Publication Category: Systems Approaches

A summary report of the Government Beyond Recovery conference, which brought together over 2000 participants to reflect on the importance of innovation, co-creation, agile regulation and inclusion as the world emerges from a period of crisis and prepares for the complex challenges ahead.

A summary report of the Government After Shock conference, which presented an opportunity for collective learning, thinking critically about the implications of the COVID-19 crisis and exploring how to steer government and society toward preferred futures rather than reverting to the status-quo.

Research and analysis reveal that the most innovative countries and cities are taking action to eliminate points of friction between governments and those that they serve. This approach enables them to re-imagine the ways in which governments can collaborate and consider future scenarios. The report is part of the 2020 Trends Report series, an annual trends report developed by the OECD-OPSI and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI).

This report uses systems thinking tools to address pervasive problems in Slovenia's procurement system that the government has struggled to remedy through traditional regulatory means. The report outlines how room for innovation can be created within highly regulated policy domains and how governments can systematically benefit from it. It also explores potential reforms that could be designed from the bottom-up, to address specific behavioural and structural barriers – such as public…

Building on the previous report, this report examines how governments can move from a tactical to a holistic approach to system change. Drawing on diverse case studies from across the world at both national and local levels, the report illustrates how a strategic approach to system change implies three key elements: envisioning and acting on the future, putting public value at the core of the change process, and systematically engaging citizens in decision-making.

Governments around the world are experimenting with various ways to make future-oriented and value-driven decisions and it is most visible on the city level. Cities are one of the most dynamic and important administrative units today. They have a significant role to play in most of the complex challenges the world is facing from democratic crisis to climate change, aging, migration, digital transformation and peer-to-peer production.

The annual trends report by the OECD-OPSI and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI) identified three key trends in public innovation: identify, systems approaches and enablers and inclusiveness to vulnerable populations.

Complexity is a core feature of most policy issues today and in this context traditional analytical tools and problem-solving methods no longer work. This report explores how systems approaches can be used in the public sector to solve complex or “wicked” problems . The report discusses the need for systems thinking in the public sector; identifies tactics that can be employed by government agencies to work towards systems change; and provides an in-depth examination of how systems…