1. Innovation as Leadership in LG

2. Context
Innovation: better solutions that meet new requirements………….new ideas
Improvement: doing the same thing better (business as usual/best practice)
Revolution: Typing, taking photos ……times 1000

3. Innovation in Government
Federal
State
Local
…………is generally slow at some levels

4. FOLG background
LG is the most complex service business on earth: 150 but the same
LG is too busy reacting and regulating to be strategic, so other levels of Govt. make all the big decisions (BAU)

5. Context
Councils are currently facing a number of major challenges including:
A new regulatory regime demanding a minimum standard of performance
Publicly available comparative performance information
Rapidly escalating community expectations and increased media scrutiny
A freeze on Grants Commission allocations and reduction in other Federal $
The prospect of rate capping
Road funding changes under development
Criticism about the lack of integration of Council plans
Challenging political environments
Skills shortages and ageing workforce
The shift to digital government
Implementing the recommendations of recent VAGO investigations
> all resulting in ongoing threats to Council services and sustainability.
Across the sector Councils will need to adapt and innovate to remain viable and relevant to their communities. 

6. Old and new Councils continue to do things 79 times: duplication/waste
Commonwealth funding for LG is reducing
Most Councils can’t scale the ‘Digital Divide’
Individual Councils don’t have the resources to leverage t
Old: each Council does its own thing
LG costs rising rapidly
Community expectations not met
Many councils not sustainable
Growing scops of LG activities
Ad hoc collaboration
Outcome: intervention/amalgamation
New: collaborate and innovate or die
All Councils are essentially in the same business
But how to deliver?
Issues of change management and organisational culture

7. FOLG
We need to articulate what the future of LG looks like or others will do it for us
The world is transforming into a networked collaborative society
LG needs to align itself with the global push for reform and productivity
We need to do more with less
LG needs to lead change or have it imposed: we need to decide on our future game plan
Community Budgeting
“There’s no city in the world where it is business as usual anymore”
Kathy Alexander, CEO of the City of Melbourne is putting the word out on Council's first people's panel that will decide how the City will allocate its budget for the next ten years.

8. FOLG Summit: propositions
Commission of Inquiry into Rewiring Public Services to Improve Community Outcomes: Propositions from the Commission
Local Government will take control of its own destiny and stop playing the victim and stop cap in hand whingeing behaviours 
In future, budgets (negotiable elements) should be set by using crowd- sourcing methodology to determine priorities and services for the year.
In future councils will work collaboratively for delivery of back office services via shared services arrangements.
In future councils will exercise leadership with other tiers of government in a whole system approach.
The sector makes a commitment that every council in Victoria will be financially successful within 4 years and will make a collective commitment to achieve this
Councils will commit to moving to IT that is designed to enable genuinely transformative change.
Local government will play a leadership role in identifying new business models to transform the delivery of public services in a way that uses far less resources  

9. The challenge is to respond ahead of the curve
If local government don’t respond, other levels of government will –and hasn’t that always been the issue?

12. Here’s the thing
State and Federal Governments are planning for Digital Government (Victoria: 1 ‘pipe’ for LG)
When LG does nothing, others will decide. LG will then
complain
react
report
shave costs, fine tune
BUT, when LG leads, others follow

14. Leading for future success
Where we need to be
– Councils of the Future
Strategic
regional
collaborations
Community
driven
participation
Broker of
key services
Co-design
planning
Technology
enabled
opportunities
Place based
delivery
Adaptive
Community
cultures
LG at the
crossroads
Councils Leading
Change
A question of
leadership
Colugo at the
cross-roads
Performance and financial challenges
Increasing
community expectations
Council-centric
decisions
Fragmented
resourcing
Two speed LG
Service costs are rising
Ad-hoc
collaboration
Poor spatial awareness
Where we are now
– business as usual
LG at the crossroads

15. The reality of austerity
The UK LGA Funding Outlook 2013

16. UK Local government is trusted competent has the solutions
Satisfaction with LG is rising, despite the funding cuts.

17. Where are Victorian Councils going?
LG will transform in the next 10 years: what role will Councils have in that transformation?
Driven by
technology/internet
rapidly changing community expectations
fewer dollars/resources
The 4 year Council Plan should tell us
How Council will meet the challenge of change
How Council will scale the digital divide
How to do more with less
How innovation will transform council services

18. LG: Collaborate and innovate or die
But how to deliver?
How to establish a culture of innovation and collaboration?
How important is transformative leadership?
Who are the champions of change in LG?
Who drives change in LG?
How can Councils deliver better performance at lower cost?
How can councils collaborate more effectively?

19. How can Councils deliver better performance at lower cost?
Requires a commitment to a fundamental change in the way services are planned, organised and delivered.
Need to engage citizens in service design and delivery
Need to put innovation and collaboration high on Council and regional agendas/plans
Requires leadership

20. Innovation in LG
Innovation is how large organisations remain sustainable and retain public support
LG has
drivers
organisational skills and attitudes
also needs
greater focus on collaborative innovation in regional/state-wide groups
greater knowledge-sharing between Councils/regions

21. LG Innovation action plan: ACELG
Ensuring that proposed or envisaged amalgamations are driven by an innovation outcome rather than a narrow search for efficiency.
Developing innovation skills, capacities and capabilities, particularly in areas that involve transformational innovations.
Creating a culture and working environment that encourages and facilitates partnerships and collaborations with other government entities, businesses, universities, nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and the broader community.
Using outsourcing and commissioning as an opportunity for securing innovation outcomes.
Examining opportunities for open innovation and support for innovation tournaments or contests that reward the development and implementation of new ideas.
Strengthening knowledge exchange networks to build innovation capability

22. The Swift Journey ……………how collaboration benefits participants

23. Benefits to Members
A saving of on average 30% to annual operating expenses.
No longer the need to perform system monitoring or system backups.
Functionality that would be difficult to justify on a stand-alone basis.
Automatically receive new updates of operating system at no cost.
A reliable, stable operating environment.
Savings through Consortium purchases.
The use of a modern system that has led to improved Patron services.
The Consortium has introduced new standards and work practices, that has improved productivity within the Participating Libraries.

24. Collaborative Innovation
Some projects chose to run independent of the LG Cloud.
Right now the LG Cloud appears too esoteric for some projects to embrace
Not all the councils will want to or be able to collaborate via the LG Cloud
Collaborative Innovation
LG Cloud Platform – shared space for collaboration
Now
The early adopters will be key to seeding the concept and demonstrating its merits.
2016
2018
Some collaborative projects will embrace the LG Cloud and run with it.
Council

25. The Future of Local Government Services  YouTube  Anthony Kemp (3 mins)