Visual narratives for positive impact on public ecosystems

Currently, there is growing attention towards the phenomenon of digital transformation within the public sector, namely eGovernment (eGov). It becomes then of key importance for government to have a good understanding of its citizens and the context they live in every day since. The design discipline, with its methodologies and tools, has an unprecedented opportunity to essentially contribute to the public benefit on both sides, by fostering change and ultimately improving the relationship between citizens and institutions. Information design and visual narratives can especially contribute to understanding and conveying the complexity of public services’ ecosystems. Data visualisation techniques and tools can both: make sense and portray the complexity of fields like healthcare, education and mobility, but also inform decision makers and big players. These are the premises of the experimental didactic project Atlante della trasformazione digitale della PA (The Atlas of digital transformation of Public Administration), which involved the collaboration of the Department for digital transformation, Presidency of the Council of Ministers and students of the master’s degree in Communication Design at Iuav University of Venice. The Atlas is the result of a deep investigation of the field and is a resource meant to create awareness and sensitising those who operate for the government to ultimately foster change.