Category Archives: Innovation in Practice
A Pilot Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Design
[Ken Pettifer is acting Deputy Secretary at the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education] One of the ideas included in the Australian Public Service (APS) Innovation Action Plan released in 2011 was the establishment of an APS Design Centre that could assist in developing and testing new […]
End of year stock-take – public sector innovation in the APS in 2011
I recently read in an innovation newsletter that the most important motivator for innovation is progress, or being able to make and see progress in your work.1 This definitely resonates for me, and I find that the feeling of having achieved something is extremely important in sustaining my appetite for further […]
2011 Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management
There is a lot of innovation that happens in the public sector, but sometimes it can be very difficult to know or hear about it. To help address this, the APS Innovation Action Plan noted that awards to celebrate and share innovations fromAustralia’s public sector are important. They help others […]
Service design…..who are we designing for?
What do Sticky notes and a rubber chicken have in common? The possibility to change the world of course! Service Design thinking, for those who haven’t heard of it, is an interdisciplinary approach that offers great value for entrepreneurs and innovators in the field of services. Design thinking can help […]
Social Innovator Dialogue – Dan Hill, Helsinki Design Lab
On Tuesday 15 November 2011 I was lucky enough to attend the Social Innovator Dialogue discussion in Sydney with Dan Hill, Strategic Design Lead at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, in Helsinki. Dan spoke about strategic design where the public sector and civic life itself is the design challenge and where problems are […]
Are you a “first mover”?
My name is Lance Snell and I am a graduate in the Innovation Policy Branch. This opinion piece stems from the recent talk given by David Albury as part of the APS Innovation Action Plan launch events. Innovation occurs daily in the Australian Public Service (APS) – small yet efficient […]
DeepDive Workshop – 11 July 2011 Canberra
Last week we hosted a DeepDive workshop with Bill Eggers, in conjunction with the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and the HC Coombs Policy Forum. Bill Eggers is Global Director for Deloitte Research and Executive Director of Deloitte’s Public Leadership Institute and his recent books on innovation include The […]
International Conference on Best Practices and Innovations in Public Governance
On the blog we often focus on what is happening in Australia and touch upon some of the overseas developments in public sector innovation. Many of the relevant reports and case studies point to similarities in the issues being faced here and overseas in strengthening public sector innovation capability. But […]
Innovation and Evaluation: Are output-outcome financial frameworks stifling innovation in government?
The other day I was lucky enough to attend a talk at the Canberra Evaluation Forum given by Dr Mark Matthews, Executive Director of the HC Coombs Policy Forum based at ANU. His talk was titled ‘Evaluations and Innovation: Why improvements to dealing with uncertainty and risk in evaluation are […]