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Created by the Public Governance Directorate

This website was created by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI), part of the OECD Public Governance Directorate (GOV).

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“We were trying to change the normal before the crisis – we don’t want to return to that normal” (Bruno Monteiro).  As witnessed by the growing collection in our innovative responses tracker, there is currently a surge of innovation going on in the public sector as governments adjust and adapt to the coronavirus crisis. Governments are faced with multiple dimensions of the crisis – health, economic, social – and novel responses are being tried and tested with…
This is our fifth update about innovative responses (including public sector innovation, digital government or open government) being undertaken around the world. Thank you again to all who have contributed in answer to our call and to our partners (including the Centre for Public Impact and GovInsider) for helping us to collect innovative practices. We hope that teams around the world can learn from each other and take inspiration…
This is our fourth update about innovative responses (including public sector innovation, digital government or open government) being undertaken around the world. Thank you again to all who have contributed in answer to our call and to our partners (including the Centre for Public Impact and GovInsider) for helping us to collect innovative practices. We hope that teams around the world can learn from each other and take inspiration…
This is our third update about innovative responses (including public sector innovation, digital government or open government) being undertaken around the world. Thank you again to all who have contributed in answer to our call and to those who we are working with in partnership (including the Centre for Public Impact and GovInsider) to collect innovative practices in the hope that teams around the world can learn from each other and take…
Innovation is essential. Now more than ever, that is clear, with the coronavirus crisis bluntly hammering home the need for the public sector to do things differently. All of a sudden, things that were unthinkable have become demanded. And as my colleague Sam has outlined and we have been tracking and observing, governments are already innovating in response, working with partners to quickly try new things for one of the most important reasons – in...
Welcome to our second update about innovative responses (whether public sector innovation, digital government or open government) to the coronavirus crisis, building on what has been submitted so far. Thank you to all who have contributed in answer to our call and to those who have helped disseminate it (such as the Centre for Public Impact). Since our last update we have had over 50 more examples and initiatives added, helping deepen our knowledge and understanding...
As we have already seen, the coronavirus crisis has resulted in governments implementing a range of innovative responses. In this update, we’d like to take a quick look at some of the additional innovative initiatives that we’ve seen over the past week, including in the open government and digital government arenas. Recently we issued a call-out for people to identify any innovative, digital and open government solutions and inspiration on how individuals and organisations across...
Which toolkits or guidance about tools have you found useful in helping you apply a new or different method or approach to your work? We are seeking your help in enhancing the OPSI Toolkit Navigator , so that more public servants and practitioners can benefit from the existing resources and guidance. OPSI’s Toolkit Navigator The OECD is a natural platform to aggregate and help navigate the numerous resources that have sprung up to help people,...
It can be hard to make strategy something that is actionable and that leads to real change. Strategy comes up against how things actually work, and can often be the loser (Culture eats strategy for breakfast[1], right?) Indeed, at our last meeting of National Contact Points (our liaison points with national governments), one of the questions put forward by a country was about how to develop an actionable innovation strategy, one that would support a...
If you talk to public servants anywhere in the world about innovation, it usually doesn’t take long before the words “risk aversion” come up in conversation. A lot of people feel that trying new things in the public sector is difficult because there is little ability to take risks. There are many reasons why this might be so, but one issue that comes up fairly often, sometimes with a little shudder of the shoulders, is...