Bringing the voice of social services in over 30 countries, the European Social Network (ESN) took part at an experts’ workshop in Brussels on 24-25 February in the context of the research project IESI – ‘ICT-Enabled Social Innovation in support to the implementation of the EU Social Investment Package’.

The main goal of this three-year project is, as the title suggests, to explore the contribution of ICT-enabled social innovation in implementing the policy recommendations of the EU’s Social Investment Package. The project also aims to develop a methodological framework to assess the impact generated by ICT-enabled social innovation initiatives.

The first part of IESI, covering year 1 (2014), included a mapping of relevant policy experiences and initiatives involving ICT in the design and implementation of services addressing beneficiaries, intermediary actors and public authorities. The mapped initiatives have been assessed against their ICT-enabled social innovation potential, governance level and type of service integration. The results of the initial mapping can be found in this report. The practices assessments will build onto the development of a methodological framework for impact assessment.

As part of the work conducted so far, Kent University in the UK has identified and assessed active ageing initiatives across a number of indicators on independent living and integrated care, while the consultancy Engaged has looked at other social services, primarily from a financial and social enterprise angle.

While initial findings suggest that the practice sample was not representative of the whole social innovation spectrum across all EU-28 countries, experts at the workshop discussed ways of improving the sample, as well as main elements for an impact assessment framework of practices across a wider area of social services (including social assistance, childcare, social inclusion, employment, active and healthy ageing and long term care).

This work to develop a framework for impact assessment of ICT-enabled social innovation initiatives takes place in the wider context of the European Commission’s agenda for modernising social protection through social innovation. Particularly, the Commission is implementing a number of projects that aim to develop indicators against outcomes and measure the return on social investment.

Looking ahead, the European Social Network (ESN) emphasised the need to develop a framework that included a variety of measurements and clearly linked indicators to short-term and long-term outcomes. We also emphasised that it was key to work with stakeholders – social services managers, practitioners and users – to test and adapt the framework if the process was to be successful.