Portugal's GovTech Justice Strategy
So far we have seen different govtech initiatives, such as the Cordoba Smart City Fund (Argentina) and Civtech Scotland (UK), which start from the center of a public institution to serve the challenges faced by the different areas of the administration.
Today we present a somewhat different initiative: The Estratégia GovTech da Justiça of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice - the first govtech initiative focused on the field of justice. This strategy seeks to consolidate the culture of collaborative innovation in this area by involving the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in the identification of challenges and the development of solutions in the field of justice. The ultimate goal is to achieve a more efficient and agile justice system that revolves around the needs of citizens.
What the strategy consists of
The Estratégia Govtech da Justiça, which has 26 million euros from the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan, has three main objectives:
The Strategy is organized in 4 lines of work:
- Accelerate the modernization and digital transformation of the justice sector.
- Foster a culture of collaborative innovation by bringing justice entities closer to national and international innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
- Identify and share best practices on the use of emerging technologies, as well as GovTech and LegalTech initiatives.
The Strategy is organized in 4 lines of work:
1. Identification and co-creation
With the aim of involving key actors of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the identification and resolution of the most important challenges of the Ministry of Justice, two types of initiatives are proposed: Calls for challenges (Justiça Challenges) to identify and stimulate the development of technological solutions that respond to the challenges posed by entities of the justice sector and Hackathons to encourage programmers, researchers, public servants and citizens to “co-create” innovative solutions using the data available to the participating entities.
In February 2023, the first challenge call was launched by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). If you want to know more about this challenge, click here.
2. Skills to innovate
The Estratégia Govtech da Justiça is accompanied by training activities based on the Competence Program for Innovation in Justice developed by the Ministry of Justice.
In October 2022, LAB Justiça was inaugurated, an advanced program for innovation and culture, aimed at directors and project managers of justice entities, to train them in strategic management, digital transition and leadership in contexts of constant change. The program is supported by ISEG and NOVA School.
3. Research and testing
A very relevant point of the Strategy is the intention to support it with research in public policy and innovation through conferences with the academic community and the publication of academic articles on the transformation and modernization of the judicial sector. We will follow it closely!
4. Implement
It is not only important to identify and co-create innovative solutions, but also to implement them in order to keep learning and improving. Some of the projects already in operation are an 'automatic document authenticity validator for online nationality applications' (here) and 'automated anonymization of all personal data present in judicial decisions' (here).
Why is this initiative relevant in the govtech ecosystem?
First govtech initiative focused on justice
The development and use of new technological tools and processes to improve the efficiency of legal services, also known as LegalTech, has been booming for several years. According to a Gartner study, the budget for technology by private sector legal teams is set to increase threefold between 2021 and 2025.
The public sector has a significant legal apparatus, which surely shares many of the efficiency challenges faced by private legal firms as well as others specific to public administration. The market for innovative solutions in this area exists and is large, however, these providers face familiar barriers to working with the public administration.
The development of a govtech strategy focused on justice will allow to concentrate efforts in bringing this market of less traditional suppliers closer to a sector with important challenges in the field of automation and the use of data.
Strengthening trust in institutions
Estratégia GovTech da Justiça seeks to improve the quality of services offered to Portuguese citizens and businesses through, among other activities, the incorporation of innovative solutions from the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem.
As Carlos Santiso of the OECD commented at the presentation of the Estratégia GovTech da Justiça, more agile, transparent and citizen-centric legal services transform the user experience and strengthen trust in institutions - now more important than ever.
Focus on digital capabilities
Innovation requires not only new technologies, but also capabilities to manage innovation projects. This is the only way to bring about change from within and to accelerate the implementation of innovation projects and ensure their continuity in the institution.
This is why the incorporation of a training program for new digital skills aimed at management and technical levels of public administration is so relevant. It is especially relevant in an area as regulated and with as many procedures as the justice system. Definitely, a very good practice to be inspired by!
Dynamization of the GovTech ecosystem
In this article we tell you about the govtech dynamics and the actors that are part of a govtech ecosystem. The commitment to focus the govtech strategy on a specific area such as justice can contribute to position itself as a pole of development of solutions aimed at this sector, attracting not only startups and scale-ups with specific solutions but also contribute to the dynamization of relevant actors such as incubators and accelerators, investors and research groups with experience in the digital transformation of the judicial and legal sector. And thus position itself as a pole of development of solutions aimed at the field of justice.
What are the challenges?
Every major initiative has its challenges. It is important to identify them and involve all relevant stakeholders to face them. From Gobe, we believe that any govtech initiative must take into account the following factors:
- New ways of working: it is not always easy to adopt new ways of working and incorporate new technologies, so we often find it difficult to leave traditional processes behind. It is therefore important to involve teams and individuals from the outset and make them participants in the change. Training programs such as the one proposed here are very relevant to overcome this challenge.
- Digital divide: despite the rapid adoption of new technologies among citizens, people who do not have access to the Internet or do not have the necessary digital skills may have difficulty accessing public services. It is necessary to maintain citizen service channels that are adapted to the needs of all.
Information security: As the digitalization of the administration advances, the security of personal data becomes more complex and the risks of cybercriminal attacks are increasing. It is essential not to neglect this aspect, so as not to lose the trust of citizens in the use of digital tools for public services in general, and especially those that have to do with more sensitive data and processes.
