In my last post about the APS 200 project on public sector innovation, I mentioned some of the directions of the final project report.
Today an important outcome of that project is being released – the Australian Public Service Innovation Action Plan. This document, signed by the members of the APS Secretaries Board, is a demonstration of the commitment of the APS leadership to innovation.
As the Plan states: “To thrive in the continually changing world environment, the APS needs the leadership and mandate to deliver innovative solutions to address multidimensional issues and problems”. The Plan, endorsed by the highest levels of the APS, provides that mandate.
This Plan is designed to facilitate action on the recommendations of Empowering Change: Fostering Innovation in the Australian Public Service, and related reports promoting innovation in the APS. It is accompanies by a range of supporting material.
My personal hope is that now we have:
- A clear and strong endorsement of innovation, signed by the most senior leadership of the APS
- A framework, through Empowering Change and the work of the APS 200 project, for agencies to integrate innovation into their operations
- An online Innovation Toolkit to help agencies, teams and individuals understand, explore and apply innovation
- This blog where the issues of innovation can be discussed and learnt from
- A network of interested public servants from across the country, and
- An Innovation Showcase where examples of innovation can be shared to inspire and educate
that public servants in the APS will feel empowered to apply their creative energies and help achieve better results in what we do.
I hope you will join me in welcoming the release of this important document and looking forward to the future innovations that we all know the APS is capable of.
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Sorry to be hogging the commentary on this but it is exciting times for Innovation!
Here as another relevant post from GovLoop. Let’s make sure we learn from others in other places.
http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/daily-dose-does-your-workplace-stifle-innovation?elq=52359ef8b8b44050afae822e55808a3b&elqCampaignId=208
Some good input here.
Darron
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Darron – thank you for your comments. The path to embedding innovation in the APS will take time but we hope this is another big step. Alex
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Patricia
I do not know you but I like you and your approach.
We now have a document that encourages innovation. Yahoo!
We now need to following this up with “action”.
Great ideas are not innovation unless they result in significant social outcomes for our communities.
We are a long way from this result. But your work is pointing us in the right direction.
Keep thinking and practising Innovation. We will get there but it will require “all hands on deck!”
If I can help, just ask.
Regards
Darron Passlow
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Congratulations on the formulation of a comprehensive APS Innovation Action Plan!!
I see this as a major step forward in encouraging and facilitating innovation in the public sector. As your paper indicates there are excellent examples of innovation carried out by the APS which often do not get much airplay locally in Australia, but are heralded overseas. I use a number of these innovation examples in teaching “Managing Innovation” to public servants around Australia.
I am excited by a number of initiatives in this Innovation Action Plan, including building on the notions of co-creation and design which are used with such success in public sector innovation overseas, storyboarding of the Innovation Compact as multiple steps of an Innovation Journey as a trajectory, and the encouragement of Agency Innovation Plans.
Can I suggest that the innovation indicators project encourages steps towards a focus on the outcomes of creating social, economic and environmental value ...
... resulting from innovation?
I look forward to future developments with interest.
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Patricia
Congratulation on the release of the plan. In many ways it is now up to every individual public servant to make use of this blog grow a deep innovation culture across the APS and within agencies.
From conversation with my colleagues there are rays of light within agencies, but there is a need to go much further to make innovation more than a series of projects and to reinvent management to make innovating easy.
I think that’s an exciting journey for us all to take together.
Congratulations again
Steve Davies
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