1. Sustaining an Innovative Public Sector
Edwin Lau
Head of Reform of the Public Sector Division,
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD
11 June 2014
The 1st Asian Public Governance Forum on Public Innovation

3. Institutional Capacity

4. Learning and sharing information and knowledge
Individuals need to upgrade their skills in order to innovate. New skills are needed to collect and analyse evidence, understand human behaviour, work in networks, and develop creative solutions. Specialist skills are no longer confined to niche positions (e.g. technological literacy, communication and analytical skills).
Learning organisations collect the right information and use it to respond to changes in their environments. Sharing information across organisational boundaries is a key success factor.
Problem solving in technology-rich environments: % at level 2 or 3
Information and knowledge are central elements to innovation. The concept of the learning organisation is one that collects the right information and uses it to respond to changes in their environments.
How this information is shared within and across organisational boundaries may also impact innovative capacity.
Our research could explore…
Research may explore:
How organisational performance management frameworks are linked to innovation,
What kind of data collection is the most useful to build the innovative capacity of public sector organisations.
Tools to support information flows across organisations
Source: OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (2012)

5. Incentivizing staff and building a culture of innovationHR
Incentivizing staff and building a culture of innovation
Innovations come from staff at all levels
Individual employees innovate within an organisational culture which may support and/or hinder innovation.
Incentives should reward success, but also support risk-taking.
Research and experience shows that innovations come from staff at all levels, from the political right down to those charged with front-line service delivery.
Furthermore, innovators don’t innovate in a vacuum, but inside an organisational culture that may support or hinder innovation.
In this way, our research could explore (slide)

6. Rethinking processes and procedures
Rules
Rethinking processes and procedures
Government officials’ misunderstanding of rules may lead to unnecessary risk aversion, while altering regulations can change incentives and ability to innovate.
Budget rigidities can limit flexibility and horizontal collaboration.
The public sector is often highly regulated, and while these regulations are generally designed to solve particular problems, they may sometimes unintentionally limit organisations’ innovative capacities. In other cases, it is sometime only the perception or misunderstanding of government officials that limits innovative potential.
Research may explore…
Research may explore:
Whether systematic reviews of internal regulations also served to promote innovative behaviour in the public sector.
The extent to which front line staff are involved in the review of existing rules.
Source: 2012 OECD Budget Practices and Procedures Survey

7. Setting up effective institutional arrangements supporting innovation
Structures
Institutional arrangements, such as agency mandate and level of autonomy, can impact innovation capacity.
Collaboration and coordination frameworks might be needed to manage interactions.
Accountability for delivery may require specific consideration.
The institutional arrangement of a public sector may have an impact on innovative capacity. Here we could explore the range of institutional arrangements such as mandates and innovation units and governance approaches for innovation (e.g. Australia, MindLab in Denmark)..
It’s also important to consider institutional arrangements required to deliver change – are these the same as those required to spark creative thinking? E.g. Aus cabinet implementation unit
We can also look at collaboration and coordination frameworks to support management across ministries given that effective collaboration appears to be a key success factor in many innovations.
Research may explore:
The range of institutional arrangements used to spur innovation design and delivery, such as the existence of innovation labs and/or implementation units.
Arrangements to involve various actors and end-users within and outside governments throughout the innovation life-cycle

8. Integrated Services

9. OECD Draft Recommendation on Digital Government Strategies
Why are digital strategies needed?
Digital government now underlies all public service delivery, not just services delivered online (data and information management)
Innovation requires a capacity to learn from good practice in quickly evolving areas (social media, m-government)
Lack of openness has led to high profile project failures and loss of trust (e.g. healthcare.gov)
A new digital governance context requires adequate governance frameworks, based on a user-driven approach, rather than more technology.
The Recommendation supports public sector reforms that spur more open, participatory and innovative governments for improved outcomes.

10. Harnessing digital government to…
1. Promote transparency, openness, inclusiveness 2. Ensure engagement and participation 3. Create a data driven culture in the public sector 4. Risk management approach to digital security and privacy issues

11. Pre-conditions for digital government
5. Secure leadership and political commitment to digital government strategy 6. Coherent use of digital technologies across policy areas and levels of government 7. Effective organisational and governance frameworks for co-ordinated implementation 8. Strengthen international co-operation with other governments

12. Implementing digital government
9. Clear Business Case to sustain funding and focused project implementation 10. Institutional capacities to manage and monitor projects’ implementation 11. Strategic decisions on ICT procurement and use of resources based on assets 12. Adequate legal and regulatory frameworks
Total ICT expenditures as a share of central government expenditures
(2011 or latest year available)
Source: OECD Survey of ICT expenditures, OECD National Accounts Statistics.

13. Open Data

14. What are the benefits of Open Government Data?
Economic value: Growth and competitiveness in the wider economy; Fostering innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in government services
Social value: Promoting citizens’ self-empowerment, social participation and engagement
Public governance value: Improving accountability, transparency, responsiveness and democratic control
What are the main objectives in governments’ open government data strategies?

15. Open Data Contribution to Public Value Chain

16. Creating the right ecosystem: consulting the stakeholders
Intermediaries play a critical role in processing, analysing and making data accessible to citizens. They also build applications from government data.
In releasing available data, governments are not necessarily focusing on the data that is of the most value to citizens, businesses and civil society.
Source: OECD Report on Open Data (forthcoming)

17. Open Decision-making

18. Access to policymaking
Access to policymaking is a driver of policy legitimacy and of trust in government.
The policymaking process is informed.
The policymaking process is aligned with the Public Interest.
The policymaking process is aligned with broader principles and high standards of behaviour.
Access is essential at all stages of the policy cycle.
Design
Implementation
Delivering results
Ex post evaluation
Citizen satisfaction
Acceptance / rejection of reform
Compliance
Measuring
Performance
Listening to clients /
users
Consulting with citizens / businesses
Trust

19. Information and Consultation
Informing citizens promotes accountability and is a pre-condition for active participation
Freedom of information legislation
Active disclosure of information (private interest disclosure, budget transparency, performance information)
Governments increasingly consult with stakeholders in a number of processes to ensure the quality and legitimacy of decision-making.
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Budgetary decision-making

20. Open participation and engagement
Citizen engagement is not just about presence. Governments need to develop a value proposition in terms of the access, relevance, openness, and follow-through of their engagement efforts.
Engagement efforts will differ by proximity to the citizen (level of government), by channel (electronic, phone, face-to-face), by potential policy impact, and by whether the consequences for the individual are direct or diffuse.
Non-correlation between frequency of posting content and popularity, Twitter, 2013
Note: The chart plots frequency of messaging and uptake by the population for 133 Twitter accounts of top state institutions across the world.
Source: Author’s calculations based on Twiplomacy, 2013.

21. Thank you!