its five-year execution period, taking advantage of the Next Generation EU European Funds to explore additional sources of financing. This aligns with European Funds’ goals of promoting technological development and innovation in public administrations, fostering economic growth and improving citizens’ quality of life. By receiving funding through the European Funds, the Madrid City Council has the opportunity to pursue more ambitious projects. These projects could include extensive training programmes aimed at both its employees and the general public. By doing so, the project aims to strengthen the digital skills of its workforce and potentially improve the delivery of public services.