Digital Technology for Co-Creation: Enabling Participatory Systems and Collective Intelligence

Background: Contemporary societies face increasingly complex and interconnected challenges, so-called “wicked problems”, that defy traditional, top-down approaches to policy, research, and innovation. Addressing issues such as climate change, public health, and democratic governance now demands collaborative, participatory methodologies that harness diverse perspectives and collective intelligence. However, these approaches face barriers that hinder their potential. Digital technologies have become central to addressing these barriers while also enabling new forms of collaboration, scaling these co-creative processes, facilitating distributed cooperation, knowledge sharing, and stakeholder engagement across domains. However, despite their promise, the field of digital technology for co-creation remains fragmented, with conceptual ambiguities, inconsistent terminology, and a lack of principled evaluative frameworks impeding both research progress and practical implementation. Without a clear definition of what “a digital technology for co-creation” is, digital tools and platforms are proliferating, but many fail to meet the core needs of co creation. This gap becomes dangerous when technology hampers the values and principles of co-creation. Moreover, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are having a growing impact on collaborative processes, bringing high-potential benefits alongside proportional risks. Consequently, there is an urgent need to clarify what constitutes effective digital technology for co-creation, identify essential requirements, and establish evidence-based criteria to guide the development, assessment, and adoption of such technologies in research and practice. Methods: This thesis employed a sequential, mixed-methods research design grounded in critical realism, participatory research, and socio-technical systems theory. The work was conducted within the Health CASCADE Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. Four interlinked studies addressed the central research questions: (1) What are the essential needs for digital technologies in co-creation? and (2) What constitutes a digital technology aligned with co-creation values and principles? First (Study 1), an AI-assisted systematic review was conducted to map and consolidate the fragmented co-creation literature, resulting in a comprehensive, principle-based database. Second (Study 2), this database was used as a source for searching and training a deep learning model, which was employed in a scoping review that systematically identified and categorised 337 technology needs for co-creation reported in the scientific literature. Third (Study 3), expert practitioners were engaged through participatory workshops, surveys, and consensus mapping to assess real-world usages, unmet needs, and criteria for technology selection. Finally (Study 4), the Co-Tech Taxonomy, a multidimensional framework that defines the essential characteristics and maturity levels of digital technologies for co creation, was developed using a deductive approach and validated through empirical testing using 84 real-world digital tools. Data collection and analysis integrated qualitative, quantitative, and participatory methods, including bibliometrics, thematic and content analysis, and expert consensus techniques, to ensure both methodological rigour and practical relevance. Results: Study 1 revealed that the co-creation field is marked by substantial conceptual and disciplinary fragmentation, with inconsistent terminology and isolated knowledge silos hampering cumulative progress. Through a collective intelligence and AI-assisted systematic review, a unified, principle-based definition and an open-access database were established, setting a new benchmark for consolidating transdisciplinary co-creation literature. Study 2, the scoping review, identified 337 distinct digital technology needs for co-creation, organised into five core domains: integrity, methodology, cognitive support, group dynamics, and process management. Foundational needs, such as inclusivity, accessibility, usability, and participatory governance, were frequently underrepresented but emerged as critical for effective and sustainable co-creation. Study 3, the practitioner-engaged research study, confirmed the importance of usability, adaptability, and context-fit, revealing persistent gaps in hybrid participation, ethical governance, and support for marginalised groups. However, in contrast to the literature, it showed that practitioners prioritised the implementation of technologies as enablers of accessibility, affordability, and engagement, with an emphasis on inclusivity and reliability.Study 4, the empirical development and validation of the Co-Tech Taxonomy, provided a 3robust, multidimensional determinant framework with seven maturity dimensions (e.g., governance, inclusivity, cognitive support), enabling the structured selection, design, and assessment of digital tools. Most existing technologies were found to lack advanced features for participatory governance, hybrid collective intelligence, and inclusive-by-design capabilities. Artificial intelligence (AI) and hybrid intelligence have been identified as transformative for scaling participation, augmenting cognition, and enhancing inclusivity; however, their practical integration remains limited by conceptual, technical, ethical, and organisational barriers. Systemic challenges, including digital divides, resource constraints, and the absence of shared quality standards, persistently limit the adoption and impact of digital co creation tools. Conclusion: This thesis provides foundational clarity and empirically validated benchmarks for defining, developing, and evaluating digital technologies in co-creation. By integrating participatory, evidence-based, and value-driven approaches, the research advances both conceptual understanding and practical guidance for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and technology developers. The open-access Co-Creation Database, systematic mapping of technology needs, and practitioner-informed insights highlight a gap between theory, practice and design of digital technologies for co-creation. To bridge this, the multidimensional Co-Tech Taxonomy establishes the foundations for more inclusive, effective, and democratically governed digital co-creation. The findings underscore the necessity of prioritising usability, inclusivity, and participatory governance, while also harnessing the transformative potential of AI and hybrid collective intelligence. To fully realise this potential, future research and practice must address persistent barriers and carefully navigate the implementation of emergent technology by embedding continuous evaluation, stakeholder co-design, transdisciplinary, and normative standards at the heart of digital co-creation processes. In summary, this work lays the groundwork for leveraging the full potential of digital technology and guiding its implementation to improve, enrich, and enable new and better forms of co-creation.