Co-production and nudging: The enabling role of ICT

Co-production and nudging reflect the new paths taken by governments in the digital transformation age. Both are behaviour-based tools of public action. Both are premised on the idea that citizen engagement in public services is essential for problem solving. Thus far, however, these topics of debate have been addressed in isolation. The aim of this explorative paper is twofold: to come to an overall assessment about the potential of co-production and nudging, analysing the links between them, and the role that ICT plays in improving citizen behaviours. Draw-ing on a service lens, the paper makes the case that co-production and nudging can be combined to support citizens in their ‘service user journey’. This tentative exercise is a conceptual one, but hopefully one that broadens the understanding of citizens’ participation mediated by digital technologies. In essence, the joint adop-tion of co-production and nudging could help design and deliver services that bet-ter meet citizen needs.