The Digital Social Innovation for Europe (DSI4EU) is an online platform supporting those developing open hardware and software solutions that tackle social challenges.

The platform showcases the work of Makers and designers, and tags their organizations as part of networks like research alliances or membership bodies. DSI4EU also aims to map and identify fundings across Europe, along with other potential partners and collaborators for digital social innovators.

On May 16th, DSI4EU will share their approach to policy, funding, and public service partnerships with policymakers, investors and practitioners in London. The event will take place at Nesta headquarters (58 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DS) and is open to everyone (free registration).

Topics discussed will include: lessons about growth and impact from the innovators themselves, building capacity in the non-profit, funding, investment and sustainable business models, as well as emerging city-based strategic approaches to digital social innovation.

Then on May 17th, participants will be able to join fellow practitioners, policymakers, and civil society groups from Europe on a tour of London’s most exciting digitial social innovation venues, while gaining an overview on some amazing projects that are delivering real social impact. Each organization will host for an hour and offer a short workshop with opportunities for networking, conversation, and knowledge exchange.

Interested? You can read more about next month’s event here.

Earlier today, Arduino co-founder David Cuartielles participated in DSI4EU’s policy workshop entitled “Shaping the Future of Digital Social Innovation in Europe,” which gathered digital social innovators and policy makers to inspire and connect with different networks. During the workshop, Cuartielles and other leaders demonstrated clear examples of digital social innovation throughout Europe, along with some best practices and hands-on tips.

How is Digital Social Innovation (DSI) connected with Maker Culture, you ask? DSI is a type of collaborative innovation in which users and communities collaborate with digital technologies to co-create knowledge and solutions for a wide range of social needs at a scale that was unimaginable before the rise of the Internet. The organizations and projects identified and mapped by DSI4EU can be grouped within six broad domains and projects like Arduino are empowering people to develop New Ways of Making thanks to open hardware and educational programs!

DSI4EU is a support action in the H2020 Collective Awareness Platforms program. The initiative will grow and scale the current Digital Social Innovation network of projects, organizations, and individuals bringing together social entrepreneurs, hackers, communities, and academics working on key DSI fields such as the Maker Movement, the collaborative economy, open democracy and digital rights. It’s fostering digital innovations for social good, helping communities share data, collaborate to solve societal problems, and scale their initiatives focusing on open and distributed technologies and new sustainable business models. Finally, it’s representing the building blocks for a new participatory innovation model for Europe, a more decentralised web and an inclusive and sustainable society, including a radical approach to scaling, extending and connecting the DSI network in Europe.