The Public Sector Innovation Observatory of the Innovation and Best Practices Department, General Secretariat of Human Resources, Ministry of Interior operates the Innovation Repository, where innovations which have been designed and implemented by organizations of the Greek public administration are published.

The purpose of the Innovation Repository is to create an electronic library of innovative practices,  developed by the Greek public organizations. Innovation Repository, aims to facilitate the learning process and the exchange of expertise among organizations that face common challenges.

Specifically, the Innovation Depository aims at:

1. Enhancing the visibility of innovative public organizations,
2. Recognizing the pioneers of innovation, and
3. Receiving insights about the way innovation is being developed in Greek public administration.

The data  collected from the innovations submitted make it easier for us to understand aspects of the innovation development process, identify the needs of organizations and design actions that will further support the diffusion of the innovation.

Presentation of Innovation Map

The Innovation Map is a tool to visually present and analyze the data we collect. The map depicts the geographical distribution of the innovations received, allocated per regional unit, taking into account the location of the head office of the organization that submits the innovation proposal. Furthermore, the Innovation Map examines other criteria and categorize the innovations accordingly.

In particular, based on the innovations that are evaluated on daily basis, data are drawn  about the level of governance where innovation seems to develop the most, the types of innovation that are created, the policy areas which are benefitted from these innovations. Also, through data monitoring, the needs of public organizations, their orientation towards the creation of innovations and the way the innovations are developed, are better understood.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, the Public Sector Innovation Observatory of the Greek public administration began to record best practices at international and national level., that have been developed in response to the challenges emerged during  the first period of the crisis

This endeavor intends to spread best practices in the Greek public administration, so that they become a source of inspiration for the management of the unprecedented circumstances faced during the pandemic.

Today, 31% of the innovations published on  the Innovation Observatory, are practices responsive to the pandemic.                 The local government has undertaken a critical role in implementing  a significant number of innovative actions to cope with the pandemic. Innovations observed in the local-level, account for about 67% of all COVID-19 pandemic practices.

Moreover, during this period, the data collected confirm the trend which has been observed internationally, which illustrates the acceleration of the digitalization of services and processes in the public sector. Innovation at the provision of services and processes concern the 38% of the COVID-19 related practices submitted to the platform.

It is noted that COVID-19 related innovations, the goal to significantly improve the services provided were matched with the pursuit of public organizations to protect their employees and citizens from gatherings in public spaces by preventing  the spread of the pandemic.

It is also observed that, due to specific citizens’ needs and for reasons related to the protection of the health of vulnerable groups, which the local administration is familiar with, actions related to social welfare were developed. Specifically, 37% of COVID-19 practices concern social innovation, which in several cases involves the cooperation of public authorities with volunteer networks.

Nowadays, the innovations developed in the first period of the pandemic, which initially aimed at the timely management and resolution of issues arose in the first period of the pandemic, are beginning to give way to innovations with permanent features. It is clear, that there is a strong correlation between innovations and crisis management.

Innovations at the Public Sector Innovation Observatory

The analysis of the data innovations, concerns exclusively information collected and processed by the Department of Innovation and Best Practices, based on the innovations of public organizations submitted to the Public Sector Innovation Platform.

The vast majority, about 67% of innovations, is designed and implemented by agencies at the local level. It becomes obvious that innovation at this level is driven by the needs of users, along with the goal of the local authorities to cope with the increasing interaction with citizens. Innovation development at this level has two directions:

• Improving administrative capacity and
• Providing better services to citizens.

The innovations that have been published are examined, based on three criteria:

A) The first criterion concerns the "type of innovation". The type of innovation reflects the overall improvement goal, which is connected with the innovation. Specifically, public organizations develop innovations as follows:

• 40% of innovations aim at improving the services provided to users,
• 27% of innovations involve process improvement, which usually through management techniques increase coordination, minimize errors and reduce the time required to perform operations,
• 9% refers to innovations which support the decision-making process, through the collection and analysis of data or support the communication within the organization and the users,
• 7% of innovations aim at enhancing the organizational capacity, mainly through optimized management systems.

B) Regarding the "the thematic area of improvement" criterion, the policy areas in which public organizations aim to create solutions are investigated. According to the data collected

• 52% of innovations incorporate introverted features and their primary goal is to improve the administrative functions of public organizations and enhance their performance,
• 19% of innovations, obviously due to the demands of the pandemic, aim to improve services to beneficiaries in the health sector,
• 15% of innovations are developed to address issues related to the field of social welfare,
• 7% of innovations concern the improvement of public order and security as well as the support of the economy.

C) Finally, based on the "innovation orientation" criterion, it is observed that public organizations focus on the development of the following categories of innovations:

• 50% of innovations are "adaptive innovations". Public organizations implement innovations in response to their environment. Hence, innovations can either incorporate the element of originality or be quite different from the previous situation. Further, innovations in this category are often designed or implemented in collaboration with partners and / or utilize data or resources that exist in the environment of the public organization,
• 43% of innovations are "improvement innovations". Improvement innovation, as of course every innovation, focuses on improving the current situation. However, the characteristic of this category is the creation of marginal or gradual innovation, meaning innovations that are based mainly on existing solutions and which are improved marginally. In these innovations, the driver for the development of improvement innovation is mainly the need of the organization to improve performance with existing sources and solutions.

Innovation Map and Data Visualization

To further explore the aggregate elements of innovation, the data visualization, the Innovation Map and the other data tables can be employed, which follow and can be seen below in the special section that has been created.

Useful information through Innovation Repository can be obtained concerning  innovations developed by public organizations, familiarize with/ get to know  their development stages, the reasons that prompted their development, the goals and the results achieved. Every innovation posted / published is a learning opportunity  based on the experience of other innovation teams.

How you can contribute…

Any public organization, can promote innovations to the Innovation Observatory at this link.

In addition, if you believe that you can contribute to the development of innovation and want to participate in our activities, you can join the public sector innovation network.

You may also subscribe to newsletter to  stay informed on innovation trends and activities.