Digitisation

Europe’s Digital Future: How Can GovTech Bring Public Administrations Faster, Smarter, and Closer to the People?

Europe stands at the dawn of a new digital era. Start-ups and public administrations are joining forces to build governments that are more agile, transparent, and citizen-centered. The study “Europe’s Digital Future” by Prof. Dr. Dr. Björn Niehaves and Luca T. Bauer, published by FNF Europe, reveals that when governments embrace liberal values—openness, competition, and participation—real innovation thrives.
Drawing on over 120 interviews with public officials and GovTech founders across France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal, the study explores how Europe’s emerging GovTech ecosystems are reshaping public innovation. Start-ups bring agility and a user-driven mindset, but their momentum often collides with rigid bureaucracy, outdated IT systems, and complex procurement rules. Yet where leadership, trust, and collaboration take root, digital transformation flourishes.
Country insights highlight the diversity of approaches:

• Germany demonstrates strong digital sovereignty and capable public IT, but scaling innovation remains constrained by conservative procurement and legacy systems.
• The Netherlands excels with challenge-based tenders and user-centric pilots, but struggles to scale local success nationally.
• France leads with an open-source-first strategy and transparency, though integration into legacy structures remains difficult.
• Portugal embraces partnerships and GovTech consortia, driving rapid adoption, yet needs stable post-pilot funding and talent pipelines to sustain progress.

The study outlines three key policy areas for a future-ready, liberal digital Europe:

1. Modernising procurement: Moving from large, risk-averse tenders to smaller, outcome-based contracts enables fair competition and collaboration among GovTech, BigTech, and public IT—creating a pluralistic ecosystem where innovation and public value reinforce each other.
2. Investing in people: Digital transformation starts with people, not technology. Civil servants need the skills, confidence, and culture to innovate and cooperate with start-ups. A learning-oriented administration is key to sustainable change.
3. Balancing sovereignty and openness: Europe’s digital sovereignty depends on interoperability, cross-border cooperation, and innovation-friendly regulation—not protectionism. Shared standards and open frameworks are the foundations of a resilient, collaborative digital Europe.

The conclusion is clear: Governments cannot innovate alone. Their role is to cultivate an environment where innovation can thrive. Europe’s digital sovereignty will be built not through isolation, but through openness, collaboration, and trust—making GovTech the driving force of a more efficient, democratic, and human-centered public sector.