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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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Public sector innovation networks

Public sector innovation networks

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    As part of our work at OPSI, we have seen how valuable and useful public sector innovation (and related) networks (including communities of practice) can be in helping to promote innovation, for sharing experiences and insights, and in supporting practitioners navigating the hurdles that can come with doing something differently. We want to recognise the networks that exist and also help share experiences between them about what works in coordinating, convening and facilitating a network. The following list of networks from around the world have been identified and may be a useful point of connection for those seeking to learn more about innovating in the public sector. We welcome the addition of other networks.

    Networks

    Australia

    BiiG Network (Business Improvement and Innovation in Government)

    • Website/social media presence: The network website is internal to the Queensland Government within Australia. The network’s annual conference website is https://www.biigconference.com.au
    • Founded: Originally founded in 2004 as a Senior Officers business improvement network, with many iterations since that time
    • Network summary: The Business Improvement and Innovation in Government (BiiG) Network is a longstanding internal network within the Queensland Government hosted by Treasury. Utilising its reach across the public sector, the BiiG Network actively promotes and advocates a focus on business improvement and innovation as the key to improving government operations and service delivery, addressing policy challenges and, in the process, building trust and confidence in government. BiiG’s primary function is to develop and deliver events and programs designed to expose public sector leaders to contemporary thought leadership and practical examples of good and emerging practice from around Australia and across the world to assist them in developing their own organisation’s innovation capabilities.The network’s signature event is the highly anticipated annual conference which attracts (on average) 600+ public sector leaders per year.The network is led by Ms Rebecca Hannan, an experienced program and events manager with the vision, connections and expertise and a proven track record in designing and delivering influential, practical and financially viable events that regularly exceed expectations of attendees and strategic partners.
    • Membership access: Public sector leaders at all levels may subscribe to our mailing list.
    • Joining: https://www.biigconference.com.au/E5nW9D
    • Membership size: 9000+ (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Formal network
    • Point of contact: Rebecca (Bec) Hannan, Manager BiiG Network, Queensland Treasury [email protected] ****You can also connect with me on linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-hannan-biig-network-national-innovation-conference-45871314/.

    Bangladesh

    JABAN (public purpose innovation network)

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.twitter.com/FAYSALA22011987 & https://www.linkedin.com/in/faysal-ahmed-kusal-63b7a397
    • Founded: 2018
    • Network Summary: JABAN is a not-for-profit social enterprise and a collaborative forum keen to work with different attendees, organizations and institutions (referred to as partners) who possess experience in the academic domain relating to games and events industries to develop knowledge and collaborative learning and deliver events that design to expose financially viable service to foster connection and lead. It works under nurture and engage talented people who are beginning or advancing their careers in the management and organisation of sporting and non-sporting events. We cater for everyone with the talent and skill to pursue a career in the industries from new entrants to entrepreneurs seeking guidance on developing their business, training, knowledge management and awards. Digital artifacts ensure to high-quality, real-time data is accessible to the people who need it and increase to transparency, visibility and drive real-time effectiveness and use cases include application rationalization, technology risk management and sift from monolithic architectures to micro services. Our vision is to make sport, physical activity and exercise a standard component of chronic disease prevention and management by focusing and encouraging for all people that a rapid change in every day life must be undertaken to combat non-communicable diseases which represent a clear threat not only to human health, but also to development and economic growth.
    • Membership access: It is open to all people in Bangladesh who are interested in the transformation of the state.
    • Membership size: ~450 and still growing (as at April 2021)
    • Type: Formal network.
    • Joining: By request only.
    • Point of contact: Faysal Ahmed Kusal, [email protected].

    Belgium

    Network Innovation

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8886004/
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: In a rapidly changing society, innovation is also very much needed by the government. The innovation network is a place for and by civil servants who stimulate or manage innovation into their organization. From creating an innovation culture, using design thinking and behavioral insights to introducing innovative technologies, to developing breakthrough products and services for citizens, companies and civil servants. Activities: newsletter, meet-ups, conferences every 3 months at least.
    • Membership access: open to all public servants (in the large sense)
    • Membership size: 120 and growing (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: Via linkedIn group
    • Point of contact: nido@bosa.fgov.be.

    Brussels TOKVIL public innovation community

    • Website/social media presence: http://www.tokvil.be the TOKVIL meetup community is hosted. Twitter @tokvil
    • Founded: 2018
    • Network summary: A new and fresh look on ways society is organised and administered. A design thinking approach of observing and learning of practical cases, innovative methods, inspiration. Monthly meetups online or in the pop-up innovation lab at Brussels North Station TOKVIL, next to community, provides paid ‘as a service’ public innovation practices and expertise.
    • Membership access: open to public innovators from company, cooperatives and public servants interested in public innovation, govtech, civictech both from the EU, Belgian, Regional and local levels
    • Membership size: approximate 200 from tokvil and govtech meetup group (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Informal network based on collective intelligence principles
    • Joining: on the site www.tokvil.be joining the meetup or informed via the newsletter https://tinyletter.com/tdelestre
    • Point of contact: [email protected] Tanguy De Lestré.

    Flemish Public Sector Innovation Network

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041890/
    • Year Founded: 2020
    • Network Summary: Welcome to the Flemish Public Sector InnovationNetwork. In this network, we focus on individuals and organizations that want to work innovatively in agile partnerships around various social issues. This network detects innovative policy practices within and outside the government and makes them more visible. It supports knowledge and experience sharing with regard to innovative policy. It contributes to the further renewal of the policy instruments within the Flemish government and local authorities. Lastly, the network helps governments to develop and organize themselves in a way that is more future-proof so that they are even better able to tackle complex societal challenges.
    • Membership access: Closed
    • Membership size: Currently 130 innovators from inside and outside the government (as at April 2021)
    • Formality: Informal
    • Network Joining: Via LinkedIn or ino@vlaanderen.be
    • Point of contact: Martin Ruebens, [email protected]

    Brazil

    Conexão Inovação Pública RJ

    Rede Inovagov

    • Website/social media presence: The official website for the network is http://inova.gov.br/.
    • Founded: 2015
    • Network summary: Inovagov is a public-sector innovation network and a collaborative forum which puts together innovators from diverse sectors of society (public, private, academic and third sector) that work for the continuous improvement of public services and who seek to stimulate and support innovation in the public sector. It works under commonly-agreed principles as impact, focus on people, connection, agility, experimentation and collaboration. Under the ‘Inovagov’ framework, members organize different capacity-building activities, such as conferences, seminars, webinars and Innovation weeks. The network also plays the role of congregating different online communities of practice, allowing a more flexible coordination and informal partnership among organizations, as well as representing a channel for those in the Public Service to find like-minded allies who share issues or interests and are keen on pursuing common objectives.
    • Membership access: The network is open for people and organizations from the public and private sector, as well as NGOs, academia and independent citizens.
    • Membership size: Nearly 100 government, academic, third-sector and business organisations have officially joined the network. There are 4000+ participants in the different communities of practice (as at March 2021).
    • Type: The network initiated as a formal cooperative agreement between the Ministry of Planning, Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts and the Federal Justice Council, representing a joint commitment of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches to Public Sector Innovation. Now, it stands as an informal network of organizations, civil servants, practitioners and citizens interested in different areas of public sector innovation, under the coordination / supervision of ENAP – Brazilian National School of Public Administration.
    • Joining: Institutional memberships follow a straightforward process available at http://inova.gov.br/junte-se-a-nos/. Any interested person may join any of the dozens of communities of practice, established through WhatsApp/Telegram groups focused on several different public sector innovation topics, ranging from design thinking to chatbots (a full list of available groups is available at http://bit.ly/diretorioinovagov). Participation on events, conferences, seminars, and Innovation weeks is open to the general public and does not require any formal membership to the network.
    • Point of contact: [email protected].

    Usina Pernambucana de Inovação

    • Website/social media presence: www.usinapedeinovacao.pe.gov.br
      OECD-OPSI: https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/usina-pernambucana-de-inovacao/
      Allmylinks: https://allmylinks.com/usinapedeinovacao
      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/usina-pernambucana-de-inovação
      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usinapedeinovacao
      YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Sw9kJTPC73_e8taPD7fpg
    • Founded: 2020
    • Network summary: the State Government of Pernambuco has created a hub for public innovation – “Usina Pernambucana de Inovação”. The Usina offers help and guidance for public institutions to innovate. With the Usina, the government can improve and disseminate knowledge about innovation, facilitate experimentations, evaluate projects and portfolios to reduce risks, optimize resources allocation and use, and create a strong culture of innovation.
    • Membership access: membership is limited to public servants or public organisations by invite of other members. Many events / activities are open to all public servants, private sector, NGOs, academia and independent citizens.
    • Membership size: nearly 931 followers at LinkedIn/Instagram/YouTube (as at March 2021)
    • Type: a model of Public Innovation Hub created within the Law of Science, Technology and Innovation. The Usina aggregates: the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Secretariat of Planning and Managementthe, the Secretariat of Economic Development, the Secretariat of Administration, the Secretariat of Accounting and Control, the State Agency for Information Technology, the University of Pernambuco, and the State Foundation for Science and Technology, all of them of the Government of Pernambuco.
    • Joining: via LinkedIn or Instagram groups.
    • Point of contact: [email protected] and usinapedeinovacao@gmail.com.

    Canada

    Municipal Innovators Community (MIC)

    • Website/social media presence: www.municipalinnovators.ca, @MunInnovators (https://twitter.com/MunInnovators), https://www.linkedin.com/company/municipal-innovators-community
    • Founded: 2015
    • Network summary: MIC connects municipal employees to a national community with ideas, tools, experts and approaches that support and improve municipal services.
    • Membership access: Membership is open and free to municipal employees in Canada (and other countries upon request).
    • Membership size: Currently, we have approximately 600 members on the website, and 800 subscribers to our newsletter (as at February 2021)
    • Type: The network is informal and supported by a volunteer steering committee that creates and curates content across the website, newsletter and an annual conference. We cancelled the conference in 2020, and have not determined our 2021 conference intentions yet.
    • Joining: Municipal employees can join the website at https://municipalinnovators.ca/register/, which will enroll them in the newsletter. If other stakeholders are interested in the newsletter, they can subscribe at https://municipalinnovators.ca/newsletters
    • Point of contact: [email protected].

    Chile

    Red de Innovadores Públicos / Public Innovators Network – Laboratorio de Gobierno

    • Website/social media presence: www.innovadorespublicos.cl @labgobcl (Twitter and Instagram)
    • Founded: 2016
    • Network summary: Service to foster connection and learnings in public innovation for the development of practices and capacities to decentralize the innovation methodology and increase its impact, making the transformation of the State sustainable over time.
    • what does it do? We empower public servants to transform themselves into change-makers to improve the quality of policies and public service delivery.
    • It generates connections and collaborations for projects between more than 14.000 public and private actors.
    • It offers to learn new applied methodologies and tools to develop people-centred services.
    • It shares innovation cases for replicability across the country.
    • what does it/its activities focus on? It is part of the State Modernization Strategy led by the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency. The main focuses are:
    • Better Services: Digital services by default, faster and more efficient for people.
    • Better Management: More efficient and effective internal processes, digitization and automation of processes, decision-making based on data, interoperability of institutions.
    • People in the State: up-skills development for transformation, performance, productivity and change management.
    • how does it connect with members (newsletter, meet-ups, conferences, training) and how often? The service is offered throughout the year by a digital platform with a broad range product portfolio of workshops, boot camps, courses, conferences, mentoring and tool-kits.
    • Membership access: It is open to all people in Chile who are interested in the transformation of the State. Despite this, it has a priority focus on public servants from central government and public services.
    • Membership size and results: It has 14,000 members from more than 1,500 institutions throughout Chile. 70% of the members are public servants (as at March 2021). More than 240 activities have been carried out, training more than 6,300 people. Its digital resources have been visited 750 thousand times for a total of 8,500 hours. 1,500 people visit the digital platform weekly (as at February 2021).
    • Type: It is a formal network with a mandate established by the State Modernization Committee. Nonetheless, its foundation, purposes and different initiatives are co-created with members who join voluntarily.
    • Joining: By creating an account in 1 minute at innovadorespublicos.cl
    • Point of contact: Joaquín Collao – Head of the Public Innovators Network jcollao@lab.gob.cl.

    Colombia

    Comité Nacional de Innovación Pública – CNIP (Public Innovation National Committee)

    • Website/social media presence:
      Website: https://www.notion.so/Micrositio-hacker-CNIP-6e837e96b4954db29ec52925f8dea45f
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/InnovacionSP?s=20
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: The Public Innovation National Committee (CNIP) is an informal network of Public Innovation Teams across the Colombian Public Sector. We seek to position public innovation on the state agenda as a means to optimize citizen satisfaction, efficiency, impact, and the opening of initiatives that respond to public challenges (generate public value) in all the stages of the public policy cycle. CNIP holds monthly sessions.
    • Membership access: It is closed. It is limited to consolidated public innovation teams across the Colombian government, they can be either from the national or regional level.
    • Membership size: Currently (March, 2021), 19 public sector entities.
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: The Public Innovation National Committee will held an annual call for consolidated public innovation teams across the Colombian government that want to be part of the Committee. Applicants must send a letter requesting admission and specifying why they want to be part of the committee, what is the added value that they will offer to the committee, what is their organization public innovation agenda and how this agenda associates with the Public Innovation Chapter of the National Development Plan. The letter must be signed by a director of the organization, this will prove the support of the organization for the joining of the Committee. The committee will designate an evaluation team for the entire call process. Dates: Call (June 1 – June 30) Evaluation (July) Notification of results (July 30)
    • Point of contact: National Planning Department – Public Innovation Team – Technical secretary of the Committee – innovacionpublica@dnp.gov.co.

    Finland

    Innovation Network

    • Website/social media presence: https://vm.fi/julkisen-hallinnon-innovaatiot
    • Founded: 2013
    • Network summary: Seminars, workshops, sharing information on innovation projects & tools, distributing info from OPSI, meetings about 6-8 times a year.
    • Membership access: Civil servants from state agencies and municipalities, academia.
    • Membership size: ~50 (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Loose network.
    • Joining: Contacting OPSI NCP’s at Ministry of Finance.
    • Point of contact: [email protected]; matti.kuivalainen@vm.fi.

    Germany

    LabCamp – Network of Public Sector Innovation Labs

    • Website/social media presence: So far we there is no website yet, but we are working on a notion page. Each meeting has been communicated via different newsletters as well as the CityLAB Berlin website.
    • Network summary: More and more public innovation labs are developing up all over Germany, often knowing little about each other but learning a lot from each other. In cooperation with the Digital Innovation Team of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (PG DIT) and NExT e.V., Politics for Tomorrow and CityLAB Berlin invited to a first virtual “LabCamp: Networking Meeting Public Innovation Labs” in May 2020. More than 40 public innovation labs and teams from all over Germany participated and were eager to learn from each other. Meanwhile, the third LabCamp will take place in March 2021.During each LabCamp: 2-3 network member showcase their work and higlight specific learnings as well as challenges, followed by an open space for exchange based on timely topics that resonate specifically with the attendees of each meeting
    • Membership access: The network is open to all public innocation labs and teams in Germany but also Austria and Switzerland, taking into account that labs as interfaces between Government and Society are not only coordinated by public servants but also include civil society, academia, non-profits and other public-private constellations
    • Membership size: More than 40 labs have been part of the meetings, in parallel a mapping is taking place and will be appended over the next months “Atlas der Innovation” (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Informal network, meeting rhythm: twice a year, communication: slack channel, mode: self-organized
    • Joining: Please send a us mail!
    • Point of contact: Caroline Paulick Thiel: [email protected], Yannick Müller: [email protected] Twitter @citylabberlin @politics4tmrw.

    NExT e. V. (Netzwerk: Experten für die digitale Transformation der Verwaltung)

    • Website/social media presence:
    • Founded: 2018
    • Network summary: NExT is a network founded in 2018 by a dozen public servants / public organisations. It focusses on connecting public servants from any public organisation in Germany, who are working with digitalisation, transformation and innovation. The network is organised as a non-profit organisation. It connects with its members and other public servants through newsletters, social media, meet-ups and other events, conferences (both online & offline), mailing lists, videocalls and some more activities. There are several events per month taking place. Current patron is the german federal CIO and state secretary Dr. Markus Richter (Twitter: @CIO_Bund).
    • Membership access: Membership is limited to public servants or public organisations by invite of other members. Many events / activities are open to all public servants, though, e. g. barcamps or communities of practice.
    • Membership size: 100 +/- formal members of the organisation, with more than 1500 public servants taking part in the activities (as at February 2021)
    • Type: The NExT e. V. (e. V. = registered association) is a formal association with members, a board, a general manager and a patron for example. The NExT network is an informal network, where public servants an take part just by entering the mailinglist or visiting an event.
    • Joining: Use website/newsletter/social media
      Join mailinglists (https://verteiler.next-netz.de)
      Visit events (https://anmeldung.next.netz.de)
      Co-host events
      Become voluntary community host
      Be invited to be part of the registered association
    • Point of contact: info@next-netz.de.

    Public Service Lab

    Greece

    Public Sector Innovation Community

    • Website/social media presence:
      1. On line information about the Greek Innovation Community can be found at the innovation platform of the Greek Public Sector at the following link https://innovation.gov.gr/en/innovation-community-en/.
      2. The communication channel with the innovation community is using the Department’s social media accounts on Twitter @innovunit_MοI and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/innovation.gov.gr
      3. The hashtag to be used is #ΔίκτυοΚαινοτομίαςGr #InnovCommunityGR when referring to actions of the Innovation Community
    • Founded: Innovation Community was launched in March 2020.
    • Network summary: Although not yet fully active, the intention is that appointed Members of the Innovation Community represent their public organization and:
      1. collect their organization’s best practices and submit them for posting in the Innovation Repository
      2. participate in the Forum to promote direct communication, gathering and exchange of views on innovation
      3. participate in common projects and take collaborative actions with other members of the community
      4. participate in workshops, labs, etc. organized by the Ministry of the Interior
      5. receive the newsletter.
    • During 2020 and early 2021, members of the Innovation Community:
      1. participated in the Greek GAS event organized on November 17, 2020, and the workshop conducted on the same day
      2. received one newsletter
      3. submitted almost 15 best practices for posting in the Innovation Repository.
    • Membership access: Only members from public sector organizations can join. The process of becoming a member is described in a ministerial circular.
    • Membership size: The Innovation Community currently counts 141 public sector organizations with almost 200 representatives. Community is still growing
    • Type: Formal. Members of the Innovation Community are senior executives of public organizations, Heads of Departments or Units or equivalent level. In general, members should be a part of the innovation system of their public organization
    • Joining: To join the Innovation Community, interested members need to fill out an electronic application and also send a document of appointment from their public organization, signed by a high executive officer e.g secretary-general or equivalent
    • Point of contact: innovationunit@ydmed.gov.gr.

    Iceland

    Public sector innovation network

    • Website/social media presence: https://opinbernyskopun.island.is/
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: Yearly conference, information sharing on website and a newsletter is on the agenda.
    • Membership access: Open to everyone.
    • Membership size: 500-600 people participated online in the last conference in January 2021 and around 200-300 page visits a month.
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: Through the website.
    • Point of contact: See website.

    Ireland

    Public Service Innovation Network

    • Website/social media presence:
      Website: https://www.ops2020.gov.ie/actions/innovating-for-our-future/innovation/network/
      Innovation and Collaboration Forum (members only) : https://forum.ops2020.gov.ie/login/
      Reform LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/our-public-service-4851b8198
      Reform Twitter: @OPS2020IRLReform Instagram: OurPublicService
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: The Public Service Innovation Network aims to support the development of a culture of innovation across the Irish Public Service. The membership is wide-ranging and the focus is on communicating key innovation messages and building enthusiasm for innovation across all sectors of the Public Service. The Network also provides a mechanism to build skills in innovation and to provide the tools and resources to members. Successful innovation relies on connections between people and the sharing of ideas and experiences and we aim to enable these connections with the Network. The Network facilitates ongoing connections between people, teams and organisations where ideas and outputs are continually shared. It is hoped that the Network will evolve in line with the needs and goals of its members and we aim to deliver value to members. Although the membership is quite diverse from all sectors of the Public Service we share a common purpose – to add value to society and to serve the public. As the Network was building and before the pandemic physical events were held. Since the crisis, we host monthly webinars where members can tune in and hear about great stories of innovation. We also publish an Innovation Newsletter throughout the year: https://www.ops2020.gov.ie/news/Resources/innovation-newsletter/In addition, as a result of the crisis, we have developed an online forum for the network where members can connect, collaborate and share their experiences.
    • Membership access: Membership is currently open to all public servants.
    • Membership size: The current membership is over 840 public servants. This includes a cohort of 130 formally appointed Innovation Representatives who act as a key liaison for the Reform Office and champion innovation in their organisations (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Formal.
    • Joining: Public Servants can join by emailing [email protected]
    • Point of contact:
      • Breda O’Brien, Public Service Innovation Projects Lead email: breda.o’brien@per.gov.ie
      • Vinny Lanigan, Public Service Innovation Team vinny.lanigan@per.gov.ie.

    Justice Sector Innovation Network

    • Website/social media presence: Our network is internal to the Department of Justice and agencies and we do not have a website. We are publishing articles on the Department of Justice Portal and are communicating regularly with our members through our group email.
    • Founded: 27 November 2019
    • Network summary: Justice Sector Innovation Network aims to support and highlight innovation within the Justice Sector and to provide a forum for staff to share their experiences and connect with each other. We are working to build and promote an Innovation culture across the Justice Sector and to support people to innovate in their roles. We want people from all areas to feel that their perspectives and ideas are valuable, and we are aiming to help them to bring their ideas to life. We are connecting with our members through a group email and articles on the internal portal. We have also established a group of Innovation Network Ambassadors that are acting as a point of contacts in each function. We have regular meetings with our members (online meetings since the beginning of the crisis) where we are covering a broad range of topics and activities and allowing people to exchange their experiences with innovation.
    • Membership access: Membership is limited to civil servants from Department of Justice and Justice Sector agencies
    • Membership size: 155 Members as of 11 March 2021
    • Type: Formal
    • Joining: Through the point of contact
    • Point of contact: [email protected].

    Latvia

    Latvia Public sector innovation community

    • Website/social media presence: www.inovacija.mk.gov.lv
    • Founded: 2021
    • Network summary: The innovation network is a place for and by civil servants who stimulate or manage innovation into their organization. Participants meet once a month. The community shares good experience, learns new methods and engages in various activities.
    • Membership access: Closed, only appointed members of the innovation community can join.
    • Membership size: 40 and growing (as at April 2021)
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: By request only.
    • Point of contact: Inese Brokāne-Zarāne, [email protected].

    Netherlands

    ‘Rijks Innovatie Community’ (RIC) or the Dutch Government’s Innovation Community

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.rijksinnovatiecommunity.nl | https://www.linkedin.com/company/35457147/admin/
    • Founded: 2018
    • Network summary: The ‘Rijks Innovatie Community’ (RIC) or the Dutch Government’s Innovation Community main purpose is to connect the various ‘islands’ of innovation within the Dutch Government to each other and support cross department Innovation Communities. The objective is knowledge sharing and collaborative learning. Bi-weekly events are organized on various innovation examples ranging from technical/digital, process/organization, social/cultural innovations. Furthermore, cross department Innovation Communities (eg Future Digital Technologies and Procurement) are supported in their operations. RIC has an online community tool and regular email letter / social media updates to its members. RIC is also the organize of ‘INNOvember’ a month long innovation festival. In 2020 with about 100 different government organizations participating and over 10.000 session views.
    • Membership access: Members have to work with the Dutch Central government. Community is aimed at Innovators and Innovation Managers. Furthermore, Policy makers and Senior Management are invited. Non central government organizations may be invited to join specific sessions.
    • Membership size: 3000 (as at January 2021)
    • Type: Formal
    • Joining: Dutch national public servants can contact ****[email protected] for the network | LinkedIn group open to all.
    • Point of contact: RIC@rijksoverheid.nl.

    Ynnovate NL

    • Website/social media presence: https://ynnovate.it
    • Founded: 2011
    • Network summary: Ynnovate was founded to connect like-minded people within the public sector of the Netherlands. Ynnovate helps public organizations to create space for innovation and continuously invest in the strength and connectivity of the network to make more impact. Ynnovate offers employees within the Dutch public sector the tools and inspiration to innovate. Using the Ynnovate method participants of the Ynnovate network create innovative solutions for the public sector.
    • Membership access: The network consists of Ynnovators: public sector employees trained in applying the Ynnovate method. The Ynnovators are skilled facilitators; able to guide a successful innovation process. Together, they form an overall public sector community that actively works on boosting public sector innovation. Ynnovators form internal innovation networks within their own organizations. One can only join the Ynnovators network only when they are an employee of a public sector organization. This way, we keep the network exclusive, strong, and focused.
    • Membership size: At the moment there are more than 1,400 trained Ynnovators within the public sector of the Netherlands (as at March 2021)
    • Type: The Ynnovate network was founded by a few (young) public sector employees that were looking for ways to innovate their work themselves. Over the last few years, Ynnovate has grown into a popular bottom-up initiative. Nowadays, it is structured as a separate organization. The (core)team of Ynnovate is only a small team of Innovation Boosters that function as a catalyst for creating a bigger network to innovate the public sector.
    • Joining: You can join the network by following the Ynnovate Training. This training educates public sector employees in mastering the skills of a true innovation facilitator. More information can be found at https://ynnovate.it/training/
    • Point of contact: Marieke Aantjes – contact@ynnovate.it.

    Norway

    Design i offentlig sektor (DOS) (ENG: Design in public sector)

    • Website/social media presence: no (work in progress)
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: It’s a network for the designers working in public sector in Norway across municipality and state. The network main activity is knowledge exchange and support meet ups with the aim to make better user experience across public sector in Norway and practice and explore how to work together across sectors.
    • The plan is to have 4 meet ups a year. and the meet ups are planned to physical (atm. they are digital) Where the space depends on what public sector organ that host it. The network connects with the members via mail and eventbrite.
    • Membership access: its closed. it is limited to designers that work within public sector in Norway.
    • Membership size: 50+ (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: if you work as a designer within the public sector in Norway, you are welcome to join. if you want join? send an email to the point of contact
    • Point of contact: julie.lyngo.parisi@nav.no.

    Forum for service design

    • Website/social media presence: So far we only have an internal WorkPlace presence within the municipality of Oslo – about 50 0000 employees. We have a podcast “At you service”: https://anchor.fm/til-tjeneste
    • Founded: 2016
    • Network summary: It is a growing network for professionals in the municipality of Oslo. We have monthly meetings for active members (about 40), consisting of professionals putting users first. We collaborate, share information about projects, organise seminars, courses, develop tools, provide support to other employees who want to learn more about service design etc. A lot of the activities are centered around building skills and sharing knowledge within and outside the community on the importance on user-centric development of services. We also participate in the International Design in Government-network, and cooperate with them om i.e webinars.
    • Membership access: Only employees within the municipality of Oslo who work with user-centric development.
    • Membership size: Three people are administrating the network. We have about 40 active members who participate in different work streams + many more observers (as at March 2021).
    • Type: The network is informal, but we do get funding for the activities we are running from the office of the city council leader (cross sectorial funding)
    • Joining: Word of mouth, primarily. We do have a members only site at workplace, in addition to an open WorkPlace-site to all the observers of the network in the Municipality (around 650 members)
    • Point of contact: tone.dalen@reg.oslo.kommune.no.

    Paraguay

    National Innovation Strategy

    • Website/social media presence:
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: The National Innovation Strategy in Paraguay articulates and cultivates innovation efforts within the country. It do so by bringing together different key actors to work in partnership to support country objectives. The Innovation Unit also coordinates and runs initiatives to help support the ecosystem and position Paraguay within the broader international innovation community.
    • Membership access: Formal membership to the Innovation Team and strategy is closed, but the team is always looking to collaborate with the broader community, both in Paraguay and abroad.
    • Membership size: 100+ (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Formal government team/unit that cultivates and articulates the national innovation network.
    • Joining: We would love to hear from you! Please reach out to the contact email below:
    • Point of contact: hola@innovacion.gov.py.

    Portugal

    Rede de Inovadores (Network of Innovators)

    • Website/social media presence: There is generic information at LabX website (https://www.labx.gov.pt). There is an interactive space for the network at the intranet of the  Portuguese public administration.
    • Founded: December 2018
    • Network summary: The Network of Innovators is a network on innovation and experimentation in the public sector, connecting in a transversal way public servants irrespective of their sector of belonging or their hierarchical status. The network promotes the sharing and dissemination of good practices through the incubation and mentoring of experimental projects, the training of network members, the development of instruments and methodologies, and  the promotion of events open to the innovation ecosystem in Portugal. In addition to autonomous events, its main points of contact are the LabXpresso newletter (#11 editions as at February 2021) and the OFICINAS@LabX, thematic workshops that bring together the network around transversal public service challenges (13 sessions as at February 2021). As a rule, these two main events are organized bimonthly, alternating. From the last months onwards, the goal is to support the emergence of a community of practices, an interactive web of innovators that are organized around a constellation of emerging challenges and thematic interests.
    • Membership access: This network is limited to public servants and implies the subscription of the Principles of the Public Innovator (in Portuguese).
    • Membership size: About 670 participants (as at February 2021)
    • Type: Informal network
    • Joining: Subscribe to the Public Innovator Principles (http://bit.ly/rede-labx)
    • Point of contact: [email protected].

    Rede de Laboratórios de Experimentação da Administração Pública (Network of Experimentation Labs for Public Administration Experimentation )

    • Website/social media presence: There is generic information at LabX website (https://www.labx.gov.pt). The network website is internal to Portuguese public administration.
    • Founded: November 2019
    • Network summary: The network of experimentation laboratories represents a belt of multipliers that scale the reach of LabX’s intervention through local or sectoral teams. Not only have they the opportunity to use the instruments and design methodologies centered on citizens that have been developed by LabX, counting with a stewardship for that purpose, as it is expected that they can adapt to their specific context the experimental approach being endorsed. After approval of the application and formalization of the collaboration protocol oriented towards tangible results and concentrated on the deployment of concrete experimental projects, LabX ensures the  training and mentorship of the new team throughout the whole cycle of the new lab creation and the development of the selected experimental projects. During this process, LabX also promote the creation of partnerships and synergies within the network and within the scope of the innovation ecosystem in Portugal. The ultimate goal is to ensure that public organizations can appropriate and internalize innovative approaches, making them an integral part of their renewed mind-set and culture, and turning sustainable these initiatives across time. After that, the idea is to enable the circulation and the mutual stimulation between labs that, meanwhile, become «peers» of one another, LabX acting as an ignitor.
    • Membership access: Through a protocol signed between the promoting entity and the Administrative Modernization Agency.
    • Membership size: As of February 2021, the network has 4 experimentation labs associated, besides LabX.
    • Type: Formal network
    • Joining: Submit a membership proposal with a summary of the project plan and objectives to be achieved; then, establishing a work plan centered on the capacity-building of the team and the development of concrete experimental projects
    • Point of contact: geral@labx.gov.pt.

    Spain

    Fundación NovaGob

    • Website/social media presence: https://novagob.org/ | https://red.novagob.org/ | https://twitter.com/novagob | https://www.linkedin.com/company/novagob/
    • Founded: 2013
    • Network summary: we develop 5 projects: Firsty, the NovaGob Social Network was born as an Autonoma of Madrid University spin off . It is a virtual space where professionals from the public sector get in contact, share knowledge and collaborate. Secondly, the Public Innovation Congress is probably the most important in Spain. Annually brings together people from the public and private sector, civil society and academy to discuss the challenges of the Public Administration around and innovation. 1.500 people attended last edition which was the first one virtually developed. Thirdly, NovaGob.Lab is the first laboratory for public innovation created in Spain and is an instrument to respond through projects, training and research to public problems with experimental methodologies. We also coordinate Red InnoLabs, the largest innovation labs network in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. 7 innovations labs from Argentina, México, Chile, Colombia, Brasil, Portugal and Spain working together. Finally, the NovaGob Excellence Awards aim to recognize and make visible the innovation that takes place in the Public Administrations. They are selected incorporating voting by the community members and evaluation by an independent jury.
    • Membership access: Open access for public sector professionals (public servants, academics, non profit organizations and consultants)
    • Membership size: + 16.000 members (from all Spanish speaking countries) (as at March 2021)
    • Type: Informal
    • Joining: Open access for public sector professionals (civil servants, academics, non profit organizations and consultants)
    • Point of contact: info@novagob.org.

    Sweden

    The Swedish Lab network

    • Website/social media presence:  https://svid.se/vad-vi-gor/natverk-samarbetspartner/svenska-labbnatverket/ | https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13574688/
    • Founded: 2017
    • Network summary:A network created in 2017 amongst labs set up within Swedish public sector to exchange ideas, reflections and build momentum for a more experimental policy and system approach to public sector work. The Swedish industrial design foundation initiated the network and continues to manage its yearly meet-ups and joint learning ventures.
    • Membership access: The network is open to any organisation working with a lab approach within public sector in Sweden with public funding. The Linkedin page has been created to attract attention and inspire others interested in the field as well. The formalia of the network is being adressed and developed this spring and will be presented on 9th June, 2021.
    • Membership size: There are about 15 lab organisations represented on our meet ups and in our email list (as at March 2021). Each meeting contains 15-30 people.
    • Type: This network started off in a very informal manner. A need to get together and share knowledge and experiences jolted it off. Today we have systemized our core pillars to three and these also design each meet-up structure. We share inspirational practice, we reflect together and have also started doing so from joint learning ventures and we think strategically of how to create more momentum and impact for this kind of experimental workin public sector.
    • Joining: Has been open access and will hopefully continue in that manner. Format of membership is being revised during the spring of 2021.
    • Point of contact: Contact; [email protected] or Karin.petrusson@svid.se.

    UK

    The Public Service Transformation Academy

    • Website/social media presence: www.publicservicetransformation.org / @servicereform
    • Founded: 2016
    • Network summary: The Public Service Transformation Academy is a not-for-profit social enterprise, led by RedQuadrant and with NCVO, Browne Jacobson LLP, E3M, TSIP, Nesta / the Alliance for Useful Evidence, Local Gov Digital, Collaborate, Basis, and members of the Public Service Transformation Network.Our mission is to drive better outcomes for people and communities by developing the local, civil, social and health sectors’ capabilities to collaborate, innovate and lead.The founders of this academy share some core beliefs: That most of the problems the public sector and society is dealing with have a significant underlying level of complexity. This complexity differs – it can arise from having to deal with multiple stakeholders, from complex citizen needs, from a need for cultural or behavioural change, or from a complex system of organisations that need to work together. Often, all these sources contribute to the complexity at the same time.The PSTA delivers Academies of various kinds, the Public Service: State of Transformation reports (case studies and think pieces), surveys, and conferences, and other capability-building in the sector. We also run a specific learning community open to all.
    • Membership access: Academies and other development activity are provided for paying customer across UK public services. The learning community is open to all.
    • Membership size: About 120 people (as at March 2021)
    • Type: The learning community is informal.
    • Joining: See website
    • Point of contact: [email protected].

    International

    Anticipatory Governance Slack Community

    • Website/social media presence: http://anticipatorygov.slack.com
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: This Slack community rests on exchanging knowledge and ideas around topics including foresight, sustainability, governance and games, all brought together under the Anticipatory Governance theme. We organise networking events, workshops, gaming sessions, etc. on a regular basis, as well as monthly webinars. The aim is to bring together people from different backgrounds and create a community that enriches people’s lives and connects research with practice.
    • Membership access: People can join the community after being invited into the space by one of its members.
    • Membership size: About 400 people (as of February 2021)
    • Type: It is an informal network including all kinds of people that are eager to discuss different topics and participate in community-building events.
    • Joining: Contact either Joost or Sarah about your interest in joining.
    • Point of contact: Joost Vervoort – Founder [email protected]; Sarah Rossetti – Community Manager [email protected].

    BABLE (a community for smart cities)

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.bable-smartcities.eu/
    • Founded: 2017
    • Network Summary: BABLE offers a free, open platform for the smart city community to connect around ideas and experiences for driving the changes for a better urban life with smart technologies. On the platform, cities can share experiences and ideas as Use Cases, Projects and Posts while helping each other develop new ones through tools including a Messenger. Cities can also be inspired by examples from and find partners for collaboration with vendors from the private sector, at well. For our community, in addition to the platform we also offer resources including a bi-monthly newsletter, events and active resource and information sharing via our social media channels and Medium articles.
    • Membership access: Open to users working for cities and companies who are interested in or already working on smart city implementations, with a particular focus at this time on the European market. Anyone can see a basic level of information on the platform, but registered users have access to additional functionalities, tools and information shared by other users.
    • Membership size: The platform currently has over 1200 users and continues to grow, targeting members who are directly involved with or interested in implementation and accelerating positive change in cities (as at March 2021).
    • Type: Formal in terms of how resources can be shared on the platform (e.g. via Use Cases) but information in terms of how members can interact with each other (e.g. communication via the Messenger on the platform).
    • Joining: Sign-up is free and open at: https://www.bable-smartcities.eu/bable/sign-up/
    • Point of contact: info@bable-smartcities.eu.

    Knowledge for Results Regional Initiative – K4R – IADB

    • Website/social media presence: Work in Progress (to be released IIQ 2021).
    • Founded: 2012
    • Network summary: Knowledge management for improving institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. We provide technical assistance to public sector partner institutions of the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) for piloting specific problem solving solutions by a Multi stakeholder co-working approach.
    • Membership access: By official request only to IFD/ICS – IADB. (i) Latin America and the Caribbean public sector institutions; (ii) Private or third sector organizations (private associations or networks, companies, universities, Think Tanks, NGO’s, etc.) open to share knowledge and good practices for developing solutions with public sector institutions.
    • Membership size: 5 countries (Guatemala, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Perú and Mexico). Open for Latin America and the Caribbean region.
    • Type: Formal
    • Joining: By request only.
    • Point of contact: Diego Arisi – [email protected] / Alix Cortés – alixc@iadb.org.

    OECD – Government Foresight Community (GFC)

    • Website/social media presence: https://www.oecd.org/strategic-foresight/ourwork/
    • Founded: 2013
    • Network summary: The OECD’s Government Foresight Community brings together strategic foresight practitioners in the public sector from around the world. GFC members exchange information and content on the latest foresight developments in government policy making.
    • Membership access: experienced practitioners working in public administration.
    • Membership size: approximately 100 regular members (as at February 2021).
    • Type: semi-formal, with regular meetings and reported outcomes but no status as a committee or requirement to report to one.
    • Joining: for information can be sent directly to to the OECD Strategic Foresight Unit or through the national permanent delegations to the OECD.
    • Point of contact: foresight@oecd.org.

    UNDP Urban Platform

    • Website/social media presence: www.city2city.org, @UNDP4urban
    • Founded: 2019
    • Network summary: City2City Network invites you to lead, learn, and experiment to build and ensure the cities we live are sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. If this is what drives you to visit us, you are in the right place. City2City Network is a peer-to-peer learning platform – it provides curated information and brings together cities and experts to design solutions for urban challenges collectively. It facilitates engagement among cities for knowledge exchange and approaches for building inclusive cities.Cities around the world are the host of 2 out of every 3 persons globally. Cities offer tremendous opportunities for jobs and livelihoods. Our cities are dynamic, however, they face diverse challenges for society, economy, and environment.Administered by the United Nations Development Programme, City2City Network focuses on enriching the following key areas:
    • Urban informal economy
    • Urban circular economy
    • Digital city transformation
    • Urban climate action and energy
    • City resilience
    • City governance
    • Local economic development
    • Municipal financing for development
    • Urban poverty and spatial inequalities

    UN Innovation Network (UNIN)

    • Website/social media presence: www.uninnovation.network/
    • Founded: Officially 2015, but it became fully operational in 2017/18
    • Network summary: UNIN is an informal, collaborative community of UN innovators interested in sharing their expertise and experience with others to promote and advance innovation within the UN System. The network hosts regular webinars to facilitate knowledge exchange and introduce new ways of thinking and technologies to the UN; it also runs courses and innovation programmes, and publishes regular UN Innovation Updates (e.g. https://bit.ly/BestofUNInnovation2020)
    • Membership access: The network is open to anyone and while the focus is on UN colleagues, we welcome non-UN members in an observer role
    • Membership size: 3,000 people (as at March 2021)
    • Type: UNIN is an informal network from innovators for innovators
    • Joining: By signing up on our website and completing a short joining survey
    • Point of contact: info@UNinnovation.network.

    WPSI (Women+ in Public Sector Innovation Network)

    • Website/social media presence:
      Medium: https://medium.com/w-psi
      We have a Youtube channel, but all videos posted there are private to the network. The channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UComm8MV8kc9BsTB7OvMnr_Q
      We run a LinkedIn group at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13845853/
      We don’t have a twitter handle, but you can follow the chairs at @BrigetteMetzler and @theasnow
    • Founded: 2020
    • Network summary: The Women+ in Public Sector Innovation Network (W+PSI) is a network of women+ working in the field of public sector innovation. It offers members both a support network, as well as a diverse network of experts who are willing and able to share their knowledge and resources. We meet online once a month.
    • Membership access: We are limited to people working in the public sector.
    • Membership size: We are currently sitting at around 200 members (as at February 2021)
    • Type: Our network is informal with no mandate or terms of reference set by any government agency.
    • Joining: Membership is by application to: [email protected]
    • Point of contact: womenpluspsi@gmail.com.

    Let’s Ynnovate

    • Website/social media presence: www.letsynnovate.com
    • Founded: 2020
    • Network summary: The public sector is facing more challenges than ever. While change is happening faster and faster, public organizations have to show flexibility and innovation. The mission of Let’s Ynnovate is to help public sector organizations boost innovation. We know this will happen when employees are given the tools and the space to experiment, make mistakes and develop ideas. Over the last years, we have proven our method with Ynnovate in the Netherlands and we are now ready to expand our network to public organizations in other countries as well.
    • Membership access: Let’s Ynnovate is all about connecting people that want to create a better public sector. People with the right mindset and attitude. We believe that together we can make the public sector more innovative! Let’s Ynnovate focuses on creating networks of Ynnovators; people that are passionate about the public sector and who want to help facilitate innovation.
    • Membership size: Currently (as at February 2021), there are more than 1,400 members from the Ynnovate NL network. Next to that, we have just started expanding to other countries.
    • Type: the network is informal of character aimed at connecting public sector employees from all over the world that are keen to share insights and experiences
    • Joining: If you want to join our mission, we invite you to follow one of our online courses which will help you to start innovation in your own organization. Everyone that follows the free introduction course, will be invited to join our international community of public sector innovators. Membership of the community is free. Through the network, you can connect with like-minded innovation boosters throughout the whole world and share your knowledge and your challenges.
    • Point of contact: Fleur Pullen – contact@letsynnovate.com.

    WHO Innovation Network

    • Website/social media presence: No specific website for the Network, but we have splash page for WHO Innovation: https://www.who.int/teams/digital-health-and-innovation/health-innovation-for-impact
    • Founded: 2020
    • Network summary: In its current guise, the WHO Innovation Network is a community of practice focused on fostering, supporting and creating space for our internal innovation pioneers in their work to scale and sustain health innovation practice and programmes. The WHO Innovation Network is an integral part of what we see as a global innovation in health movement, as well as a channel for how we will collectively achieve the organisation’s goals of “health for all”, WHO’s Triple Billion targets, and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
      We want to harness and elevate a culture of innovation, by building energy and excitement in “innovation for impact”. The WHO Innovation Network is one way of fostering, supporting and creating space for our internal innovation pioneers. To enable sharing and collaboration – through monthly events, internal social media, and MS Teams (but that’s just the start!) – and eventually create new norms within organisation. One that celebrates a more concrete and practical understanding of innovation working side-by-side with existing initiatives and programmes within the WHO.
    • Membership access: Closed -membership only available to those working in WHO.
    • Membership size: 300+
    • Type: Informal, but with a clear mandate
    • Joining: Contact us via email [email protected]
    • Point of contact: [email protected]

    European (Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Barcelona, Athens) – Open European Dialogue 

    • Website/social media presence: www.openeuropeandialogue.org / Twitter: @OEDialogue
    • Founded: 2015
    • Network summary: The Open European Dialogue is a politically neutral platform that aims to improve European politics by supporting politicians in better understanding political challenges and perspectives from across Europe. We do that by connecting European policymakers across parties and nations, providing a space for dialogue and promoting innovative political conversations.
      By carefully designing and facilitating regular dialogues, workshops, field trips, and informal meetings in different countries and online, we connect policymakers across borders and party lines and offer them a space to share perspectives and co-develop initiatives. Our different tailored formats give our members opportunities for political exchange beyond institutional structures and the rigidities of official communication and negotiation channels.
    • Membership access: Closed – Elected Members of Parliaments are recruited for the network.
    • Membership size: Circa 200 Active Members of Parliament.
    • Type: Informal.
    • Joining: Contacting us for a recruitment meeting, Nomination from peers, We scout and recruit.
    • Point of contact: Chiara Rosselli, Head of the Open European Dialogue, [email protected] or [email protected].

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