INNOVATION AT ITS BEST: CHALLENGE.GOV: Government has made a ton of progress in innovation over the last few years. And many will find it hard to disagree that some of the most innovative citizen creations have been catalyzed and precipitated with the launch of Challenge.gov. What is it? Challenge.gov is simply a place where theRead… Read more »
Catching the spark of excitement from leadership is the fuel to make any activity go forward. From the largest transformation effort to ensuring that all employees are able to wear comfortable shoes, it all starts with the support of Leadership. For government and large company Ideation efforts, this is especially true. But is top leadershipRead… Read more »
The following is the original version of a shorter post originally published on GPO’s Government BookTalk blog on October 11, 2011. On October 5, 2011, we lost one of America’s great geniuses of innovation, Apple’s founder and CEO, Steve Jobs. From the beginning, Steve Jobs seemed to “Think Different” than everyone else, which made Apple’sRead… Read more »
or… What a fantasy author has to teach the public service. The family went down to New York for the latter part of last week and the weekend. My wife had a table at the New York City Comic Con. It so happened that, while we were there, Terry Pratchett was, too. He was atRead… Read more »
The Administrative Conference is pleased to announce the Model A initiative microsite, www.acus.gov/best-practices, a key component of our integrated approach to identifying agency best practices, celebrating success stories, and sharing lessons learned in government. The Model A Initiative provides a forum to offer expertise across diverse areas of interest, helping to identify and solve complexRead… Read more »
Innovators—including government innovators—should be paying attention to prizes because they work, because they add another tool to their innovation tool belt, and because they are already being used by a typical late adopter—the government. I’ve been a student of prizes and competitions in government for several years now—there is always something to learn: a newRead… Read more »
I am in a federal office that places a high value on innovation, yet there are so many bureaucratic obstacles to being innovative. Are there any good models you can recommend where federal programs have been both innovative and produced valuable results? -Federal Supervisor (GS-14), Department of Homeland Security I can share plenty of examplesRead… Read more »
A couple of days ago we featured an interview with Bristol City Council on their B-Open Competition. From the South West we move to the Midlands where we ask one of the pioneers in local government of hack competitions, Warwickshire County Council. Check out our interview with Jim Morton, an Applications Architect there who blogsRead… Read more »
A couple weeks ago, I shared a blog post promoting a free online training hosted by GovLoop and Young Government Leaders (YGL) entitled “Top 3 Secrets to Being an Amazing Manager.” It turns out that “there are no secrets,” according to our presenter Tom Fox, the Vice President for Leadership and Innovation at the PartnershipRead… Read more »
The information is out there. The technology is available. All it requires is a fair bit of inspiration and a little bit of perspiration to develop small scale applications that can really make a difference to people’s lives. A map can tell you which direction to go in, but it cannot tell you what yourRead… Read more »