FreshMinds 2025: Bridging Research and Policy for Digital Government Transformation

FreshMinds is a Joint Research Centre (JRC) initiative under the Innovations in Public Governance project that strengthens the interface between research and policymaking in the field of digital government. By engaging early-career researchers and EU policy actors, FreshMinds supports the translation of emerging scientific evidence into timely insights for European digital-transformation policies. In 2025, the initiative focused on three complementary events: a policy dialogue on AI and data governance at the CPDP conference; a hands-on Science-for-Policy session at the EGOV Junior Faculty School, co-designed with the Research Executive Agency (REA); and an online seminar on the use of generative AI in the public sector. Together, these activities created a European space for dialogue, skill development and knowledge exchange on data governance, interoperability, AI ethics and public-sector innovation. The report summarises the discussions, methods and reflections arising from these events and highlights cross-cutting insights on science-for-policy communication, interdisciplinary collaboration and the evolving needs of early-career researchers. It also identifies emerging policy-relevant themes, including trustworthy AI, digital public-service design, and cross-border interoperability, and outlines how FreshMinds contributes to a stronger evidence ecosystem in support of human-centred, data-driven and interoperable digital government in the EU.