Innovation in the Public Sector (Blog Post)

McNair Project

Innovation in the Public Sector (Blog Post)
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Abstract

A blog post about innovation within the public sector, specifically addressing how innovation in how the government approaches problems and policies must be emphasized.

Content

[Intro sentence TBD]

Innovation within the public sector tends to take on a definition which differs from our basic understanding of innovation. Public sector innovation can be observed in many forms, but can be broadly observed as any government-created “new idea, technology or methodology that challenges and improves upon existing processes and systems, thereby improving the lives of citizens or the function of the society that they live within” [X]. Fiscal pressure, global trends, policy challenges, changing citizen expectations, and technological changes are just some of the factors which can make innovation in the public sector more become important to a country [X]. Innovation often involves breaking the the status quo and doing the unexpected; innovating is usually not the easiest or go-to method to solve a problem. However, the benefits to innovation, especially within government systems, can be great.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a multilateral organization focused on stimulating the world economy, has conducted extensive research in the field of public sector innovation. Observing that many governments do not institutionalize innovation or utilize the many resources available to them for developing innovation efficiency, the OECD has placed priority on “developing analytical and measurement frameworks to understand and foster public-sector innovation” [X]. When the OECD recognized that some countries may not be making their own efforts to encourage innovation, they partnered with the World bank to create the Innovation Policy Platform (IPP), an internet resource which provides top-tier information on best practices and strategies for encouraging innovation through policy [X]. The OECD Observatory for Public Sector Innovation is also working on developing their own toolkit in hopes that it will revolutionize the innovation toolkit trend. It will draw from information from multiple governments, base guidance on the innovation cycle, incorporate lessons from practitioners, and filter for the most relevant information to aid users. However, some governments have displayed an emphasis on innovation through their own, individual efforts. For example, both Australia and the UK have “toolkits” for innovation within their public sectors, providing resources and strategies for public servants to find innovative solutions to issues [X].

When it comes to prioritizing innovation, the United States is near the top of the list. The US’s contributions constitute 29.8 percent of the world’s expenditures on Research and Development (R&D), trailing only behind China, which constitutes 35.7 percent. These two countries alone comprise almost two-thirds of the world’s R&D expenditures [X]. However, when you look deeper into these statistics, you’ll see that 11.2% of all R&D expenditures in the U.S. are coming from the public sector. This sounds small, but even then, this works out to the U.S. government being responsible for 3.34% of the world’s expenditure on R&D. This is higher than Switzerland, Israel, and Bermuda’s contributions combined. When the US government is spending more on R&D than other countries are spending both publically and privately, we need to make sure that we are investing our money efficiently.

Government prioritization of innovation can lead to higher efficiency, lower costs, and higher civilian satisfaction with the government. If the U.S. government wishes to use its resources wisely, innovation promotion should be a top goal.

References

https://www.oecd.org/governance/observatory-public-sector-innovation/blog/page/findingtherighttools.htm http://innovation.govspace.gov.au/innovation-101/ https://www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/about https://www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/content/statistics-ipp http://paper.publicinnovation.org/ https://www.oecd.org/sti/outlook/e-outlook/stipolicyprofiles/competencestoinnovate/public-sectorinnovation.htm

Google document

https://docs.google.com/a/rice.edu/document/d/1vhyW6qH0awUJRFpL1SEX4_jNi1fz2PnrHCwdq_DFKCs/edit?usp=sharing