‘Tolerating risk, being brave’: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
As we approach this year’s Innovation conference and exhibition, taking place on 24 and 25 March 2026 in London, we asked the event’s speakers to tell us what innovation-related topics they’re most looking forward to discussing – and the insights that will help drive their priorities forward in the months ahead.
Here, we pull together responses from the public sector leaders featuring in sessions across the varied agenda – covering innovation in central government; defence, security, cyber and resilience; and health.
They tell GGF of the importance of risk-taking and experimentation, the untapped potential of public procurement in driving transformation, about tackling cyber threats in defence, and more.
Tony Mears is deputy director of strategy at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, and author of the book Innovation is Dead: dispatches from the front.
He is most looking forward to discussing the opportunity “to scale and spread what we know works” and how capability can be built across public sector organisations to achieve this.
He called for recognition that ‘innovation’ is not a catch-all term for ‘it being better’ and ‘invention’ – though he acknowledged it may be those things – “but rather a powerful member of the change family that requires careful attention”.
His hope is to have conversations at Innovation “about tolerating risk, being brave, accepting this isn’t transformation with a known outcome state but rather an ideating and playful process to move beyond our current challenges” and added that he looks forward to seeing top leaders “give permission to colleagues to get innovative and break cultures of fail-and-blame”.
He said he is continuing to build innovation functions in the organisations he works for and wants to hear from others “what’s stopping [them] from innovating, the barriers both to using innovation to go after their challenges, and the issues they face once they do start having a go at innovating”.
He’s also keen to hear from those who have “a great success story to tell”, adding that “the more of that we do the more belief we generate and the easier the spread becomes”.
He said he will also seize the opportunity at Innovation to learn from others and translate solutions across sector boundaries – for example, innovations in education that could be applied to health or defence.
More about Innovation 2026
Innovation is a unique exhibition and conference that brings together government leaders from across the globe responsible for the transformation and acceleration of their public sector organisations and services.
Held on 24 and 25 March 2026 at Excel in London, the event is co-hosted by the UK Government, UK Civil Service and the Cabinet Office. It covers innovation across a range of topics, including data, digital transformation, workforce, culture, sustainability, and much more. This year for the first time, as well as the central government agenda, Innovation will include a dedicated programme for the defence, security, cyber and resilience industries, and the health sector.
Find out more about Innovation 2026 and register to attend here
Dag Strømsnes is division director at the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ). His focus at the conference will be to share and gain insights into the barriers to innovative procurement.
“The way the public sector uses its purchasing power has a significant impact both on the quality of public services and on value creation in the business sector. The funds allocated to public procurement of goods and services constitute an economic instrument with enormous potential to drive strategic transformation, innovation, and improved societal solutions,” he said.
He cited a DFØ procurement survey, which showed that only a small proportion of public entities actively facilitate new solutions in their procurements, and that among the six areas central to public sector procurement work that were covered in the survey, innovation was found to have the lowest level of maturity.
“Public procurement therefore has substantial untapped potential as a powerful strategic tool to drive sustainable transformation, innovation, and societal development – while at the same time ensuring cost efficiency.”
What’s important, he said, is understanding the barriers to the use of innovative procurement, “such as lack of competence, weak leadership anchoring, perceived risk, and limited access to financing”, and facilitating measures that can help unlock innovation in procurement, like targeted efforts to promote collaboration between public entities and private sector start-ups.
He added that establishing a solid data foundation is key to the use of innovative procurement as a strategic tool for transformation in the public sector.
“In this regard, I believe that in Norway we must collaborate with our colleagues across the rest of Europe to find a sound approach to measuring the use and impact of innovative public procurement.”
He said that since he spoke at the conference last year, the DFØ has established good collaboration with several innovation-focused bodies in the UK, including the IPEC, Innovate UK, and the Cabinet Office. “It is wise to come together to find the best ways to address these issues,” he said.
Ian Brotherston, deputy director, innovation funding, Innovate UK, said he is looking forward to discussing “not only how we can introduce innovative solutions that deliver more efficient and more effective public services, but also how we can do this in ways that stimulate innovation in the private sector” and to explore how the public sector “can act as a vital first, or early, customer for innovative businesses that are ready to scale and grow”.
His priorities for the year ahead include ensuring Innovate UK directly supports the government’s ambitions to introduce more innovative solutions across the public sector, which will mean working closely with the incoming Innovation Champions and helping to bring new businesses and technologies into the Innovation Marketplace.
“With this in mind, I am keen to hear from colleagues about any unmet needs or outcomes they are trying to achieve where something new and innovative is likely to be required,” Brotherston said.
Sam Ulyatt is chief executive officer of the UK’s Crown Commercial Service. She said the main thing she is looking forward to talking about with fellow speakers and delegates is innovation as a mindset and “removing those gremlins in our heads” that prevent innovation from being achieved.
Her priority for the year ahead will be to build the Government Commercial Agency (which is set to launch in April and will consolidate the Crown Commercial Service and several commercial teams based in the Cabinet Office). Her goal is for the GCA to be “recognised for excellence in commercial activities… to add value to the nation and to better contribute to the economy”.
She added that “we need to think differently” to drive innovation and achieve the results the UK needs.
Eleanor Fairford, director cyber defence and risk, at the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), will be speaking as part of the defence, security, cyber and resilience agenda at Innovation and said she is looking forward to meeting fellow participants and sharing insights.
She sees the improvement of cyber defences – with more of a focus on active defence measures – as one of the areas that could have the greatest impact in defence over the next five years.
She said a focus on senior leadership and increased funding are the most critical actions needed to turn digital ambition into reality across the defence and security sectors, but that the use of digital and data tools are already driving benefits at the MoD, including the use of Microsoft Copilot – which is improving business processes – and the integration of AI tools into cyber defences.
One of her priorities is dealing with ‘tech debt’. She is looking forward to discussing how to tackle this with peers at Innovation, as well as strengthening cyber defences in an escalating geopolitical landscape.
The Innovation speakers quoted in this article will feature in the following sessions at the event:
Tony Mears, deputy director of strategy at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, will be on the panel for ‘How to harness ideas from outside government to solve wicked challenges’.
Dag Strømsnes, division director, the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management, and Sam Ulyatt, chief executive officer of the Crown Commercial Service, UK, will be on the panel for ‘Procurement for public value: How government purchasing can drive growth’.
Ian Brotherston, deputy director, innovation funding, Innovate UK, will be on the panel for ‘Unlocking growth: How civil servants can support the UK government’s industrial strategy’.
Eleanor Fairford, director cyber defence and risk, UK Ministry of Defence, will be on the panel for ‘Securing the nation’s data: Why data security is a cornerstone of defence’.
Find out more about the agenda and register for Innovation 2026 here
Read the first three articles from this series:
Aligning digital innovation with the needs of public administration: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
Rising to challenges by exploiting technological advance: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
‘Sharing, learning and getting inspired’: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
We have also published interviews with the Ministry of Defence’s Tim Ketton-Locke and NHS England’s Matt Philpott, both of whom will speak at Innovation 2026. Read them below:
‘It’s important to bring people with you’: the UK Ministry of Defence’s Tim Ketton-Locke on making the government’s defence reforms happen
‘The impact on patient experience will be profound’: Five minutes with Matt Philpott, executive director of technology, NHS England
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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