Using Collaborative Technologies and Social Media to Engage Citizens and Governments during the COVID-19 Crisis. The Case of Spain

Abstract

During the COVID-19 crisis, governments around the world have been organizing activities to foster citizens’ participation during the lockdown. In Germany and Estonia, for example, their governments launched civic hackathons during March 2020 to find new solutions to the challenges associated with the COVID-19 crisis. This article is intended to provide evidence about the utilization of collaborative and social platforms to foster co-production with citizens during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain. In the case of “Frena la Curva,” (Flattening the Curve), a metalab fostered by the innovation lab of the regional Government of Aragon, the scalability of the platform has even facilitated spreading this collaborative initiative to different countries. Regarding the use of social media hashtags, including “#EsteVirusLoParamosUnidos,” Spanish authorities have encouraged citizen-networked co-production for communication and crisis coordination. These two cases illustrate how digital platforms have been used to offer a more agile response to COVID-19.