New paper by Professors Eva Sørensen & Jacob Torfing: “It is widely recognized that public innovation is the intelligent alternative to blind across-the-board-cuts in times of shrinking budgets, and that innovation may help to break policy deadlocks and adjust welfare services to new and changing demands. At the same time, there is growing evidence that multi-actor collaboration in networks, partnerships and interorganizational teams can spur public innovation (Sørensen and Torfing, 2011). The involvement of different public and private actors in public innovation processes improves the understanding of the problem or challenge at hand and brings forth new ideas and proposals. It also ensures that the needs of users, citizens and civil society organizations are taken into account when innovative solutions are selected, tested and implemented.
While a lot of public innovation continues to be driven by particular public employees and managers, there seems to be a significant surge in collaborative forms of innovation that cut across the institutional and organization boundaries within the public sector and involve a plethora of private actors with relevant innovation assets. Indeed, the enhancement of collaborative innovation has be come a key aspiration of many public organizations around the world. However, if we fail to develop a more precise and sophisticated understanding of the concepts of ‘innovation’ and ‘collaboration’, we risk that both terms are reduced to empty and tiresome buzzwords that will not last to the end of the season. Moreover, in reality, collaborative and innovative processes are difficult to trigger and sustain without proper innovation management and a supporting cultural and institutional environment. This insight calls for further reflections on the role of public leadership and management and for a transformation of the entire system of public governing.
Hence, in order to spur collaborative innovation in the public sector, we need to clarify the basic terms of the debate and explore how collaborative innovation can be enhanced by new forms of innovation management and new forms of public governing. To this end, we shall first define the notions of innovation and public innovation and discuss the relation between public innovation and social innovation in order to better understand the purposes of different forms of innovation.
We shall then seek to clarify the notion of collaboration and pinpoint why and how collaboration enhances public innovation. Next, we shall offer some theoretical and practical reflections about how public leaders and managers can advance collaborative innovation. Finally, we shall argue that the enhancement of collaborative forms of social innovation calls for a transformation of the system of public governing that shifts the balance from New Public Management towards New Public Governance.”
Why This Simple Government Website Was Named the Best Design of the Year
Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan on Gizmodo: “When was the last time you tried to find a government form on the Internet? For me, it was a few months back, trying to track down an absentee ballot. And while I love American flag GIFs as much as the next patriot, I was amazed at the labyrinth of independent sites I had to visit before I found what I was looking for. Bringing the web presence of an entire government under one roof is a Sisyphean task, and the UK is one of the only countries that’s managed to do it, with Gov.uk, a one-stop-web-shop that launched earlier this year.
Today, at a ceremony in London, the site was named the 2013 Best Design of the Year by the Design Museum, beating out 99 shortlisted buildings, inventions, and cars for the honor. It’s the first website to ever win the six-year-old title, too—which illustrates just how remarkable the achievement really is.
Here’s what makes it so deceivingly special.
Why does a straightforward, cut-and-dry website deserve the award? Because of that straightforwardness, actually. “There were thousands of websites, and we folded them into Gov.uk to make just one,” says Ben Terrett, head of design at the UK’s Government Digital Service, in a Dezeen-produced video. “Booking a prison stay should be as easy as booking a driver’s license test.”…
Terrett describes Gov.uk as an attempt to bring web design up to speed with technology like Glass, where the user interfacer all but disappears. “We haven’t achieved that yet with most web interfaces, [where] you can still see the graphic design,” he says. “But technology will change, and we’ll get past that.”
The Eight Key Issues of Digital Government
Andrea Di Maio (Gartner): “…Now, to set the record straight, I do believe digital government is profoundly different from e-government as well as from government 2.0 (although in some jurisdictions the latter terms still looks more relevant than “digital”). Whereas there are many differences as far as technologies and what they make possible,political will, and evolving citizen demand, my contention is that the single most fundamental difference is in the relevance of data and how new and unforeseen uses of data can truly transform the way governments deliver their services and perform their operations.
This is not at all just about government as a platform or open government, where government is primarily a provider of data that constituents – be they citizens, business or intermediaries – use and mash up in new ways. It is also about government themselves inventing new ways to user their own as well as constituents’ data. It is only by striking the right balance between being a data provider and being a data broker and consumer that governments will find the right path to being truly digital.
During the Gartner Symposia I attended last fall, I had numerous interesting conversations with people who are exploring very innovative ways of using its own data, such as:
- tax authorities contemplating to use up-to-date financial information about taxpayers to proactively suggest investments that may provide tax breaks,
- education institutions leveraging data about student location from their original purpose (giving parents information about students’ whereabouts) to providing new tools for teachers to understand behavioral patterns and relate those to more personalized learning
- immigration authorities leveraging data coming from video analysis, whose role is to flag suspicious immigrants for secondary inspection, to inform public safety authorities or the hospitality sector about specific issues and opportunities with tourists.
In the second half of 2013, Gartner government analysts focused on distilling the fundamental components of a digital government initiative, in order to be able to shape our research and advice in ways that hit the most important issues that client face. The new government research agenda has just been published (see Agenda Overview for Government, 2014) and eight key issues, grouped in three distinct areas, that need to be addressed to successfully transform into a digital government organization.
Engaging Citizens
- Service Delivery Innovation: How will governments use technology to support innovative services that produce better results for society?
- Open Government: How will governments create and sustain a digital ecosystem that citizens can trust and want to participate in?
Connecting Agencies
- New Digital Business Models: What data-driven business models will emerge to meet the growing needs for adequate and sustainable public services?
- Joint Governance: How will governance coordinate IT and service decisions across independent public and private organizations?
- Scalable Interoperability: How much interoperability is needed to support connected government services and at what cost?
Resourcing Government
- Workforce Innovation: How will the IT organization and role transform to support government workforce innovation?
- Adaptive Sourcing: How will government IT organizations expand their sourcing strategies to take advantage of competitive cloud-based and consumer-grade solutions?
- Sustainable Financing: How will government IT organizations obtain and manage the financial resources required to connect government and engage citizens?”
ShouldWe
ShouldWe is a new online guide to the causes and consequences of the policies which affect our lives. We will be live soon.
Innovation by Competition: How Challenges and Competition Get the Most Out of the Crowd
Innocentive: “Crowdsourcing has become the 21st century’s alternative to problem solving in place of traditional employee-based strategies. It has become the modern solution to provide for needed services, content, and ideas. Crowdsourced ideas are paving the way for today’s organizations to tackle innovation challenges that confront them in today’s competitive global marketplace. To put it all in perspective, crowds used to be thought of as angry mobs. Today, crowds are more like friendly and helpful contributors. What an interesting juxtaposition, eh?
Case studies proving the effectiveness of crowdsourcing to conquer innovation challenge, particularly in the fields of science and engineering abound. Despite this fact that success stories involving crowdsourcing are plentiful, very few firms are really putting its full potential to use. Advances in ALS and AIDS research have both made huge advances thanks to crowdsourcing, just to name a couple.
Biologists at the University of Washington were able to map the structure of an AIDS related virus thanks to the collaboration involved with crowdsourcing. How did they do this? With the help of gamers playing a game designed to help get the information the University of Washington needed. It was a solution that remained unattainable for over a decade until enough top notch scientific minds were expertly probed from around the world with effective crowdsourcing techniques.
Dr. Seward Rutkove discovered an ALS biomarker to accurately measure the progression of the disease in patients through the crowdsourcing tactics utilized in a prize contest by an organization named Prize4Life, who utilized our Challenge Driven Innovation approach to engage the crowd.
The truth is, the concept of crowdsourcing to innovate has been around for centuries. But, with the growing connectedness of the world due to sheer Internet access, the power and ability to effectively crowdsource has increased exponentially. It’s time for corporations to realize this, and stop relying on stale sources of innovation. ..”
Safety Datapalooza Shows Power of Data.gov Communities
Lisa Nelson at DigitalGov: “The White House Office of Public Engagement held the first Safety Datapalooza illustrating the power of Data.gov communities. Federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari hosted the event, which touted the data available on Safety.Data.gov and the community of innovators using it to make effective tools for consumers.
The event showcased many of the tools that have been produced as a result of opening this safety data including:
- PulsePoint, from the San Ramon Fire Protection District, a lifesaving mobile app that allows CPR-trained volunteers to be notified if someone nearby is in need of emergency assistance;
- Commute and crime maps, from Trulia, allow home buyers to choose their new residence based on two important everyday factors; and
- Hurricane App, from the American Red Cross, to monitor storm conditions, prepare your family and home, find help, and let others know you’re safe even if the power is out;
Safety data is far from alone in generating innovative ideas and gathering a community of developers and entrepreneurs, Data.gov currently has 16 different topically diverse communities on land and sea — the Cities and Oceans communities being two such examples. Data.gov’s communities are a virtual meeting spot for interested parties across government, academia and industry to come together and put the data to use. Data.gov enables a whole set of tools to make these communities come to life: apps, blogs, challenges, forums, ranking, rating and wikis.
For a summary of the Safety Datapalooza visit Transportation’s “Fast Lane” blog.”
EPA Launches New Citizen Science Website
Press Release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revamped its Citizen Science website to provide new resources and success stories to assist the public in conducting scientific research and collecting data to better understand their local environment and address issues of concern. The website can be found at www.epa.gov/region2/citizenscience.
“Citizen Science is an increasingly important part of EPA’s commitment to using sound science and technology to protect people’s health and safeguard the environment,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “The EPA encourages the public to use the new website as a tool in furthering their scientific investigations and developing solutions to pollution problems.”
The updated website now offers detailed information about air, water and soil monitoring, including recommended types of equipment and resources for conducting investigations. It also includes case studies and videotapes that showcase successful citizen science projects in New York and New Jersey, provides funding opportunities, quality assurance information and workshops and webinars.”
E-government and organisational transformation of government: Black box revisited?
New paper in Government Information Quarterly: “During the e-government era the role of technology in the transformation of public sector organisations has significantly increased, whereby the relationship between ICT and organisational change in the public sector has become the subject of increasingly intensive research over the last decade. However, an overview of the literature to date indicates that the impacts of e-government on the organisational transformation of administrative structures and processes are still relatively poorly understood and vaguely defined.
The main purpose of the paper is therefore the following: (1) to examine the interdependence of e-government development and organisational transformation in public sector organisations and propose a clearer explanation of ICT’s role as a driving force of organisational transformation in further e-government development; and (2) to specify the main characteristics of organisational transformation in the e-government era through the development of a new framework. This framework describes organisational transformation in two dimensions, i.e. the ‘depth’ and the ‘nature’ of changes, and specifies the key attributes related to the three typical organisational levels.”
The LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace: Connecting Professionals to Nonprofit Volunteer Opportunities
LinkedIn: “Last spring, a shelter in Berkeley, CA needed an architect to help it expand its facilities. A young architect who lives nearby had just made a New Year’s resolution to join a nonprofit board. In an earlier era, they would not have known each other existed.
But in this instance the shelter’s executive director used LinkedIn to contact the architect – and the architect jumped at the opportunity to serve on the shelter’s board. The connection brought enormous value to both parties involved – the nonprofit shelter got the expertise it needed and the young architect was able to amplify her social impact while broadening her professional skills.
This story inspired me and my colleagues at LinkedIn. As someone who studies and invests (as a venture capitalist) in internet marketplaces, I realized the somewhat serendipitous connection between architect and shelter would happen more often if there were a dedicated volunteer marketplace. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of “nonprofit needs” in the world, and even more professionals who want to donate their skills to help meet these needs.
The challenge is that nonprofits and professionals don’t know how to easily find each other. LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace aims to solve that problem.
Changing the professional definition of “opportunity”
When I talk with LinkedIn members, many tell me they aren’t actively looking for traditional job opportunities. Instead, they want to hone or leverage their skills while also making a positive impact on the world.
Students often fall into this category. Retired professionals and stay-at-home parents seek ways to continue to leverage their skills and experience. And while busy professionals who love their current gigs may not necessarily be looking for a new position, these are often the very people who are most actively engaged in “meaningful searches” – a volunteer opportunity that will enhance their life in ways beyond what their primary vocation provides.
By providing opportunities for all these different kinds of LinkedIn members, we aim to help the social sector by doing what we do best as a company: connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale.
And to ensure that the volunteer opportunities you see in the LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace are high quality, we’re partnering with the most trusted organizations in this space, including Catchafire, Taproot Foundation, BoardSource and VolunteerMatch.”
Tech Policy Is Not A Religion
Opinion Piece by Robert Atkinson: “”Digital libertarians” and “digital technocrats” want us to believe their way is the truth and the light. It’s not that black and white. Manichaeism, an ancient religion, took a dualistic view of the world. It described the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Listening to tech policy debates, especially in America, one would presume that Manichaeism is alive and well.
On one side (light or dark, depending on your view) are the folks who embrace free markets, bottom-up processes, multi-stakeholderism, open-source systems, and crowdsourced innovations. On the other are those who embrace government intervention, top-down processes, additional regulation, proprietary systems, and expert-based innovations.
For the first group, whom I’ll call the digital libertarians, government is the problem, not the solution. Tech enables freedom, and statist actions can only limit it.
According to this camp, tech is moving so fast that government can’t hope to keep up — the only workable governance system is a nimble one based on multi-stakeholder processes, such as ICANN and W3C. With Web 2.0, everyone can be a contributor, and it is through the proliferation of multiple and disparate voices that we discover the truth. And because of the ability of communities of coders to add their contributions, the only viable tech systems are based on open-source models.
For the second group, the digital technocrats, the problem is the anarchic, lawless, corporate-dominated nature of the digital world. Tech is so disruptive, including to long-established norms and laws, it needs to be limited and shaped, and only the strong hand of the state can do that. Because of the influence of tech on all aspects of society, any legitimate governance process must stem from democratic institutions — not from a select group of insiders — and that can only happen with government oversight such as through the UN’s International Telecommunication Union.
According to this camp, because there are so many uninformed voices on the Internet spreading urban myths like wildfire, we need carefully vetted experts, whether in media or other organizations, to sort through the mass of information and provide expert, unbiased analysis. And because IT systems are so critical to the safety and well-functioning of society, we need companies to build and profit from them through a closed-source model.
Of course, just as religious Manichaeism leads to distorted practices of faith, tech Manichaeism leads to distorted policy practices and views. Take Internet governance. The process of ensuring Internet governance and evolution is complex and rapidly changing. A strong case can be made for the multi-stakeholder process as the driving force.
But this situation doesn’t mean, as digital libertarians would assert, that governments should stay out of the Internet altogether. Governments are not, as digital libertarian John Perry Barlow arrogantly asserts, “weary giants of flesh and steel.” Governments can and do play legitimate roles in many Internet policy issues, from establishing cybersecurity guidelines to setting online sales tax policy to combatting spam and digital piracy to setting rules governing unfair and deceptive online marketing practices.
This assertion doesn’t mean governments always get things right. They don’t. But as the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation writes in its recent response to Barlow’s manifesto, to deny people the right to regulate Internet activity through their government officials ignores the significant contribution the government can play in promoting the continued development of the Internet and digital economy.
At the same time, the digital technocrats must understand that the digital world is different from the analog one, and that old rules, regulations, and governing structures simply don’t apply. When ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Toure argues that “at the behest of all the world’s nations, the UN must lead this effort” to manage the global Internet, and that “for big commercial interests, it’s about maximizing the bottom line,” he’s ignoring the critical role that tech companies and other non-government stakeholders play in the Internet ecosystem.
Because digital technology is such a vastly complex system, digital libertarians claim that their “light” approach is superior to the “dark,” controlling, technocratic approach. In fact, this very complexity requires that we base Internet policy on pragmatism, not religion.
Conversely, because technology is so important to opportunity and the functioning of societies, digital technocrats assert that only governments can maximize these benefits. In fact, its importance requires us to respect its complexity and the role of private sector innovators in driving digital progress.
In short, the belief that one or the other of these approaches is sufficient in itself to maximize tech innovation is misleading at best and damaging at worst.”