OECD calls on governments to submit examples of public sector innovation

Civil servants around the world are being urged to submit examples of public sector innovation to the OECD which will pick the makers of the best ones to attend its World Government Summit next year.
The OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) is particularly interested in “initiatives that have received little or no global coverage to date but point to new ways of designing and implementing policies or running the machinery of government,” Jamie Berryhill, OPSI innovation specialist, wrote in a blog.
He added: “We’ll be looking for innovations that are novel, have been implemented in some way, are from different parts of the world – including OECD members and non-members – and have made an impact.”
Such innovations include: leveraging creative digital tools to better engage and co-create policies and services with residents; innovative or alternative financing and procurement tools that allow governments to tap into new sources of funding and deliver better results; implementing approaches which empower and engage the workforce, promote learning and ultimately foster innovation-oriented cultures and capabilities in public sector organisations; and new mechanisms to help governments effectively tackle transnational issues – from international transportation networks, to transnational banking for migration remittances, to climate change and environmental hazards.
Other examples include approaches to policymaking that allow for better risk management and learning by doing; applying design thinking and ethnographic approaches to develop solutions that produce systemic change; using behavioural approaches for innovative problem solving or forging new partnerships to break down barriers within and across government, civil society, and industry; as well as harnessing data and combining it with citizens’ insights to deliver new perspectives on policy issues and promote anticipatory governance approaches.
Innovations deemed by the OECD and the World Government Summit “truly transformational” will be developed into case studies and profiled in a published report, and its makers will be invited to attend the summit for free.
Innovations have to be submitted by 29 July.
The summit is taking place from 12-14 February 2017 and will bring together thousands of government officials, policy-makers, and industry experts from more than 100 countries to discuss ways to harness innovation and technology to solve the world’s biggest challenges.
To find these innovations for the summit, OPSI has teamed up with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation to “review of the ways central governments are transforming their operations and improving the lives of their people,” Berryhill wrote.
This year’s summit saw speeches by US president Barak Obama and OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría.
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Click here to view highlights from this year’s World Government Summit
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