10 Lessons : “…The GovLab and its network of 25 world-class coaches and over 100 mentors helped 446 participants in more thana dozen US cities and thirty foreign countries to take a public interest technology project from idea to implementation. In the process, we ‘ve learned a lot about the need for new ways of training the next generation of leaders and problem solvers.
Our aim has been to aid public entrepreneurs — passionate and innovative people who wish to take advantage of new technology to do good in the world. That’s why we measure success, not by the number of participants in a class, but by the project’s participants create and the impact those projects have on communities….
Lesson 1: There is growing, and unmet, demand for training a new kind of public servant: the public entrepreneur…
Lesson 2: Tap the distributed supply of talent and expertise to accelerate learning…
Lesson 3: Create new methods for training public entrepreneurs to solve problems…
Lesson 4: Develop tools to help public interest innovators “cross the chasm” from idea to implementation…
Lesson 5: Teach collaboration and partnering for change…
Lesson 6: In order to be successful, public entrepreneurs must be able to define the problem — a skill widely lacking…
Lesson 7: Connecting innovators and alumni with one another generates a lasting public infrastructure that can help solve problems more effectively…
Lesson 8: Pedagogical priorities include making problem solving more data driven and evidence based….
Lesson 9: The demand and supply are global — which requires a global mindset and platform in order to learn what has worked elsewhere and why…
Lesson 10: Collaboration and coordination among anchor organizations is key to meeting the demand and coordinating the supply….(More)