Human City Platform · Project

Citizen Engagement Platform That Measures Community Well-Being for City Councils

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Imagine you could actually measure how connected and engaged people in a city feel — not just count park visitors or survey responses, but track real acts of kindness rippling through a community. That's what this Spanish startup built: a digital platform where citizens do good deeds, pass them along in a chain, and the city council gets real data on social cohesion. They already had companies like Cisco and Airbnb using a corporate version for employee engagement, and this project scaled it up for entire cities. Think of it as a Fitbit for community spirit — instead of counting steps, it scores positive interactions between citizens.

By the numbers

6.87

Expected ROI by 2022

€1,357,675

Initial investment for platform scale-up

Planned staff growth by 2022

Confirmed pilot partners (Barcelona City Council, UC Berkeley, Schneider Electronics)

Demo deliverables (pilot plans and impact assessments)

The business problem

What needed solving

Cities collect mountains of data on infrastructure, traffic, and services — but have almost no way to measure how citizens actually feel about their community or how they interact with each other. Traditional surveys are expensive, infrequent, and miss the real picture. Meanwhile, companies face growing EU pressure to report on CSR activities but lack credible, data-backed metrics to show genuine social impact.

The solution

What was built

A digital platform with physical Social Coins that trigger pay-it-forward kindness chains, tracked and scored by the SPAK algorithm. The project delivered a pilot demonstration plan, pilot impact assessment, and demonstration impact assessment — confirming the city-scale version was tested with real partners.

Audience

Who needs this

City councils and municipal governments seeking citizen engagement toolsLarge corporations needing CSR reporting metrics (like Cisco, Airbnb, Telefónica)Universities building campus community programsSmart city solution integratorsEmployee engagement consultancies

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Municipal Government & Smart Cities

any

Target: City and town councils with citizen engagement mandates

If you are a city council struggling to measure citizen satisfaction beyond annual surveys — this project developed a digital platform with a unique scoring algorithm (SPAK) that tracks real citizen interactions and community engagement in real time. The platform was piloted with Barcelona City Council and produces data dashboards that help municipal leaders make evidence-based decisions about social programs. It gives you something no traditional survey can: a continuous pulse on how your citizens actually connect with each other.

Corporate Social Responsibility Services

enterprise

Target: Large corporations with CSR reporting obligations

If you are a company needing to report CSR activities to investors and comply with EU requirements from 2017 — this project's platform already served Cisco, Airbnb, and Telefónica for exactly this purpose. It tracks employee-driven good deeds through a pay-it-forward chain and generates metrics dashboards that feed directly into CSR reports. Instead of vague claims about corporate citizenship, you get hard data on social impact with an expected ROI of 6.87 on investment.

Education & Employee Engagement

any

Target: Universities and large employers focused on team culture

If you are an education institution or employer looking to build genuine community among students or staff — this platform turns engagement into a measurable, trackable activity through physical coins and a digital chain of good deeds. The University of Berkeley-California confirmed involvement in the pilot phase, validating the concept in academic settings. Each participant's actions are visible, shareable, and commentable, creating organic community building backed by real engagement data.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What does the platform cost to implement?

The project was built on an initial investment of €1,357,675 with breakeven projected in the third year of commercialization (2020). Exact licensing or subscription pricing for city councils is not disclosed in the project data, but the model involves customizable platform deployment plus low-cost physical Social Coins.

Can this scale to large cities or multiple municipalities?

The platform was designed specifically to scale from corporate clients to entire cities. It was piloted with Barcelona City Council, one of Europe's major cities. The SPAK algorithm and digital infrastructure were built to handle city-wide citizen participation, not just small groups.

Who owns the technology and how is it licensed?

The Social Coin SL is the sole consortium partner and SME owner of the platform. As a single-company SME-2 project, all IP rights remain with the company. Based on available project data, they operate a platform-as-a-service model with customizable deployments for each client.

Is this just a feel-good app or does it produce real business data?

The platform generates concrete metrics through its SPAK scoring system (Scoring of Positive Acts of Kindness), built on graph theory and semi-supervised learning algorithms. Corporate clients like Cisco and Telefónica already use these metrics for mandatory CSR reporting. The data includes engagement rates, chain propagation, and community interaction patterns.

What proof is there that this actually works?

The project produced a Pilot demonstration plan, Pilot impact assessment, and Demonstration impact assessment as formal deliverables. Before the EU-funded expansion, the company already had paying corporate clients including Cisco, Airbnb, and Telefónica validating the concept in real business settings.

How long does it take to deploy?

Based on available project data, the project ran from April 2016 to September 2018 to build the city-scale version. The corporate version was already operational before the project started. Specific deployment timelines per client are not disclosed in the data.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a solo SME project — The Social Coin SL from Spain is both the sole developer and commercial owner, which is typical for SME Instrument Phase 2 funding. The 100% industry composition means there is no academic partner diluting IP or slowing commercialization. However, external pilot partners (Barcelona City Council, University of Berkeley-California, and Schneider Electronics) were confirmed as collaborators outside the formal consortium. For a potential business client, this means you deal directly with one company that owns everything, with no complex multi-partner IP negotiations.

How to reach the team

The Social Coin SL is a Spanish startup — their team can be reached through their website or LinkedIn. SciTransfer can facilitate a direct introduction.

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Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how the Human City Platform could work for your city or organization? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the team and provide a tailored briefing on deployment options.

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