Motivation:

The willingness of individuals already engaged in volunteer organizations to offer their help during and after crises and disaster situations is significant. However, there is currently a lack of a central virtual platform that enables volunteers and volunteer organizations to connect and exchange information, both in everyday situations and during crises.

Objective:

The aim of this project is to optimize collaboration among stakeholders in volunteer work in the future. With VolunSphere, a concept will be developed to transform the existing digital volunteer pass into a platform for voluntary engagement. The organizational framework for managing a future platform, as well as recommendations regarding the (technical and organizational) collaboration of volunteer organizations and data handling, will be researched. Legal and ethical frameworks, as well as criteria for international collaboration, will be defined.

Technology:

VolunSphere will explore technological approaches for use in a future platform and will rely on innovative technologies such as "DataSpaces" to ensure secure and efficient data management and utilization. A social media-like functionality will be analyzed to facilitate and promote interaction between volunteers and organizations. A special focus of the study will be on technologies that enable easy and rapid coordination of volunteer deployments, particularly in and after crises and disaster situations. Volunteer work in Austria is to be strengthened and made more efficient.

Consortium:

The consortium consists of experts in the fields of technology, platform development, and volunteer work. The project is funded under the KIRAS Security Research Program (www.kiras.at) of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and is managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Project partners include:

• Johanniter Österreich Ausbildung und Forschung gem. GmbH (JOAFG) (Project Lead)

• AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT) (Project Partner)

• Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health, Care, and Consumer Protection (as the demand bearer)

• University of Linz, Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing (FAW)

• OSSBIG Austria (Open Source Software Business Innovation Group) (Project Partner)

• Research Institute AG & Co KG (RI) (Project Partner)

• Vienna University of Economics and Business, Competence Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship (WU) (Project Partner)

Duration: January - December 2026

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