Innovation Tag: Process Facilitation and Co-design

When applying for state aid or other services without the means or knowledge to do it online due to the digital gap, it usually takes a day or waiting in queues and filling out paperwork. Communities have thought and offered a grassroot solution: store owners helping their peers to get online procedures done in their business, in exchange for a small fee. It is a simple innovation, yet effective when it comes to decentralize public services, foster digital inclusion, and strengthen local markets

With the Quality Tools an organisation can evaluate, monitor and compare the quality and use of its services within and between organisations. The tools include a Self-assessment, Customer Feedback and Utilisation Rate Measurement tool and are free of charge. The tools were developed primarily for public sector organisations to help them develop customer-oriented digital services and improve knowledge-based management. On a national level the tools provide data on the state of digitalisation.

How to bring new ways of working and problem-solving tools to the Estonian public sector? Over the course of a year and a half the Public Sector Innovation Team of Estonia developed a design sprint format suitable for the Estonian public sector. By constantly adapting and improving the format the Innovation Team has seen that it is a highly effective tool for spreading design thinking methods and generating enthusiasm around them.

Since 2020, the City of Austin (COA) and the University of Texas (UT) have collaborated on over twenty diverse research projects under the legal and administrative framework of a five-year, ten million dollar master interlocal agreement (ILA). Among a very few of its kind in the USA, this ILA is an "innovation enabling innovation" that bridges the barriers between two large, extremely complex organizations and fast-tracks the launch of research and innovation projects by four to five times.

Government struggles to exploit advances in science and technology that could improve public services. The UK Home Office developed a new, cost-effective model to enable start-ups, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), not-for-profits and academia to solve frontline challenges across UK government using diverse, cutting-edge capabilities and expertise. Uniquely, for UK public sector, it uses flexible, novel ways of working and commercial mechanisms to deliver mission impact at pace.

LAB Justice is the first executive education program, tailor-made for the Justice sector. With a customized learning journey, it was designed to help people working for Justice bodies address the challenges faced to deliver more efficient and people-centred services. Focused on three main areas – strategic management, digital transition and leadership in a context of change –, it aims to ensure the necessary skills to implement reform measures, namely those under the Recovery and Resilience…

By involving the public in the design of public spaces (parks, plazas, streets etc.) municipalities can create spaces that better suit society's interests. According to the data, 58 out of 60 municipalities in Lithuania recognize the benefits of public participation, but 50 % of them say they don't have the knowledge for it. The guide "Dialogue between the city & its people" is a step-by-step textbook for municipalities that helps execute the participation process from start to finish.

Public healthcare in Serbia is transformed through innovative use of mixed reality technology powered by Artificial Intelligence, that increased efficiency and quality of healthcare, minimized risks and efforts, and optimizes procedures. Through remote collaboration, doctors have the same insight into patient’s condition without the need of physical presence, enabling joint real time inputs and medical interventions with experts from anywhere, as well as remote education for medical students.

The Austin Civilian Conservation Corps (ACCC) began as a pandemic response program to help residents earn income and access green careers, and has evolved into a leading model for equitable, climate-focused workforce development. The ACCC, a collaboration with 10+ City departments and multiple community partners, has provided over 125 living-wage opportunities with supportive services, training, and career pathways for Austin’s underserved residents, and is actively shaping the green economy.

Challenge tenders are a new model designed to solve urging needs of the health system which usually aren't attractive enough for the start-up industry to engage in, such as fall prevention among elders, improvement of geriatric care in long term facilities and others. In order to attract digital based solutions to enter the health system, we initiated an innovative method of intervention which allows quick testing of technologies in health organization with MOH support for fast proven outcomes.