2025 Public Sector Tech Champions

Did you know that the future of government is being built right now, and it’s smarter than ever?

Last week in Copenhagen, the best and brightest minds in European public administration gathered at the SEMIC 2025 Conference to reveal the winners of the Public Sector Tech Watch Best Cases Award 2025. These aren't just boring bureaucracy updates these are groundbreaking AI solutions that are changing how cities and nations run.

What is the Public Sector Tech Watch? Before we get to the winners, you need to know about the massive engine driving this innovation.

The Public Sector Tech Watch (PSTW) is the European Commission's dedicated observatory, managed by the Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Its mission is simple but ambitious: create a "virtuous cycle" of innovation. By monitoring and analyzing how public administrations use technology, they ensure that a breakthrough in one country can become a blueprint for everyone else.

This isn't a small experiment. The PSTW currently tracks over 1,500 cases of emerging technology like AI and Blockchain. While it covers Blockchain and IoT, the vast majority-over 80%-are Artificial Intelligence tools.

It’s a truly pan-European effort, gathering intelligence from digital leaders like Estonia, the Netherlands, and Spain, as well as partners like Norway and the UK. It proves that the public sector is evolving faster than we think.

I’ve dug into this massive database to bring you the top winners who are setting the standard for the rest of the world.

🥇 The Big Winners: Transforming Government

1. The Internal Powerhouse (G2G Winner): City of Vienna - The City of Vienna (Stadt Wien) took home the top prize in the Government-to-Government category with their project "WienKI".

• What it is: Instead of using scattered, insecure tools, Vienna built a fully secure, internal AI platform for its employees.

• Why it wins: It empowers civil servants to use Generative AI for drafting texts, summarizing documents, and more all while keeping data strictly private and GDPR-compliant. It’s a masterclass in "Digital Sovereignty."

2. The Citizen Hero (G2C Winner): Ukraine - In the Government-to-Citizen category, the Ministry of Digital Transition of Ukraine was crowned the winner for Diia.AI

• The Mission: Ukraine continues to lead the world in digital governance. Diia.AI integrates artificial intelligence directly into their famous "State in a Smartphone" app, making public services faster, more accessible, and incredibly efficient for millions of citizens, even in challenging times.

🥈 The Runners-Up: Innovation to Watch

The competition was fierce, and the judges awarded Honorable Mentions to projects that are pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

• Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain) 🇪🇸 received a prestigious nod for their "GenAI4PA" initiative. They are using Generative AI to revolutionize the environmental sector, specifically for generating complex technical reports. This solution saves hundreds of hours of manual work, allowing experts to focus on protecting nature rather than drowning in paperwork.

Source: Interoperable Europe