Digitalized Co-production of Emergency Response: To Make Local Initiatives National

In Sweden, digitalized co-production emergency response initiatives of a "hybrid" type emerged a decade ago. They did not involve citizens on large-scale or the public but rather targeted local efforts to recruit groups of citizens to provide first response for other citizens in frequent accidents. Substantial benefits in terms of shorter response times, saved lives, reduced human suffering and material damage, have been recognized. Nevertheless, the initiatives' expansion to most municipality rescue services remains limited. Previous research has studied the co-production initiatives, focusing on digitalization/ICT as an enabler and on organizational and ICT-related hindrances. In this study, we develop three models aimed at making the local initiatives national. The presented models are adapted to rural versus urban settings and complemented with a model providing national support. Information and communication technology plays a crucial role in all models, and implications for digitalized co-production are discussed.