Skip to content
An official website of the OECD. Find out more
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).

How to validate authenticity

Validation that this is an official OECD website can be found on the Innovative Government page of the corporate OECD website.

Toolkit

The Digital Engagement Guide

Champion CHAMPION:
Can be remixed
This web-based resource contains ideas and practical help to use digital and social media in the public sector. It is organised by techniwues, strategies, examples, and (user generated) questions. This resource can assist governments with service delivery and stakeholder engagement. The publisher's main website also contains other resources for online communication.
The resource addresses the use of financial prizes to source solutions to challenges. It draws on academic literature, interviews with analysts and practitioners, surveys of prize sponsors and competitors, databases of small and large awards, and case studies of 12 effective prizes to produce lessons from a range of sectors, goals, and prize types. It provides frameworks and recommendations to help improve current prizes and stimulate effective future use. While it is targeted to philanthropic…
Toolkit

Paper Prototyping: A Guide For Surfacing Innovative Ideas More Quickly

Basic BASIC:
Allows reuse
This is a report produced in conjunction with IDEO after a 2-year initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation called Paper Prototyping, an effort to better inform investment decisions of the Foundation. While this resource is not a typical innovation toolkit, it was included because it describes an often implicit and invisible process of developing and testing proposals for innovative solutions to complex problems.
Toolkit

Adobe Kickbox

Champion CHAMPION:
Can be remixed
Kickbox is an innovation process that Adobe developed for its own use and then open-sourced so everyone can use it. It is both a process for individuals and a system for deploying that process across an organization at scale. It’s designed to increase innovator effectiveness, accelerate innovation velocity, and measurably improve innovation outcomes. It can also optimize innovation investments by reducing costs compared to traditional approaches. Adobe distributed 1000 physical boxes…
Toolkit

Collective Action Toolkit

Champion CHAMPION:
Can be remixed
The Collective Action Toolkit (2nd edition) is a set of activities and methods that enables groups of people anywhere to organize, collaborate, and create solutions for problems affecting their community. It guides users through methods according to six action areas, with suggested pathways from one method to the next. For each method, step-by-step instructions are given, in addition to the time, roles, and materials needed. Some methods include canvasses to guide activity. The toolkit is…
Toolkit

Designing for Public Services

Champion CHAMPION:
Can be remixed
This resource offers on ways to do things differently by introducing basic guidance on the process of design thinking. It provides guidance on how to introduce this new approach into day-to-day work in the public sector. It was developed for both policymakers and people who design and deliver public services who need to make large changes in how they serve their citizens. It includes guidance on creating an environment set up to do design work as well as an overview of some of the most commonly…
The Design Kit resource is both a downloadable PDF as well as online guidance on the different phases of a human-centered design process, organised by Mindsets, Methods (Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation), and Tools. The PDF is only downloadable from the website after creating a user account at IDEO. Website includes instructional videos on the techniques of various user-centered design methods and techniques.
Toolkit

Shape Better Services

The stated aim of the resource is to enable public sector organisations to use design management thinking and methods currently used by leading companies in the private sector. There is a library tools that are available for free (one must subscribe to access the case studies.) Many of these are commonly-used design methods which have been tweaked and re-branded as Shape Better Services resources. The library content is free to view but using their online guidance requires a paid subscription.
Toolkit

Hyper Island Toolbox

This is a collection of methods and activities, based on Hyper Island’s core methodology, for creative collaboration and realising potential in teams or organisations. It’s a collection of methods and activities, based on Hyper Island’s core methodology and is focused on Learning-by-doing (or Experiential Learning), Reflection (or Reflective Practice), and workshop or group facilitation. It includes Hyper Island tools as well as tools from others.
Toolkit

Catalyzing public sector innovation

This resource covers five key roles in a public innovation ecosystem: Problem Solver, Enabler, Motivator, Convener, and Integrator. For public administrations wanting to make an impact on a societal challenge, it helps identify where to start, and how the administration fits in with other actors already focused on the same or similar challenges. By understanding which of these five roles to assume when launching an initiative, organisations may be able to more effectively deploy their resources,…