Public Sector Tech Watch: The observatory for technical interoperability across Europe

Technology can improve public sector operations and service delivery in multiple ways. For this reason, the European Commission has developed the Public Sector Tech Watch (PSTW). This observatory is dedicated to monitoring, analysing, and disseminating the use of emerging technologies within the public sector in Europe. Managed by the Directorate-General for Informatics and the Joint Research Centre, the PSTW serves as a vital resource for understanding how technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain are transforming public services. 

One of the key components of the PSTW is its focus on open datasets, which provide valuable insights into the adoption of innovative technologies across various public sector institutions. One example is their dashboard of Cases Viewer & Statistics which, by making use of open data, shows information about more than 1 600 cases that are related to technical developments across Europe. For example, more than 80 percent of those cases relate to AI and most of them are administrated at a national level. 

Another initiative to stimulate innovation within the public sector is the PSTW Best Cases Award, launched in 2024. Between the two categories, Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Government-to-Government (G2G), there were 32 cases submitted, and 6 winners were chosen. The City of Helsinki won a G2G award for their ‘Participatory urban planning with Generative AI’ initiative, while Councilbox received a G2C award with their ‘Virtual Desktop of Digital Immediation’. 

We invite you to explore the Public Sector Tech Watch and discover how open data is paving the way for the development of public services. Visit the PSTW Knowledge Centre to learn more about the latest trends and innovations, and discover over 150,000 datasets on data.europa.eu related to the government and public sector!

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