Global: Innovative Capacity

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…

We are expanding our team and looking for experienced career specialists with strong competencies in foresight and anticipation as well as assessing, strengthening, and measuring the innovative capacity of the public sector. At OPSI, we help the public sector be more proactive and intentional in using innovation to achieve outcomes. Together with countries around the world, we strive to make governments work better and achieve public…

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…

When working with stakeholders around the world, we often ask them: If you could wave your magic wand, what would you change about your country’s public sector to make it more innovative? While the responses vary, one aspect remains unwavering, regardless of the country of study: that individual public servants are strongly motivated to innovate and push for change, even though the systems they work in are sometimes fighting against this. We need to better...

This guest blog was written by Siwert de Groot, Sil Vrielink (Researchers at the ICTU Foundation, The Hague /NL) and Frans van Dongen (Programme Manager at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Hague/NL). Drawing on the work of the Observatory of Public Sector Innovation and following the lead of the Nordic countries, Denmark in particular, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has recently published the results of the first...

The Innovation Playbook offers an accessible and actionable instrument to translate the Declaration on Public Sector Innovation into practical guidance on how its principles can be applied to solve public sector challenges.

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…

2021 was yet another busy year at OPSI! As the rate and complexity of global challenges increases, so does our work. In cooperation with partners and counterparts, we complete another successful year of leveraging our expertise in global trends, public sector innovation systems, transformative technology and innovation skills, processes and methods. We held over 50 workshops, webinars and events Issued 13 reports Published 46 blogs And held hundreds meetings to drive the point home: that...