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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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The Citizens' Assembly was an exercise in deliberative democracy, placing the citizen at the heart of important legal and policy issues facing Irish society. With the benefit of expert, impartial and factual advice the 100 citizen Members considered five topics. Their conclusions formed the basis of a number of reports and recommendations that were submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas (the Irish Houses of Parliament) for further debate by our elected representatives.
In meeting our own online identity and access management requirements the Department developed MyGovID as a single online account for all government bodies in Ireland. The innovation was in building a trust framework that provides a high level of assurance to government agencies. Customers accessing online services only have to sign up once. MyGovID was developed as a responsive user experience using a cloud based identity and access management service.
In response to a failing property market, Limerick City and County Council took the ambitious step to create the first, Local Authority wholly owned special purpose vehicle created in Ireland to deliver a city and countywide programme of property investment. It required the local authority to take on the role of developer of derelict properties in the core of the city setting up this legal entity and raising the investment funding needed to develop key strategic sites.
AID:Tech provides digital delivery of entitlement via digital identity. We marry access with identity and were the first company to deliver international aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon using Blockchain technology. AID:Tech’s goal is to empower through transparency and accountability; our platforms help our client partners work towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Personal Micro Credit (PMC) initiative aims to move people who cannot access mainstream credit away from high cost moneylenders, by providing an alternative, legitimate, low cost personal loan scheme, delivered through the nationwide network of credit unions. Innovation stems from a multi stakeholder approach (government, agencies, regulatory and the social economy). PMC offers a path to those excluded from affordable credit to ‘graduate’ to having access to mainstream financial…
Ireland’s Open Data Initiative (ODI) is a key element of the government’s Public Service Reform activities. It aims to increase transparency, stimulate new business, build trust in Government and improve the lives of citizens by delivering better services. The ODI involves significant engagement with citizens, business, the data community, researchers and public bodies. Over 8700 datasets from 100 publishers are available on the ODI Portal which provides free access to data via a central…
The establishment of the Civil Service Management Board (CSMB) was a pivotal step in setting the future direction of strategic leadership in the Irish civil service. The CSMB enabled all Secretaries General/Heads of Offices, for the first time, to meet collectively to have strategic discussions on issues affecting all Government Departments and Offices. The CSMB implements the Civil Service Renewal Plan (CSRP), which seeks to tackle the biggest challenges facing the Irish civil service.
FÉILTE (Festival of Education in Learning and Teaching Excellence) was developed because teachers are innovating and wish to share their learning. But teaching has been an isolated profession. Research indicates that we are not good at sharing learning across the public sector. FÉILTE is a celebration of teaching and learning by teachers for teachers, students and parents. FÉILTE shares teaching so as to connect learning.
We the Citizens is a democratic participatory project to ignite citizen involvement in democracy in Ireland. A pilot project found striking shifts in how participants feel about their ability to influence politics. The project tested whether a more participatory form of democracy could work in Ireland at a time when people felt adrift and disconnected from power. In the project, a representative group of citizens were randomly chosen to attend a Citizens’ Assembly in June 2011.