Since 2016, OPSI and the UAE Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI) have worked in partnership to surface key activities and case studies in public sector innovation, resulting in a series of annual reports on key innovation trends. However, this year is not a normal year, with 2020 being one of the most challenging years in most of our lifetimes. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and drastically changed the daily lives of nearly...
This article is jointly published on the UCL IIPP blog. As part of an ongoing partnership between the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and the OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI), we hosted an online immersive workshop on 2 December 2020 to explore the challenges and opportunities of directing mission-oriented innovation in practice. The event brought together leaders from across a range of government institutions in OECD countries and from the...
Many of you working in the public sector may want to prepare for uncertainty, or set up a future-oriented vision in your organisation. Many of you may have heard of anticipatory innovation or have engaged in foresight activities, but the sheer flurry of methodologies and tools in this space can be disorientating – and they may seem to require special abilities if you are not used to apply them. For this reason, OPSI and LabX...
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...
Since late 2019, we have been working to answer the question “why hasn’t blockchain, and its underlying distributed ledger technology (DLT), made a bigger impact in the public sector?”. It has been over two years since OPSI published the report Blockchains Unchained: Blockchain Technology and its Use in the Public Sector, and over a year since the OECD Digital Government and Data Unit published the report State of the Art in the Use of Emerging...
As part of the OECD Internship Programme, OPSI is recruiting one or more interns to join the team in January 2021 (there is some flexibility with start dates and end dates). Specific projects would vary depending on the ongoing projects of the team at the time, as well as the experience, qualifications, and interests of the selected candidate(s). Some potential project areas may be related to: Innovation management. Anticipatory Innovation Governance (see Project page). Behavioural...
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…
Convening intentional conversations on crisis implications The crisis of this year has required governments at all levels around the world to respond and adapt. The COVID-19 crisis is unique in the sense that, while many individuals, communities and countries have suffered disproportionate impacts, there has also been a global, collective impact that has spared no one. There has been a terrible shock, one whose aftereffects will continue to be felt for some time. It is...
Steps towards a New Data Deal: Prototyping an evidence-based innovation panel for the Portuguese Public Administration A rigorous, realistic, and actionable knowledge of current innovation practices is indispensable in order to meet the present challenges and proactively prepare the future of Public Administration. From the outset, innovation practices in Public Administration must understand the specificities of public service guaranteed by the State. For the Experimentation Lab for Public…