On 18 May 2026, research partner DFKI represented the INNOVADE project at re:publica 2026 in Berlin to examine why traditional civic technology often falls short and how digital tools can be redesigned to serve genuine democratic needs.
The short lecture contrasted the current landscape of political participation software against empirical findings gathered across INNOVADE’s research streams throughout 2025 and 2026. By comparing existing tool features with data from EU-wide citizen surveys, municipal public official questionnaires, and real-world Living Lab sessions, the presentation demonstrated a decisive shift in public expectations: meaningful digital governance is no longer about digitisation for the sake of digital, but about delivering trustworthy, accessible, and outcome-oriented engagement.
The INNOVADE Approach
To bridge the divide between technological availability and real-world utility, the session introduced the methodology behind the INNOVADE Digital Democracy Application. Rather than introducing another isolated platform into an overcrowded market, INNOVADE is co-designing a modular software framework in close collaboration with European pilot municipalities and their local communities.
The presentation detailed how extensive landscape mapping, legal and ethical baselines, and participatory co-design exercises feed directly into the app’s technical architecture. By anchoring software design in validated citizen preferences and municipal operational requirements, the INNOVADE application is engineered to ensure local legitimacy in pilot cities while remaining scalable for broader deployment across European public administrations.