Madrid Digital

Also known as the Agency for the Digital Administration of the Community of Madrid, MADRID DIGITAL has the goal of becoming the main benchmark for the provision of digital public services. To achieve this objective, the organization seeks to promote resource management, technological innovation and change management through different services, products and platforms that help citizens and companies solve their needs easily, safely and effectively.

In the search for digital alternatives that achieve an improvement, both in the quality of life of for citizens and in the management of subsidizing administrative procedures, MADRID DIGITAL launched two tools. One is an application that allows users to ascertain the city’s air quality situation in an agile and simple way. The other is a platform which increases the computer system speed for managing each new administrative procedure for subsidy applications from the Community of Madrid.

The Challenge

Over the years, according to the needs of the period and of each Administrator, MADRID DIGITAL has worked on the development of various applications whose objectives included:

• Improving transparency in the disclosure of large amounts of data.
• Offering quick and intuitive access to information.
• Improving the management of grant administration procedures.

Our Proposal

NEORIS has been collaborating with MADRID DIGITAL for almost a decade on different digital and technological projects.

It was through this collaboration by the two entities with the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) that the "Madrid Air Quality" project was launched, a mobile application complementary to the website, which allows citizens to ascertain the air quality conditions. One of the characteristics that stands out most in the development of this tool is the speed with which the user can access the information, since the app shows the data 48 hours in advance.

Based on the ATLANTIX platform, they have developed a new electronic management system for procedures was created to ensure the adequacy of the Administrative Management of the Community of Madrid. This was done through the "Grants Platform" that provides integration and communication with all elements of the region’s Electronic Administration, thus complying with Law 39/40 of public administrations.

The “Madrid Air Quality” project was executed through the daily collection of data, graphs and infographics that are later included in the system, allowing all the information to be organized and accessible in service to citizens.

The application, developed by NEORIS, has four main components:

1. Air Quality Index: Provides information based on the data available through already existing networks in the Community of Madrid. A map with different colors indicates the air quality in each area (contributed by MADRID DIGITAL).
2. Nearest Station: The application geolocates the citizen and offers them information on the air quality of the evaluation station closest to their location. Currently, the Community of Madrid has 24 evaluation stations distributed in different urban and rural areas.
3. Vehicle Circulation Restrictions: Provides data on the existence of traffic restrictions in a specific municipality or neighborhood, including based on the type of vehicle permit tag.
4. Forecasts for the Next 24/48 hours: Includes several parameters – SO2, NO2, PM2.5, PM10 and O2 – through which the forecast can be obtained up to two days before and in an animated GIF format.

The "Subsidy Platform" is a system that unifies the management of administrative application procedures published by the Community of Madrid, minimizing the time invested and allowing for the management of a greater volume of applications and payments in less time.

The platform, developed by NEORIS, is based on three fundamentals:

1. Provides a common management framework for all grant administrative procedures through different phases and in a series of parameterizable components.
2. Minimizes the tasks of administrative managers through automation of the processing of files.
3. Enables the implementation of administrative procedures for requesting subsidies, through parametrization without the need to develop specific procedures.

During the first few weeks of its debut, the "Madrid Air Quality” application achieved a rating of five out of five in the Apple Store and four out of five in the Google Play Store. Similarly, the receptivity and impact achieved is reflected in news published by major media, including ABC and Telemadrid.

• Direct aid to companies and the self-employed affected by COVID-19: The same day that the call for applications for this program was opened, the platform automatically registered applications. Within a day and a half, it had generated more than 300,000 requests. In addition, its use allowed citizens and companies to receive aid in less than a month.
• Direct aid to companies rehiring workers in the Temporary Employment Regulation Process (Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo (ERTE)): In total, 2,764 entities have benefited from this, allowing a total of 6,766 people to rejoin the labor market.
• Aid to Industrial SMEs and Industry 4.0 Projects: The use of automation in the file creation phase and the data consultation processes with other administrations automatically helped to minimize the time in which solutions reached concession and payment phases for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

• Employment Aid through MRR: Use of the grant platform for aid financed by the Mechanism for Recovery and Resilience (Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia (MRR)) made the management of three forms of aid operational in three months.
• Aid in Local Administration and Housing (ALVI): Using the subsidy platform has made it possible to automate processes related to the registration of files, making them available to managers the same day applications for housing rental (ALVI) were submitted. Similarly, this has been used for the Regional Investment Plan (Plan de Inversión Regional 2022-2026 (PIR6)).
• Thermal Social Bonus: The use of the platform has made it possible to carry out the massive delegation of 50,000 files to a spending control intervention related to subsidies for natural gas for vulnerable households.

Additionally, in 2022, the project was a finalist in the Automation and Robotics category at the, CIONET Vocento Awards and received an award in the Digitalization of Citizen Services category in the SOCINFO Digital Awards.

Paloma Martín

Director of the Office of Environment, Housing and Agriculture

Miguel Acero

NEORIS Telco & Media Vertical Director