Managerial perceptions on co-creation implementation challenges in cross-border projects of e-public services

Abstract

Co-creation has become an expectation rather than an exception in EU Horizon projects aimed at creating digital public services. However, understanding co-creation in a cross-border setting has been lacking, despite concerns in the literature about its proper implementation. To address this, Q-Methodology was employed to reveal three differing perceptions of co-creation challenges amongst project managers in the mGov4EU project. The Project Afterthought viewpoint found co-creation poorly integrated into the project structure, leaving unclear how it was intended to add value and help achieve project goals. The EU-Level Mismatch viewpoint struggled to integrate co-creation with citizens due to creeping requirements and uncertainty surrounding the influence of emerging EU policies on the project's technical specifications. The Frontline viewpoint seemed to feel let down by EU and project leadership for not providing sufficient structure to the co-creation in the pilot projects to facilitate meaningful contributions. Thus, it was revealed that the EU and mGov4EU project managers implicitly assumed a shared understanding of co-creation, despite differing interpretations leading to a fractured implementation.