Despite their different appearances, on a functional level, every city around the world is the same: they are connected by their need to provide services to large numbers of people in a condensed area. It is clear that digital public service innovation is something that tends to be initiated on a local level, as citizens respond to problems they observe in their own environment.
Today's global financial and social crises demand innovation not only in public services, but within the whole bureaucratic, administrative system of public governance. Yet innovation introduces uncertainty and unpredictability into decision-making which can sit uncomfortably with the status quo. What are new principles for decision-making that can be more conducive to innovation in the public sector?
Who are the neglected heroes of public service innovation? Perhaps it's not the inventors, but the adopters.
This blog introduces Nesta's Standards of Evidence, developed to test whether the products and services Nesta Impact Investments fund make a positive difference. This new approach aims to bring impact measurement in line with academically recognised levels of rigour, whilst managing to ensure measurement is appropriate to the growth trajectory of the products and services we invest in.
This article originally appeared Thursday 18 October in the MJ. The article can also be viewed here.
Ask any local authority Chief Executive what three things keep them awake at night. It's a safe bet that funding social care will be on the list.
The need for organisational change that creates the necessary conditions for digital innovation to happen is clear, but if services are going to evolve then working practices need to evolve too. More often than not, current systems and ways of working in the public sector inhibit rather than enable technological innovation.
What is holding back innovation in the current system and where are the gaps? The 'Open Book of Social Innovation' describes six stages of innovation that take ideas from inception to impact.
Developing a digital innovation will inevitably raise a variety of issues, risks and concerns that will need to be thought through and addressed as part of the innovation process. What impact will a new approach have? Will users be safe? Will it work as well as the current service offer? How will relationships between professionals and service users be affected? Is the new approach legal? What legislation needs to be considered? How will the information that is collected be protected?
Different people see and think differently and radical ideas can come from many sources, so it is important to tap into this diversity and uncover creative, new ideas in response to the problem that has been identified. But who are the right people to bring in, how should they be involved and when is the right time to do this?
One of the goals for any future health system is to ensure that the best available knowledge reaches decision-makers in real time. This applies whether decision-makers are doctors, nurses, patients or policymakers and whether knowledge is medical, clinical, social, or statistical. The key question is how this knowledge should best be organised – both to ensure the right flow of knowledge, to orchestrate in the most effective ways, and to make it accessible.
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