SIMPATICO project is an innovative project in the context of online public services, focusing upon the improvement of public sector e-service provision for citizens and companies. The SIMPATICO approach combines technological innovation in the context of language processing and machine learning, and business innovation such crowdsourcing, explicit and implicit as well as top-down (PA-driven) and bottom-up (user-driven) as well as open and user-driven innovation (Citizenpedia – an advanced web-based social question answering engine, where citizens, companies and civil servants discuss and suggest potential solutions and interpretation for the most problematic procedures and concepts). This very element enables SIMPATICO to effectively and efficiently address the on-going needs of users (citizens and companies) by providing personalized and continuously improved public sector e-services.

• The envisioned project results vary from research ones to business (SIMAPTICO solution) and community ones (Citizenpedia) among others. The project has provided clear and well-structured objectives (ROs – Research Objectives) and WPs that facilitate a well-structured implementation process.
• SIMPATICO has a high potential impact across diverse communities (i.e., research community, public sector, citizens, companies, civil society at large, etc.). Although, the impact of the SIMPATICO solution (RO4) will be evaluated in the course of use-cases (EU cities and EU region) in terms of increase in competitiveness, efficiency of interaction and quality of experience, it would be useful to include additional evaluation parameters (qualitative and quantitative). In addition, it would be beneficial to assess the aggregate impact of the project and its distinct results across the various communities based on sound methodologies and KPIs.     

Dissemination

The project has a well-structured dissemination (D7.2), providing a detailed analysis of the different dissemination activities for the diverse project stakeholders. Although stakeholder management and engagement activities as well as community building have been well planned in the course of WP6, they address only the needs of the use-cases. As such providing a generic community building and engagement approach and plan for the project as a whole would provide additional benefits.

Exploitation

Although WP7 envisions a market analysis and an exploitation plan there seems to be no associated deliverable (at least online). Setting out early in the course of the project an exploitation strategy and plan facilitates the exploitation of the full potential of the SIMPATICO results. In this plan the different exploitation paths of the project could be identified and associated with their exploitation potential so as to examine both the feasibility and impact for the different stakeholders.

Re-usability  

Re-usability of the SIMPATICO solution is highly related to the exploitation path that the project will follow. For example, an “open” exploitation path would provide a higher re-usability potential but would create additional burdens for the different PAs that would have to adapt the SIMPATICO solution on their own; where as a “proprietary” exploitation path would provide relax such burdens for a fee. Certainly additional paths exist and could be explored.

In order to ensure re-usability of the project results, SIMPATICO partners could provide user manuals (short and to the point) and lessons-learned from the designed use cases where implementation/adoption barriers could be identified.

SIMPATICO is an innovative project with a high potential impact. In order for this to be achieved innovation and exploitation planning activities should take place.