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...
Note: The Call for Innovations deadline has been extended until 21 February 2020. Thank you so much to everyone who has already submitted an innovation! We apologise that we have had some technical difficulties with the submission process this year. We want to make sure everyone has a chance to submit a case, so we are happy to provide a bit more time. The OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) and the UAE Mohammed...
This blog was authored by Alexander Metcalfe, Head of Public Sector Policy, ACCA As the global body for professional accountants, connections matter a great deal to us and our many stakeholders. We believe wholeheartedly in the possibilities of connectivity, and since our foundation in 1904 ACCA has been a super connector. We have always recognised the importance of joining up our network – to find solutions and to be innovative. Indeed, one of our values...
Wales is in the thick of a major education reform process focused on large-scale school improvement. With such an ambitious agenda, the challenge wasn’t just about getting the policy right in the first place, it was about seeing it through to effective implementation so it could start transforming what, and how, students learn. To that end, the Welsh Government Education Directorate worked with OECD colleagues in the Education Directorate’s Implementing Education Policy team to…
Last week, OPSI released the “Hello, World: Artificial Intelligence and its use in the Public Sector” primer on AI. This followed our first innovation primer, “Blockchains Unchained”, and explores how this much-hyped but highly complex area can be better understood by practitioners. It also helps to empower individuals seeking to implement AI in a government context, by giving them knowledge of key opportunities, challenges, and lessons learnt from around the globe. In 2020, we’re…
Today, we’re excited to formally launch the final version of OPSI’s AI primer: Hello, World: Artificial Intelligence and its Use in the Public Sector. “Hello, World!” is often the very first computer program written by someone learning how to code, and we want this primer to be able to help public officials take their first steps in exploring AI. The primer is the result of 10 months of research and analysis focused specifically on the...
Wales is in the midst of a major education reform process. As we know, good education policy is not about perfection on the page, it’s about what happens in the classroom. This is why Wales needed to think about not only effective policy development but also effective policy implementation. What conditions make for effective policy implementation? Our colleagues in the OECD Education Directorate’s Implementing Education Policy team collaborated with key actors in the Welsh education...
English Today the OECD reports The Innovation System of the Public Service of Brazil: An exploration of its past, present and future journey and Innovation skills and leadership in Brazil’s public sector were launched by Marcos Bonturi, Director of Public Governance, at the Brazilian public sector Innovation Week. The Innovation System of the Public Service of Brazil is the second OECD deep-study of a national government’s public sector innovation system. It provides insights into how...
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[Gig]: Seeking author for a paper on the uncertain promise of blockchain for government (1 November)
We are looking for a consultant to write a paper on the uncertain promise of blockchain in government, covering success factors for projects that still show promise, and lessons learned from those that have not met expectations. We plan to publish the paper as an official OECD working paper, with author credit provided to the selected individual. If interested, e-mail us at opsi@oecd.org with statement of interest and a resume or CV by 1 November....
Recently, OPSI travelled to Latvia to participate in the top-level managers conference “Dare + experiment + create = innovation.” This event, hosted by the State Chancellery and #GovLabLatvia, sought to further build the innovative capacity of top-level managers in the Latvian administration. During the event, leaders interacted with the OECD’s Declaration on Public Sector Innovation by looking at how to operationalise and contextualise the OECD Declaration to fit the Latvian context. The…