A municipality or council needs idea management software that reaches every kind of employee, keeps personal data in the EU under a data processing agreement, holds up when someone asks to see the records, and can be bought within public procurement rules. Staff ideas and resident input work best as separate challenges in the same tool: staff sign in with their work account, and residents answer an outside challenge by link or QR code without creating an account. At Linköping Municipality, staff sent in 200 ideas in the first three months and the time spent handling ideas fell by 66%.
What makes idea management different in a municipality?
A municipality has more kinds of work under one roof than almost any company, and every decision has to be traceable. Preschool teachers, home-care staff, caretakers and engineers mostly do not sit at a desk, and many of the best observations come from the people furthest from the town hall.
Three other things set the public sector apart:
- Priorities are political. Budgets are set annually and goals come from the council. Ideas need to connect to those goals, or they stall.
- Transparency is a duty, not a nice-to-have. Decisions must be explainable, and the records behind them can be requested by the public.
- There are two audiences. Employees improve how services run. Residents see the services from the outside. Both are worth asking, but the rules, the access and the promises you make differ.
How do you collect ideas from both employees and residents?
Run them as separate challenges with separate access, so each group gets the right sign-in and the right expectations.
Employees. Sign-in through the Microsoft or Google work account means only your own people get in. Staff without a work email, common in care and facilities, use their own email. People reach the challenge through a link, a QR code on the staffroom wall, the mobile app or Microsoft Teams. The frontline guide covers how to reach people who never sit at a computer.
Residents. An outside challenge can collect answers by link, QR code or email invitation without asking anyone to create an account. Guests only see that one challenge, never your internal ideas. See open innovation.
Be clear with residents about what they are taking part in. A consultation question (“How could we make the library more useful on weekday evenings?”) is not the same as a formal citizens’ proposal that the council must handle under its own procedure. If your rules give residents a formal right to submit proposals, keep that route where it is.
What do procurement rules mean for buying idea management software?
You need to know the total contract value over the whole term, because that decides which procedure applies. Public bodies in the EU follow national procurement law built on Directive 2014/24/EU: below a national limit you can often award directly, above it you run a competitive procedure, and above the EU threshold the full rules apply. Count every year and every option in the estimate.
Published prices make that estimate simple. Hives is billed annually with no per-user fees: Core €695 a month (€8,340 a year), Pro €1,495 (€17,940) and Enterprise €1,995 (€23,940). Multiply by the term you plan, then check it against your own organisation’s limits.
Framework agreements and central purchasing bodies can save you a procedure, but only if the product is on one you can use. Ask every vendor, us included, which frameworks they are on, in writing. If none, the route is your own procurement.
How do GDPR and public records laws apply to ideas?
Under GDPR your organisation is the controller and the software vendor is the processor, so you need a data processing agreement and a lawful basis. For public bodies the basis is usually the public task (Article 6(1)(e)); the legitimate-interests basis is not available for that work. UK councils apply the UK GDPR in the same way.
Public records add a second layer. An idea sent to a public body can become an official record that anyone may ask to see, under freedom of information laws such as the UK’s Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Sweden’s principle of public access to official records (offentlighetsprincipen). Plan for it before launch:
- Tell contributors that what they submit may be disclosed on request, unless a confidentiality rule applies.
- Agree with your records manager how ideas are registered, archived and eventually deleted.
- Make sure you can find and export a single idea quickly when a request arrives.
- Use anonymous challenges where names add nothing. An anonymous idea is still a record, but it carries no name.
Where is the data hosted, and does that matter?
It matters because many public bodies require personal data to stay in the EU, and some assess the cloud provider’s ownership as well. Hives keeps a municipality’s data on Google Cloud in Germany unless you agree otherwise, and on-premise delivery is possible on request. The sub-processor list names the Frankfurt region; Ida, the AI assistant, runs in the same region.
What accessibility standard applies?
If residents use the tool, it is part of your digital public service, and the EU Web Accessibility Directive expects it to meet WCAG 2.1 level AA. National laws implement the directive, and staff-facing tools should meet the same bar.
Ask every vendor for its accessibility statement and read the known gaps. Hives publishes one in Swedish under the Swedish law. It says the web app is partly compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA and lists the gaps: some buttons and icons lack labels for screen readers, focus handling in some dialogs and menus, contrast in places, and how dynamic changes are announced. Test with your own users, including someone who uses a screen reader.
Do you need to involve unions or staff representatives?
Usually yes, and early. Introducing a new system that changes how staff work often requires information or consultation with recognised trade unions, a staff council or a works council, depending on your country and local agreements. They will ask whether contributions are named and who can see them. In Hives, anonymity is a setting per collection, so a sensitive topic can run anonymously while a named challenge runs alongside it. Bring the representatives into the first challenge rather than presenting it to them afterwards.
What should a municipality ask vendors?
| What to check | Why it matters | How Hives handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and sub-processors | Personal data and your transfer assessment | EU by default, Google Cloud in Germany; on-premise on request |
| Data processing agreement | Required under GDPR | Part of the contract |
| Sign-in for staff | Only your people get in | Microsoft and Google SSO on every plan; SAML on Enterprise |
| Staff without work email | Care, schools and facilities | They use their own email |
| Resident input | Outside voices without accounts | Outside challenges by link, QR code or email invitation |
| Anonymity | Unions, sensitive topics | Set per collection |
| Records requests | Freedom of information | Export an idea as PDF or a challenge to Excel |
| Accessibility | Public service duty | Statement published; partly compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA |
| Security standard | Some policies ask for it | Set up in line with the ISO 27001 standard |
| Price over the term | Procurement procedure | Published, billed annually, no per-user fees |
The buyer’s guide has a fuller checklist and an RFP template.
How does Hives work for a municipality?
Hives is idea management software for organisations from about 100 employees to multinational groups. Teams start with one challenge and grow the same setup to more sites, countries and business units.
Linköping Municipality organised its programme around challenges the municipality was already prioritising. Small fixes went straight to a responsible person; larger ideas were scored on direction, value and feasibility. In the first three months, 200 ideas moved into active workflows, and the time spent collecting, handling and prioritising ideas fell by two-thirds.
For a municipality with 5,000 staff, Pro covers up to 10,000 contributors and 10 managers. Enterprise adds more managers, multiple hives and SAML, plus a personal customer success manager. The interface comes in English, Swedish, German and French, and staff can take part from Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace. The security page answers what IT and legal usually ask.
When is another kind of tool a better fit?
Pick a different tool when your need is one of these:
- Formal citizens’ proposals or petitions that must be registered and decided by the council. Use the e-service or case management module built for that procedure.
- Participatory budgeting and e-democracy, with debates, public votes on budget items and published results. Dedicated civic participation platforms, such as the open-source Decidim and CONSUL Democracy, are built for that.
- Resident consultation in many languages. Hives’ interface comes in four languages; if you need others, choose a tool that supports them.
- Fault reporting (potholes, broken lights). A reporting service routes those faster than an idea challenge.
Questions municipalities ask
Can residents take part without creating an account?
Yes, in an outside challenge. They answer by link, QR code or email invitation in a short form, and only see that challenge. Your staff sign in with their work account.
Are ideas sent through Hives public records?
That depends on your national law, not on the software. In many countries, including Sweden, an idea received by a public body can be an official record. Plan registration and archiving with your records manager, and tell contributors.
Which plan suits a municipality with 5,000 staff?
Pro, which covers up to 10,000 contributors, unless you need multiple hives, SAML or a personal customer success manager, which come with Enterprise. Prices are on the pricing page.
Is Hives on a public procurement framework?
Ask us for the current position in writing. Do not assume any vendor is on a framework you can use until you have checked the framework itself.
Can union representatives see how anonymity works?
Yes. Show them the setting in a demo: anonymity is chosen per collection, so they can see exactly what a contributor and a manager see.