After an amazing and intensive five years with the team at OPSI, I’m leaving the OECD to move on to new adventures back in Australia. Before I go, and with the indulgence of my colleagues, I’d like to take this chance to reflect on some of what I’ve been lucky enough to learn. After all, a big part of innovation is learning, and while it’s very easy in these tumultuous and fast-moving times to not take the time to consider the...
Author: Alex Roberts
In my 20 years of being a public servant I have been fortunate enough to have seen or read about quite a few innovative projects (Have we told you we have a database of case studies? Why not submit your own? We have also opened a Call for Innovations on Cross-Border Collaboration). These have taken all sorts of forms and have involved varying degrees of novelty, though all shared a desire to make a difference....
How do you coordinate and convene a public sector innovation network? How do you connect people whose common interest is difference? Recently, we started to compile a catalogue of public sector innovation networks from around the world, in recognition of the important and valuable role that such networks can play. There are quite a number now, and in response to questions from some of the coordinators of the networks, we decided to hold a meet-up...
Today we’re releasing an innovation scan of the Latvian national public sector, undertaken in conjunction with the Latvian State Chancellery and with the support of the European Union’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support. We are releasing both a report and a highlights document. We’re very excited to share this work, both because it is about recognising and celebrating the efforts that have already occurred in Latvia, and because it is a demonstration of the...
Are you interested in meeting with others from around the world interested in the issues of public sector innovation and government transformation? We’re looking to test a virtual meet-up event format with interested practitioners from the community interested in our work at OPSI on 25 February. Engaging in new ways Crises are big opportunities to experiment and give different things a try, safe in the knowledge that the standard options are not good enough. And 2020…
Asking people to do things or think differently is not always welcome. In the public sector, new things are often (or can seem to be) in competition with existing work or priorities. This is one reason why we at OPSI strongly support public sector innovation networks (and communities or practice / forums / etc.). They can be valuable means to connect with like-minded others who you can learn from, share with and sometimes just vent to...
After Government After Shock we invited event hosts to share with us recordings of their events, any write-ups of their event or some after-the-event reflections on their event and what they learnt. This blog post provides an easy reference point to help interested people navigate between these. You can also find these materials on the relevant event listing on the Government After Shock site. Event recordings We have created a YouTube playlist where you can find a...
In the lead up to Government After Shock we undertook a number of interviews with a range of leaders and practitioners to hear about perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic and what the associated crisis was revealing. The culminating event of Government After Shock was part of our collaboration with the European Commission through the H2020 programme, and these interviews helped provide us with a richer understanding of how innovation works in practice, with the crisis...
With over 60 confirmed events happening on (or just before) the 17th of November and a distinguished line up of participants on the 18th of November, Government After Shock is shaping up to be one of the biggest international gatherings to explore the implications of the crisis for governments. This event is an important opportunity to take stock. From early on in the year, we saw the hard work being done by different public services…
This year has been rich in learning. The terrible pandemic has provided a lot of insights and required all of us to do things differently. As part of the preparation for Government After Shock, OPSI has been pulling together examples and analysis about the innovative responses seen across the world, undertaking some sensemaking and doing some workshops with different communities about the crisis, and learning from other events and practitioners. One thing we have…