UserCentriCities set out to bring European cities into the debate on digital government, where local authorities deliver many public services but have often had limited support and few ways to compare their progress. The project adapted the priorities of the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment to local government, with the aim of helping cities design and deliver digital services around residents’ needs.4
Launched in December 2020, the Horizon 2020 project was led by the Lisbon Council, in partnership with Eurocities and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Its founding group comprised Espoo, Milan, Murcia, Rotterdam, Tallinn and the Emilia-Romagna region; the wider network grew to include municipalities and regions across Europe.2411 The project ran until May 2023.411
Its work combined research, measurement and peer learning. Partners identified approaches to designing, procuring and delivering user-centred services, and translated European principles into recommendations for local authorities. They developed common indicators and an online benchmarking dashboard, intended to let cities compare quantitative and qualitative evidence. The stated purpose was learning rather than ranking, with cities involved in shaping the benchmark.5 A toolkit, repository of good practices and workshops were also intended to help local authorities apply the approach and learn from one another.4
The project’s outputs included an adapted set of user-centric principles, an indicators handbook and a dashboard launched in June 2022, according to the City of Espoo.8 The project also sought to keep local authorities involved in European-level policy discussions and extend its methods to more cities and regions.411