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...
Global: Innovative Capacity
Governments are constantly searching for enablers to help them to keep up with changing times, move beyond the constraints of traditional approaches, and leverage innovation to improve public policies and services. Public innovation labs belong to this stream of change. They aim to boost the ability of governments to navigate emergent threats and opportunities and provide sustained, inclusive and proactive responses to people’s needs and expectations. The last 20 years have seen a surge on...
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…
LA-BORA! gov arose from the need to improve the well-being and engagement of public servants. Created in December 2019, by public servants themselves, it is the first government innovation laboratory focused on improving public servant experience. It is a learning and innovation space with the purpose of supporting the creation of innovative solutions in people management, bringing civil servants closer to citizens and supporting leaders to work with an empathetic view of reality and a focus on…
The UK government launched a new “youth hub” offer of employment services to young people affected by the disruption of the covid-19 pandemic. Through four days of workshops with key stakeholders, which included engaging young people, Impetus ran a theory of change process to enable one of the flagship hubs to co-design their new service to best serve young people. This is the first time that Impetus has applied its theory of change tools, and its impact focus to a government policy…
This resource is a guide to amplify global health impact from the perspective of a development organisation. It builds on the successes of USAID's work and lays out practical ways to identify opportunities to apply innovation to solve real problems using a portfolio approach. The resource has been co-developed with significant input from USAID colleagues across their health offices, and captures best practices and innovation opportunities, dispels myths and highlights examples of and resources…
This is the second post of a series on innovation portfolio management for international development organisation. In the first article we laid out our approach to designing tailored innovation portfolio management models and approaches for development funders. In this post, we share insights from our collaboration on innovation portfolio management with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Iceland. Iceland: A small but energetic player For most development organisations and funders, innovation…
Are you a motivated individual, eager to take on innovative projects and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the public sector? OPSI is searching for talented individuals to join our team for a six-month internship experience in Paris or remote (with the possibility to extend to 12 months)! The deadline for application is Sunday, 23 April 2023, 23:59 CET (instructions below). The OECD Internship Programme is designed to provide highly qualified and motivated students…
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…