Tommaso Balbo di Vinadio Public sector innovation in practice GovNet meeting, January 2014 (EU-Brussels)
Jan 28, 2015
Tommaso Balbo di Vinadio
Public sector innovation in practice
GovNet meeting, January 2014 (EU-Brussels)
2+Take-away messages
1. World is changing rapidly and so are the challenges for public sector
2. Innovation in the public sector is about changing “business as usual”: experimentation, flexibility and risk-taking. This is already happening (service design)
3. Innovation in the public sector implies a renovation in how we do development (i.e. change in IOs procedures)
+ 3
What is innovation?
Changing the way we do business Analytical thinking ≠ Intuitive thinking (innovation in the
middle) Traditional approach ≠ Experimentation
Flexibility, experimentation, risk-taking and permission to fail
+ 4Why innovation in public sector? New and more complex challenges
Old-fashion approaches do not seem to be working
Use of technology
Governments under pressure for budget constraints
New citizenry and higher expectations
5+Innovation is happening in OECD countries: Service design
+ 6What is innovation in the public sector in developing countries? Changing (or refining) approach on PFM,
decentralization, anti-corruption etc. Placing particular attention on “soft issues”: change
management and problem-solving Highlighting the “human factor”: Human-centered approach
Translating some private sector principles (so as they are used by private companies) to public sector: service design and service delivery
+ 7Examples of innovative practices in Africa
Problem-solving approach – Change management – Leadership – Service delivery (Mozambique/Mauritania/Guinea)
Accountability – Service delivery (Tunisia)
Knowledge management – Accountability - Use of technology (Madagascar)
Other initiatives: Collab at Stanford
8
Few judges
Low yearly allocation of financial resources to hiring new judges
Low yearly allocation of financial resources to building new infrastructure
Identify one problem and
ask why
Few court houses
Lack of strategic planning
Lack of strategic allocation
Low budget execution
Little bailiff assistance
Identifying PFM bottlenecks through problem-solving in the justice sector in Mozambique
Weak P
ub
lic F
inan
cia
l M
an
ag
em
en
t
Failure to adjudicate case on time
Ask Whyagain
Ask Whyagain
PFMService delivery
Coaches to make gov officials collaborate INNOVATION
!
9
Citizen participation and service design in Tunisia
Using innovative techniques for citizen to evaluate government performance (observation; ethnographic analyses) and for them to participate in designing new services (use of technology)
10
Knowledge Management platform in Madagascar
INNOVATION!
Technology but also focus on “human factor”
11+What next?
Continuing to implement innovative practices and experiment
Cross-cutting issues: leadership, knowledge management (beyond open data) and service delivery (beyond smart cities)
Gathering information on current practices
Adapting or developing new ways of measuring innovative interventions
Renovating current procedures and systems in IOs Creating systems that allow for innovation Change management