PIRS platform

Connect and guide euroregions to their next version

Comment 2

PROBLEM

The complexity of the problems facing European Union increases and an efficient, synergistic and measured response can only be achieved by having access to data. Good data, owned data, secured and GDPR aware data. The public administration in Romania and – certainly – in other countries too, is not prepared for such situations:

  • We do not have enough data, as a result we do not know and we cannot react to challenges that will come (social, economic, political, health, environmental, etc.)
  • We do not yet have a standardized Region API (including cities and villages), to accelerate the public and private development
  • We do not have attractive mechanisms through which citizens and organizations can provide structured data (via crowd sourcing) on the basis of which regions can react in a agile and smart manner, when this support is in high need
  • We do not have strategic plans for emergencies (with few institutional exceptions) and collaborative trusted tools to meet the challenges of the 3rd millennium
  • We do not evaluate our strategic decisions based on data (especially in the public sector), in order to trigger the needed improvement actions
  • We do not have regional upgrade guides based on validated models, metrics, cultural specificity

SOLUTION

CONTEXT: PIRS platform will be implemented and operationalized at national level

  • Short description available on pirs.ro (link)
  • Business model summary presented in Annex 1 of the attached PDF
  • Missions: build awareness, support datavores, inspire strategic public & private planning, assist synergistic communities, provide certificates to entities, aid strategic start-ups, synchronize platform members
  • Concept supported also by one of team members’ PhD thesis – see its abstract here (link).

FOCUS during #EUvsVirus hackathon:

  • Each city, region, citizen, expert or organization (e.g. solution supplier) will have its own structured and standardized data and can decide how, when, what part and with whom to share it.
  • Note: All data models will be mapped in the future to a smart base model (inspired by nature, validated in billions of years), which is composed of 3 meta-models related to: DNA (with focus on information), component (with focus on life) and entity (with focus on interests & services) – see PROTOTYPE section

  • PIRS platform, with the consent of those interested, will integrate these profiles, measure the status and progress, as well as make comparisons and personalized suggestions for each profile (city, region, organization, expert, project, system, product, service), for the benefit of their evolution, at individual, regional and EU level.

  • Technical details on the solution: see PROTOTYPE section

HACKATHON WORK

JUST BEFORE HACKATHON

  • Activities & deliverables Marian & Dan:
  • Business model for PIRS platform

CHECKPOINT 1:

  • Activities & deliverables Marian

    • Administration: Slack, DevPost etc.
    • Data model inspired by nature
    • Content on PIRS context and general approach

  • Activities & deliverables Dan

    • Administration: AirTable project + workspace
    • Niche scope for hackathon
    • Focused content on hackathon (7 sections)

CHECKPOINT 2:

  • Activities & deliverables Marian

    • Administration
    • Support on database implementations
    • 50% textual pitch (PPT)
    • Business case description

  • Activities & deliverables Dan

    • Dummy version of website
    • GIT installation
    • Database macro-structure (more files) & pragmatic content / fields

CHECKPOINT 3:

  • Activities & deliverables Marian

    • Administration
    • 75% textual pitch (PPT) & synchronizations
    • Website first content (few sections)

  • Activities & deliverables Dan

    • Audio message for pitch
    • Database implementations
    • Website implementations

FINAL SUBMISSION:

  • Activities & deliverables Marian

    • Pre-validation inquiry in Google Forms
    • 100% textual pitch (PPT) & synchronizations
    • Slides for video pitch: business case & inquiry
    • Review & updates on database and website
    • Administration, incl. DevPost submission

  • Activities & deliverables Dan

    • Data base updates
    • Website with all features & final content
    • Demo on website
    • Video pitch
    • Onboarding video.

SOLUTION'S IMPACT TO COVID-19

  • Organize and structure data for regions, cities, organizations (incl. product and service providers), specialists / experts, projects and solutions

  • Share and valorize assets among citizens, communities, regions and European Union

  • (Secondary) Improve the sustainability and resilience of the above-mentioned entities, by providing specialized consultancy based on the internal & external available data:

  • Matching as a Service, Quality as a Service, Planning as a Service
  • (Secondary) Support the adoption of modern concepts at large scale like co-creation, crowd sourcing, crowd funding, smart specialization, self-organization, sharing economy, circular economy, business intelligence, open data / processes / standards, smart networking, collaborative governance, integrated management, remote working and smart advertising

Note: The pre-validation of the concept was done with the help of Google Forms and the Facebook group “Dezvoltarea Inteligentă a României” (“Smart Development of Romania”) – 390 members. The inquiry was organized on Sunday, between 13h - 19h . The result was the following: 47 total responses, out of which 53.2% “Surely yes”, 23.4% “Probably yes”, 6.4% “Maybe”, 12.8% “No”, 4.3% “Don’t know” and 0% free responses.

EXAMPLE OF BUSINESS CASE

USING SPECIALIST DATA BASE TO BOOST SHARING & CIRCULAR ECONOMY

  • Relevant types of activities: subscription (ex. to expertise sourcing), co-work (e.g. when not enough self-capacity), co-use (e.g. of an expensive resource), share (e.g. information or components of a system which are not used), loan or swap (e.g. of a specialized item – based on trust), crowd-sourcing (e.g. small info and resources from other specialists in the branch), cascading (e.g. still useful waste obtained from practice / experiments), reutilization (e.g. of still functional resources), reconditioning / reconstitution / maintenance / personalization / adaptation / upgrading etc. (e.g. with the help of an identified specialist), sponsorship / donation (e.g. when advertising for a good cause) etc.

  • Impact on a large scale, by making available qualitative (and sometimes trusted / certified) information in an efficient manner

  • Benefits: less waste, less sourcing of raw materials, higher resource productivity and efficiency, cost saving, valorized opportunities, co-creation, innovation, mitigated supply risks, continued “license to operate” (e.g. via skills promotion & endorsements), strengthened relationships among specialist communities, improved competitiveness of a country etc.

  • Validation of the above concepts / approaches: done internationally since decades.

SOLUTION'S VALUE AFTER THE CRISIS

  1. Owned data
  2. Standardized data models for different entities (organization, expert, citizen, city, region, solution, project), including standardization of crowdsourcing
  3. Control of data sharing and usage
  4. Facilitated sharing & circular economy by expertise, projects, solutions and resources
  5. Tracked profile status and progress

  6. Personalized growth approach for each entity

  7. Possibility to learn from PIRS experience and scale it up at EU level

  8. Contribution to general resilience (by operationalizing other PIRS services based on the data management system):

  • Facilitated and consolidated relationships among the community members of any type;
  • Strategic plans and smart solutions facilitated to the communities;
  • Certified entities (see types above), to boost the development endeavors;
  • Available benchmarking analysis and studies** to valorize other improvement potentia;
  • Stronger awareness and culture on smart, resilient and sustainable development.

PROTOTYPE

  • Website with capabilities to onboard & promote Specialists: pirs.ro

  • Data models:

    • Current version, on the website (link): it covers the meta-models (2 for this hackathon: Specialist and Organization) and the user templates (1 for this hackathon - Specialist)
    • Future version, based on nature’s principles: draft available on request, to be used to map all data models

  • Back-end software created with:

    • Technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, REST, Bootstrap, SQL
    • Tools: GIT, CloudFlare, AirTable, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Google Apps Script

  • The prototype was implemented in the context of PIRS Platform:

    • Business Model (defined just before the hackathon) - see Annex 1 of the attached PDF.
    • Note: Full business model is available in Excel and may be provided, if requested.

NEXT STEPS FOR THE PROJECT

  • Define and validate data models for all entities
  • Customize the onboarding of all entities to the platform
  • Onboard specialists and organizations to the platform, with real data
  • Obtain feedback on the current state of data and progress metrics
  • Acquire and implement suggestions for improving each entity package
  • Define criteria to promote, match and upgrade available profiles for their benefit
  • Do Matching as a Service, Quality as a Service, Planning as a Service
  • Validate the sustainability of PIRS business model

NECESSITIES TO CONTINUE THE PROJECT

  • For the hackathon-related scope and objectives:

    • EU funds and grants, to research & implement the standardization of data models for all entities (organizations, specialists / experts, citizens, cities, regions, solutions, projects)

  • For general PIRS platform (will all features):

    • Contributors for further development: mentors, developers, designers, promoters etc.
    • EU partnerships with relevant organizations
    • Access to publicly-available relevant knowledge and data bases
    • EU funds and grants, to improve and extend technical and organizational capabilities
    • Contracts to work on and acquire income

ANNEX 1: PIRS BUSINESS MODEL

Platform focus: smart / intelligent, resilient and sustainable development of Romania

  • Value Propositions: awareness, evaluation, consultancy, market support, matchmaking, benchmarking, learning
  • Key Activities: identification, profiling, certification, support for customers / market / specialists / startups
  • Key Partners: organizations (public, private, associations etc.), networks, specialists, own ambassadors
  • Customer Segments: public administration, solution providers, startups, specialists, other organizations
  • Customer relationships: assistance, self-service, co-creation, community interactions, curatorship, trainings
  • Channels: f2f, online (incl. platform), workshops, social networks, demos, certification system etc.
  • Cost structure: platform & demos development, staff & headquarter costs, specialized services, events etc.
  • Revenue streams: platform services, consultancy, donations, crowd funding, non-reimbursable funds

Note1: Full business model is available and may be provided, if requested

Note2: Platform supported also by following initiatives & their work groups:

ANNEX 2: EXISTING CAPITAL FOR PIRS PLATFORM

  • Important specialized private partners at national level (experts, associations and companies)
  • Trustful relations with a significant number of relevant public actors at regional and national level
  • Elements to advertise and attract partnerships: websites, bloggs, running proposals and projects, workgroups, events, personal notoriety etc.
  • Expertise to develop first “lean” loops for implementing PIRS technical platform and some resources to do that (we expect also to receive sponsorships)
  • PhD effective smart city and smart region models
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