CC2i (Co-fund and Collaborate to Innovate) recently went live with the aim of supporting public-sector organisations to co-fund their digital service developments. Based on similar principles to crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and Indigogo, CC2i describes itself as crowdfunding for the public sector on a corporate scale.
The platform is based on the premise that many public-sector organisations face similar challenges and could therefore benefit from the same technology, but are rarely in a position to design, commission and develop worthwhile solutions on their own. CC2i is designed to enable proper digital collaboration via a mechanism to elicit co-funding and co-design and development to deliver more sustainable digital services.
The platform is open to teams across the public sector who want to develop a digital solution or take something they have developed in-house to the next stage. Ideas can come from any service or department; CC2i said that it had already attracted pitches around mental health, adult social services, crowdsourcing content for customer services, and personal data protection.
Once pitched, CC2i then promotes the ideas to relevant organisations in the sector to raise awareness and encourage co-funding and collaboration. By pledging money, each partner organisation is then directly involved in the development of the project as well as the subsequent local rollout. Each idea will have a clear business case, along with the usual contracts and service level agreements that an organisation would expect.
Guy Giles, founder, CC2i, said, “I have seen some of the best and some of the worst examples of ‘how to do it’ when it comes to all things digital. So this is our call to arms. CC2i provides a platform for co-funding great ideas, collaborating on their development and enabling digital innovation to actually happen. We’re a new business, looking to disrupt, and ultimately transform the way in which digital gets done in the public sector across the UK.”
