UNIL and the City of Lausanne, hand in hand for shaping the future of digital public services

As public expectations for digital services grow faster than the resources available to meet them, public administrations across Europe face a critical question: how should digital administration projects be prioritised? The City of Lausanne and the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) are addressing this challenge through a joint research and innovation project.

With an increasing number of possible initiatives - from virtual administrative portals to personalised digital services - cities are required to make strategic choices that balance citizens’ needs with organisational constraints and financial realities.

Selected through a competitive process, the Convergence project brings together academic expertise from IDHEAP and the operational experience of Lausanne’s Organisation and IT Services. Together, the partners are co-developing a structured methodology to support the prioritisation of digital transformation projects within public administrations.

The aim of the collaboration is to maximise the positive impact of digital transformation for the City of Lausanne and its residents. Darius Farman, doctoral researcher at IDHEAP and project leader, highlights the importance of aligning strategic decision-making with both public value and institutional capacity.

This project exemplifies IDHEAP’s mission to place scientific expertise at the service of public administrations to address their current needs. The prioritization methodology will provide a tangible contribution to the implementation of Lausanne’s digital transformation strategy

A dedicated platform for collaboration

The project also offers clear mutual benefits. Research on public-sector digital transformation gains from an in-depth field study based on a real-life case, while the City of Lausanne will be able to integrate the methodology directly into its internal processes, ensuring that strategic planning better reflects the needs and expectations of the population.

Funding for the project has been secured through Interact, the joint platform established by UNIL and the City of Lausanne to foster cooperation and knowledge exchange between the two institutions.