Context
The Autonomous Region of the Azores, composed of nine islands, has always faced unique challenges of territorial cohesion, aggravated by significant technological fragmentation between public services. Despite sharing a strong cultural and social identity, the islands were technologically distant, with lagged information systems, poorly integrated administrative processes, and a fragmented public service experience for citizens and businesses.
The urgency of overcoming these barriers motivated the creation of the LINKA project, an innovative digital architecture, designed to unite and simplify the functioning of the public services of the Regional Public Administration. The project results from an active listening process with leaders, workers, and users of public services, identifying as a priority the need for a transversal technological solution, capable of ensuring efficiency, proximity, and quality in the service to the citizen, regardless of the island or channel of interaction. LINKA thus emerges as a response to several structural challenges: fragmentation of systems, unequal access, and the need for modernisation.
LINKA represents an innovative and integrated approach to the digital transformation of the public sector, promoting efficiency, transparency, inclusion and proximity to the citizen. The project demonstrates a concrete impact on administrative modernisation, territorial cohesion, and the quality of public services.
Objectives
- unify and simplify access to regional public services, ensuring a citizen- and business-centred digital experience, regardless of the island or channel of interaction;
- modernise and integrate infrastructure and systems, promoting interoperability, reuse of solutions, and reduction of operational costs;
- promote digital inclusion by ensuring that all Azoreans, including people with reduced mobility, have easy access to public services;
- reduce the ecological footprint by digitalising processes, reducing paper use, and adopting sustainable solutions such as electric cars.
Concrete solutions provided:
- implementation of innovative digital platforms such as Azor.ID (digital identity), CES.APR (electronic catalogue of entities and services), Portal de Serviços, Forms Platform, RegiDoc (Official Digital Document Registry), and Open Data Platform;
- creation of a reusable, scalable, and interoperable technological ecosystem, integrating existing systems and facilitating communication between entities;
- centralisation of access to public services, allowing citizens and businesses to interact in a simple, transparent, and efficient way;
- modernisation of infrastructure, training of multidisciplinary teams, and adoption of sustainable practices.
Results are already visible: more than 51 000 facilitated calls, 1567 entities and 990 registered public services, and a significant reduction of manual processes and administrative costs.
Implementation
The LINKA project was designed and implemented by a partnership between the Regional Directorate for Communications and Digital Transition (Direção Regional da Ciência e Transição Digital – DRCTD) and the Mission Structure for Modernisation and Reform of Public Administration (Estrutura de Missão de Modernização e Reforma da Administração Pública – EMRAP), with funding from the RRP. Governance is based on multidisciplinary teams, with IT technicians, process managers, and change support, organised by technological components (e.g. Azor.ID, CES.APR, Portal de Serviços). The overall budget exceeds EUR 9 million, with rigorous financial monitoring and regular reporting.
The design of LINKA involved active listening to leaders, workers, and users of public services, through workshops, co-creation sessions, and the Experimentation Laboratory of the Regional Public Administration – Incuba.Azores, ensuring that the solutions respond to real needs. Communication was ensured by information campaigns, presentation sessions, digital portals, and integration manuals to promote the adoption of the new platforms.
The implementation focused on the reuse of infrastructure, integration with existing systems, and sustainable practices such as digitalisation of processes and electric vehicles. The involvement of stakeholders was continuous, with technical support and training, ensuring an effective and sustainable digital transition for the entire Regional Public Administration of the Azores.