A DLA is a common strategy, shared with citizens, for the development of the Information Society which bears in mind socio-economic, cultural and institutional factorsThe main objective of the project is to improve regional policies in the fields of DLA for developing new actions related to the application of the IS to public services. To do so, the project will foster a permanent exchange of experience among partners and it will establish a cooperation network to update and improve knowledge on IS and its applications in public administrations’ servicesAs specific objectives, the project seeks:• To design a general DLA transferable to every region• To elaborate a Common Methodology to adapt the general DLA to every particular local situation• To involve all key stakeholders in the project and in the process of building a DLA• To exchange experience• To state the basis for future collaborationThe project is structured in 3 years and into the following components:1. ManagementThe internal coordination will be based on a partnership agreement stating the rights and obligations of the partners; a web-based management system; and a Steering Committee constituted by partners’ representatives to follow up the progress of the project. Besides, partners will engage an external assistance to support them in the management tasks.2. CommunicationCommunication Policy is addressed to public authorities, citizens and business, as key actors in the development of a Strategy for the IS. It will use all media: internet, press conferences, and publication of brochures, leaflets and an e-newsletter; as well as the organisation of conferences addressed to all agents involved in DLA fields.3. Exchange of experiencesThe work will follow a logical framework: diagnosis, sharing experience, and structuring future cooperation. The main outputs of this component will be a General DLA and a Common Methodology for implement it, to guarantee that localcharacteristics are taken into account 4. Case Study; coordinated by CCDRN and University of West Macedonia.There will be 1 case study in 2 regions (West Macedonia and North Portugal) to probe that the CM designed could be used to adapt the General DLA to a local situation. Furthermore, as these regions are already developing some actions in IS, the case study will also probe the benefits of having a strategy to coordinate the action on IS in the services for citizensDLA project has 11 partners from 9 different EU Member States:• 2 Regional Authorities (Portugal and Ireland)• 3 Associations of Municipalities (Spain, Estonia and Latvia)• 3 Development and Innovation Agencies (Italy, Hungary and Germany)• 3 Universities (Estonia and 2 from Greece) Achievements: The economic and social development of the European regions is largely conditioned by the degree of implementation of the IS. The potential of ICT to transform and modernize our public administrations, societies and economies is increasingly being recognized. In the case of public administrations, the adoption of ICT tools in day-to-day practices brings immediate improvements. However, the extent to which the ICT are developed in public authorities across Europe is very unbalanced.In this context, the European Union launched the Digital Local Agenda strategy, a common framework for the development of the Information Society which bears in mind socio-economic, cultural and institutional factors. With this aim, the DLA project emerges fostering a permanent exchange of experience among partners. It also establishes a cooperation network to update and improve knowledge on the IS and its applications in public administration services.As a first step, the DLA project has identified 36 good practices in the ICT field out of which 5 have been selected and constituted the point of departure in the process of designing a general DLA which will be transferable to every region and will allow participants to improve regional policies in the fields of DLA.With the objective of achieving this DLA, 11 partners from 9 different countries across Europe, developed a Common Methodology to adapt the general DLA to every particular local situation by exchanging all participating countries experiences, involving all key stakeholders in the project and in the process of building a DLA. In order to develop this common methodology, partners organized 3 Working Groups for the three different phases of the methodology:•An instrument for the self-evaluation of the skill and capacity on ICT, automation, e-government, etc. of each municipality involved•A matrix where, according to the municipality level identified in the previous step, the priorities for the DLA agenda are proposed •A policy format for the General DLA to be filled in and completed according to the results of the previous stepsIn the framework of Communication and Dissemination activities of the DLA project, the Midland Regional Authority organized the “ICT & Public Service Delivery Conference” that took place in Athlone (Ireland) last 23/11/2011. On this occasion, the leaders of the above mentioned WG presented the conclusions of the work performed, illustrating the benefits of adopting a DLA.At the conference, that was attended by both public and private most outstanding stakeholders in the Midlands, a number of ICT best practices identified within the participating regions (StadtWiki Karlsruhe and Barcelos With Your Fingers, as well as the most representative Irish initiatives in the field of ICT and e-government) were also introduced. During the first semester of 2012, partners focused their work on the fine tuning of the final results of the 3 WG, as well as in preparing the Final Conference to be held on 24th October 2012, hosted by ASEV, the new Italian partner replacing Etruria Innovazione.Among other actions, ASEV performed a dedicated survey for good practices on DLA matters in the territorial area of the Circondario of Empoli (integrated by 11 municipalities). In this survey, two running practices are worthy to be mentioned: CASPITALINK and VALDELSA DIGITAL LOCAL AGENDA.One great achievement to be mentioned is that following the presentation of “Barcelos at Your Fingers” at the conference held in the Midland Region, Longford County Council was inspired to develop the Visit Longford smart phone application, which is currently in the final stages of development.At present, the first phase of the case studies foreseen in the project has started, focused on testing the Common Methodology for building a General DLA in two territorial areas of Portugal and Western Macedonia (Greece).