LocationsFrom the Embers, Ideas Are Born: An Argentine Barbecue as a Metaphor for Digital Transformation
23 de Junio de 2025
In Argentina, few traditions embody gathering and collaboration better than an asado — a traditional barbecue. The ritual is familiar: someone opens their home, and the guests gradually arrive. Some bring salads, others dessert or drinks. At the table, there’s room for everyone: the daughter’s partner, the visiting uncle, even a neighbor who stopped by and stayed. The one who lights the fire sparks the creativity that fills the shared space with conversation, stories, and ideas. The table is horizontal: people talk, listen, share, collaborate, and build together.
Innovation is also something that is built collectively. The same principles — open participation, diverse contributions, and hospitality — inspire a different way of doing technology: developing digital solutions collaboratively, with people at the center. This is precisely what happened in Comodoro Rivadavia, a Patagonian oil city in the province of Chubut, where the sea is vast and the winds are strong — though not stronger than the determination of those working to turn collective energy into action.
Co-Designing Digital Health Tools
The ambition was bold: to develop a digital solution that improves the local response to HIV—an epidemic that still presents major challenges—while also supporting the Municipality's Health Secretariat on its path toward a more inclusive and effective digital transformation.
In Argentina, HIV continues to pose persistent challenges in early diagnosis, equitable access to treatment, and prevention, particularly among vulnerable populations. Approximately 143,000 people live with HIV in the country, with about 87% aware of their diagnosis.
In July 2024, the Municipality of Comodoro Rivadavia signed the Paris Declaration, committing to end new HIV infections, prevent AIDS-related deaths, and eliminate stigma and discrimination. As part of this commitment, UNDP proposed supporting the development of a digital tool. This involved launching a collaborative design process and training program focused on digital health solutions, grounded in a human-centered approach.
But before writing any code, a more essential step came first: pausing to observe, listen, and inquire. As we mapped key actors, needs, root causes, and existing solutions, it became clear, for example, that there was no official website for the Health Secretariat to centralize information. What existed was fragmented across different channels—mostly social media—and many valuable resources, created with great dedication, were scattered and difficult to access.
That’s when we decided to invite everyone to the “barbecue” and start working together. We began with a collective mapping exercise of what already existed and what was needed; fostering conversations across municipal areas that rarely interacted. We shared a conviction: a digital solution can be more than just an interface — it can be a catalyst to strengthen the relationships that sustain meaningful public policies.
Around the table sat representatives from over twenty municipal departments and organizations working in and for the local community. From these first embers, the co-creation process of an inclusive, effective, and contextualized digital solution was born. Participants included staff from the Health Secretariat (obstetrics, pharmacy, laboratory, community health, nursing, research, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) programs, and social health services), alongside representatives from key areas such as Gender Policies, LGBTIQ+ Diversity and New Majorities, Youth, Communications, Modernization, and Digital Management, as well as the Comodoro Knowledge and Territorial Development Agency. Civil society organizations also joined, including ATTTA Chubut (the Argentine Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals, and Transgender People), Convivir, and the Argentine Network of Positive Youth and Adolescents (RAJAP), together with professionals from the private health sector.
Our Journey
We started with four virtual sessions to map the health system, identify key stakeholders, and prioritize access barriers. These were followed by three intensive in-person workshops—full of papers, markers, post-its, and creativity. There, the first drafts of the digital solution emerged: a website providing contextualized information on HIV and STIs, with an interactive map of health services, testing centers, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis access points, and an AI-powered chatbot offering anonymous and confidential answers, always encouraging users to speak to a real person when needed. User journeys were designed, hypotheses validated with real users, and multiple perspectives integrated into the design.
At one point, an experienced computer engineer asked with genuine curiosity: “What does ‘undetectable = untransmittable’ mean?”. Another participant explained: “It means that when a person living with HIV has a viral load so low it’s undetectable by a test, they cannot transmit the virus sexually.” And added: “This is possible with consistent and effective treatment”. Similarly, a health worker asked: “What is prototyping and an interface?”. IT specialists responded immediately and clearly. There was learning, dismantling of assumptions, laughter, and unexpected agreements. The technical and the human came together, adding even more seasoning to the barbecue still simmering on the fire.
The Main Dish and What Comes After
The group ultimately agreed on the first “dish” to be served — or rather, the first product to be designed and implemented: a web platform combining a georeferenced system with a chatbot to facilitate access to sexual health services (HIV and STIs). The solution is now under development. It will offer georeferenced information on primary care centers, testing services, and other Health Secretariat programs; allow citizens to start conversations and clarify doubts; and collect fully anonymous usage data so that the municipality can strengthen its policies without compromising privacy.
But, as with any great asado, the real richness lies not only in what is served but also in the after-meal conversations — the sobremesa — the intangible. In this case, what remains is shared learning about how to build public digital policy with a rights-based perspective, open-source tools, and, above all, respect and active listening.
As one participant put it: “I leave knowing that we are capable of creating a digital response by bringing together different disciplines and fields of knowledge”. Another added: “I learned that artificial intelligence is a tool that allows us to create, and that interdisciplinary collaboration is fundamental for designing human-centered solutions”.
What participants most valued was the collaborative and human atmosphere: “The empathy, the positive energy, and the clarity of concepts made all the difference”, one person shared. Another highlighted: “It was a dynamic and enjoyable workshop where everyone could express ideas freely”. Many discovered new technological tools, noting that “new possibilities opened up that we weren’t aware of”. Some were surprised to find other municipal departments working on similar issues: “I even learned about teams I didn’t know existed”. When we asked what could be improved, one answer stayed with us: “I was left wanting more”.
Because digital transformation, if not collective and empathetic, risks becoming just another layer of exclusion. Together with Comodoro Rivadavia, we are working on a different path: one where digital design is co-created by many, with time, care, and the hope that when someone knocks on the door — or taps on the screen — they always find a warm, appropriate, and high-quality response on the other side.