Public Sector Innovation Laboratory “Innovation GOV.LAB”
1st Round of Innovation Workshops July 2021
Conclusions from the workshops on "Co-design of Public Organizations' Innovation Model"
On 13, 19 and 27 July 2021, 48 executives from the Greek public administration, members of the National Public Sector Innovation Network, from 43 public organizations, participated in the action of the public sector innovation laboratory of the Ministry of Interior, "Innovation GOV.LAB" objecting to the co-shaping of the Innovation Development Model.
The action completed the first round of innovation workshops on the Innovation Model and was implemented online using interactive tools with the participation of innovation network executives in three groups.
The result of the workshops strengthens the process of planning actions to support innovation by the Ministry of Interior, as the Innovation Development Model will be a toolkit for innovation policy design.
Public Administration Innovation Development Model - a new toolkit for enhancing the innovation capacity of public organizations
Innovation is today one of the most widespread concepts for the adaptation and improvement of organizations in an environment that is constantly changing and constantly creating challenges and opportunities.
The Innovation Model, which is designed and developed by the Innovation and Best Practices Department of the Strategic Planning and Innovation Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, provides through specific steps, methods and tools, a standardized way of thinking and approaching innovation as an improvement mechanism, aiming to integrate it more systematically into the way public organizations operate.
Specifically, the model is a 6-step guide, which summarizes at each step the dominant theoretical approaches to innovation. In each step of the Model, implementation manuals are created, in which practical instructions, standard tools and examples adapted to the needs of the public sector are presented with methodological approaches.
Public Sector Innovation Workshop "Innovation GOV.LAB" - a "space" for learning, networking and collaborating for innovation.
Each innovation workshop was implemented in successive modules as follows:
First, the Innovation Development Model was presented and a brief description of its steps and dimensions was made. The aim of the introduction of the workshop was to inform the participants about the operation of the Innovation Model and the approach to the design of innovation projects, taking into account the executives who participated, the primary concepts of innovation and presenting a standardized way in the process of innovation development. Then, the participants got acquainted with the proposed process of introducing the Model and its application in a public organization. Using a special digital interactive tool, participants had the opportunity to apply the Innovation Model, selecting possible uses, in cases presented.
In the last section of the workshop, the executives of the innovation community, worked on improving the Innovation Model. Specifically, the capabilities of the digital interactive whiteboard were used, in which proposals for the improvement of the Innovation Development Model were reflected.
What we learned from the workshop - Conclusions and summary
The following issues for innovation were addressed in the workshop:
- How is innovation applied in Greek public administration today?
- How does the innovation model differentiate the existing approach to innovation?
- How is innovation supported? Is there a strategy and structure?
- How could the innovation mechanism be integrated into a public organization?
Through the interactive cooperation of the members of the innovation network, important elements emerged, both for the way innovation is implemented in public organizations, and for the needs of improving their innovation capacity. The workshops confirmed that participatory processes, collaboration and networking are critical elements of the innovation process.
In summary, some of the conclusions that emerged from the interaction with the participants in the workshops are:
- Innovation, according to the participants, is considered a new methodology, a new service, the design of new procedures or a new way of providing service. The concept of innovation is directly related to the development and evolution of public organization,
- Innovation is not linked to strategic goals as in most public organizations, innovation is produced without any strategy that will support innovation,
- In terms of their design, the innovations created are mainly response innovations, as they focus on solving problems or meeting needs when they arise,
- In terms of orienting their innovations, public organizations are planning improvement innovations as the goal is to improve their operation and the services they provide,
- Innovations in a public organization are usually designed by project teams consisting of executives from different organizational units.
Conclusions on the Innovation Development Model
- The Innovation Development Model provides guidance and tools in six critical steps of the innovation development process. The executives of the innovation community, highlighted as the most important for their organizations, the step of creating and managing ideas as well as the step of designing innovation projects, in which methodologies for more systematic approaches to designing innovations are provided.
- The participants believe that the step of the Model, which is more applied in public organizations today, is the exploration of the environment.
- Also, the steps of the Model, which are less applied in public organizations, are the strategic management of the transformation and the learning and escalation of innovations.
In short, from the first round of innovation workshops of the Ministry of Interior on the Innovation Development Model, we learned that public organizations innovate mainly in response to existing needs and that the main focus of their innovation is improvement. The workshops highlighted the need for executives to be trained in specific methodologies and tools that will help them create innovations and also expressed great interest in participating in the second round of innovation workshops in which the executives of the innovation community will delve into the steps and tools of the Innovation Development Model.
Public Sector Innovation Laboratory - Innovation GOV.LAB
The GOV.LAB Public Sector Innovation Laboratory is the space that has been created, in which the innovation community, which participates in the innovation network, collaborates with the aim of developing and disseminating innovation in public administration. At the present stage, the Public Sector Innovation Laboratory implements actions in three axes:
- Innovation workshops for the development of innovation skills of the executives of public organizations,
- Cooperation of the innovation network executives for the co-configuration of the innovation tools,
- Exchange of know-how and promotion of learning on innovations that have been developed.
National Public Sector Innovation Network
The National Public Sector Innovation Network was established in February 2020 by a circular of the Minister of Interior. Today, the national innovation network involves public organizations from different levels of government. The members of the network, promote innovation in their organization, cooperate with the Ministry of Interior for the dissemination of innovations developed in their organization, participate in joint actions, organized in the framework of Innovation GOV.LAB as well as take part in innovation events organized by the Ministry of Interior.
Περισσότερα για την συμμετοχή σε δράσεις και την διαδικασία εγγραφής στο Δίκτυο Καινοτομίας Δημοσίου Τομέα στον σύνδεσμο:
More about participating in actions and the registration process in the Public Sector Innovation Network at the link: https://innovation.gov.gr/en/innovation-community-en/