On the 20th of May, the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia invited key stakeholders to a joint discussion on the topic of “Regional Development and Digital Co-creation”.
The meeting was arranged as a hybrid event, nicely in line with the theme of the day. The Regional Council of Ostrobothnia and Åbo Akademi/Experience Lab presented the OSIRIS survey on digital development and innovation processes conducted in the partner regions.
The stakeholders involved in the meeting had taken part in the regional survey in Ostrobothnia. The purpose of the meeting was to disseminate the initial results of the study and verify the conclusions made.
The participants were pleasantly surprised by the positive evaluations and expectations of the digital processes examined in the study. These results indicate that the digital elements of co-creation explored during the pandemic are here to stay. The question is rather; how we can now use our experiences to work even more efficiently in distance and hybrid modes in the future? And how do we need to truly re-think our work in order to not only paste digital elements on old processes?
Against this backdrop, the discussion in the meeting evolved around questions regarding including new groups, creating creativity and engagement in digital processes and new forms of regional development when processes are no longer geographically bound activities. At the end of the meeting, the participants got a checklist of practical advice on how to implement online- and hybrid co-creation processes which was very much appreciated.
