XOVATION is ”A tribute to all participants”

Some learning is invisible

People today are more active on the internet use in various social networks. There we all perform tasks, learn new things and evolve as humans and citizens. A lot of learning takes place there; continuously, informally and invisibly. XOVATION aims to facilitate this kind of learning and make it tangible.

XOVATION is an exciting project that wants to develop new forms of dialogue between you and the and public sector in Karlshamn, Sweden. By using the internet, mobile phones and social media like Facebook and Twitter, that dialog can become faster, more interesting and, above all, much less formal.

The project is managed by NetPort.Karlshamn in cooperation with Blekinge Institute of Technology, the municipality of Karlshamn and the Emergency and Rescue Service of Western Blekinge. The Civic Office, the Commercial Office, the Library, the Tourist Office and local businesses are some of the active participants in the project, and others are in the process of joining. The Regional Authority of Blekinge and the Structural Fund (i.e. the EU) contribute to the funding.

Invisible learning becomes visible

In the social network formed by the municipality and its citizens, the task of XOVATION is to make the mutual learning process more tangible and strengthen it by means of social media. This will give everyone new perspectives, new points of contact and new ways of communicating, which in turn creates better conditions for a sustainable evolution of society.

So far…

XOVATION started in the fall of 2009. So far, the project has achieved the following:

• The Emergency and Rescue Service of Western Blekinge uses Twitter and Facebook in its day-to-day operations.
• The Tourist Office has created a “Visit Karlshamn” page on Facebook and a new interactive website.
• The Civic Office works systematically on improving its service and availability by means of social media. It has, among other things, instigated relevant training of its staff in the form of seminars and study visits.
• The Karlshamn library is exploring what role social media can play and what influence they can have in the library of the future.
• A prototype for the “fault report” e-service has been completed.
• A film about social media – as additional educational support  – has been produced in cooperation with the CELA project.
• XOVATION contributes to the new municipal website, www.karlshamn.se and to the film “Karlshamn is on the move”, with information for all public employees.

A more flexible allocation of roles

The social networks are critical for the development of new and improved municipal services. The traditional role allocation between citizens and public organizations can be made simpler, more flexible and easier to build on. And a culture of participation and co-creation can evolve over time, simply because the dialog becomes so simple, informal and inspirational.

The XOVATION vision is that 31,000 people will take part in creating and conveying services for 31,000 people.