Who doesn’t like scaling? Innovators, governments, and international development organisations alike pursue, seek out or support innovative solutions. Common to all is the intent to scale to address societal problems, may they be big or small. Men and women across the globe innovate to better deal with everyday challenges and for many impact at scale means making a positive change in their community only, for others it might mean across the entire country or even...
Posts on Innovation Management
As Head of Nido, I am constantly looking to stimulate civil servants to innovate faster and smarter. I thrive on calculated risks, ones that we have dissected and are thoroughly understood. Unforeseen mishaps are not my cup of tea. This inclination can be traced back to my previous role as an Internal Control Manager (risk manager). This experience provided invaluable insights into how an organisation structures its aspirations and operations. The public sector is traditionally...
I am noticing higher levels of interest for innovation in the Belgian public sector. At the same time, I observe organisations often confuse the disciplines of change management and innovation management and, as a consequence, whether to include all or only some employees and managers in innovation trajectories. All too often change management and innovation management are thrown into one basket: Innovation and change management are two distinct and important concepts within business management.…
A matter of methods, mindsets, and mechanisms. Why innovation portfolio management? Innovation Portfolio Management has long been used by the private sector to improve returns on investments. The potential of using the same approach to improve social returns is huge. A growing number of OECD Member countries and organisations in the international development sector are exploring innovation portfolio management. Follow, for example, the exciting work of OECD-OPSI, OECD INDEF, CGIAR, UNDP, UNICEF…
Innovation portfolio management enables not only commercial actors but also public sector organisations to systematically manage and prioritise innovation activities according to concurrent and diverse purposes and priorities. It is a core component of a comprehensive approach to innovation management and a condition to assess the social return of investment across an entire portfolio. The OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has worked in this space for a number of years. By…
With staff shortages in executive organisations, the impact of digitalisation, increasingly diverted and individualised parliaments and rising public’s expectations of public services, governments are gradually recognising the importance of innovation in their goods and services. A new era has emerged with governments professionalising their innovation processes through the establishment of dedicated innovation departments. In Europe, rarely do we see so many public organisations moving in the…
We are on the lookout for game-changing, freely available toolkits that can ignite innovative thinking and drive progress in governments worldwide. As the hosts of OECD Toolkit Navigator, one of the world’s largest compendia of public sector innovation toolkits, we’re excited to collaborate with you to identify fresh, forward-thinking resources to support governments and public servants in the design and delivery of better policies and services. Five minutes – that’s all it…
Finland conducted its first public sector innovation barometer in the Central Government. The results are in and once again reaffirm that Finland gets many things right. 93% of organisations innovated during 2020-21. Innovation activities are motivated in particular by the needs of citizens and clients, productivity and new technologies. Drivers of innovation activities are also reflected in individual innovations and their effects. Innovation Barometer: what and why? The Innovation Barometer is…
The standard advice for government innovators is: “First make sure you have the support of agency leaders.” That’s like advising soldiers: “First make sure the enemy has run out of ammunition.” It would be great, but if you wait for it to happen then you may never act. The Independent Demonstration Project is a strategy to innovate in government without…
Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Three of the world’s tech giants, which have a larger market cap than many developed and developing nations GDP. And while opinion varies widely on the topics such powerful companies naturally bring about, one aspect is absolutely clear: these companies have learned to nurture and embrace innovation and innovative thinking. To whole-heartedly build it into its very foundations and culture. Yes, stability and education are important – I’m not taking…