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The Persistence of Innovation in Government: A Guide for Innovative Public Servants

Submitted by on Wed, 04/02/2014 - 06:34

With this report, Professor Borins continues two decades of research analyzing winners of and applicants to the Harvard University Kennedy School’s Innovations in American Government Awards. This report presents a comparison of the applications received by the program in the 1990s (1990 to 1994) with those received in 2010.

Managing Budgets During Fiscal Stress: Lessons for Local Government Officials

Submitted by on Tue, 02/18/2014 - 15:09

Like many local governments across the nation, cities and counties in California were impacted heavily by recent economic problems. This report examines what happened to local California government revenues during this period, which services have been adjusted, how employee benefits have been treated, and what innovations have been introduced.

Engaging Citizens in Co-Creation in Public Services

Submitted by on Mon, 01/06/2014 - 12:24

Professors Nambisan and Nambisan present an innovative framework from which to view citizen “co-creation,” which refers to the development of new public services by citizens in partnership with governments. The authors present four roles that citizens can play in the co-creation of public services: explorer, ideator, designer, and diffuser, with examples of citizens playing each of these roles.

Challenge.gov: Using Competitions and Awards to Spur Innovation

Submitted by on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 14:20

One new approach is the use of challenges, which use “crowdsourcing” to canvass solution approaches for particular problems. Challenges open up new avenues for connecting people who have innovative ideas to people in government who can implement these ideas. A recent IBM Center report, Managing Innovation Prizes in Government by Luciano Kay, examined various models pioneered in the private sector to connect innovators with ideas to businesses looking to solve problems. This report by Dr.

Key Actions That Contribute to Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from the Recovery Act

Submitted by on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 11:44

Historically, spending under stimulus legislation tended to peak after a recession was over, oftentimes creating inflation instead of jobs. To avoid this, the Recovery Act man­dated tight timeframes, with 70 percent of the money required to be spent within 17 months to generate jobs. There was significant concern that this rapid spending might result in an estimated $50 billion in waste, fraud, or abuse. Accordingly, there were stringent transparency and accountability requirements embedded in the law.

Breaking New Ground: Promoting Environmental and Energy Programs in Local Government

Submitted by on Mon, 06/20/2011 - 13:33

The survey asked questions regarding sustainability initiatives that have been undertaken by local governments. Over 2,000 local governments responded to the survey. The survey was developed by ICMA’s Center for Sustainable Communities, the Center for Urban Innovation at Arizona State University, the Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, and the Alliance for Innovation.

Managing Innovation Prizes in Government

Submitted by on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 11:25

The use of prizes and awards is a visible element of the Obama Administration’s efforts to promote innovation in government. For example, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has sponsored a competition among federal employees to find cost savings and the White House has created the “challenge.gov” website where federal agencies can pose problems in hopes of getting solutions from the public.  OMB issued guidance to encourage agencies to offer challenges and prizes, as well.  

Creating a Culture of Innovation:10 Lessons from America's Best Run City

Submitted by on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 20:00

This report explores how managers create a culture of innovation through a comprehensive case study of Phoenix, Arizona, which has been consistently recognized as the best run city in America. Through interviews with Phoenix’s mayor and department heads in city government, themes are developed on creating a culture of change, encouraging responsible risk-taking, and undertaking public entrepreneurship. The study also provides recommendations for other managers who are focused on change and innovation within their organization. Innovation

Federal Intranet Work Sites: An Interim Assessment Federal Intranet Work Sites: An Interim Assessment

Submitted by on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 20:00

This report uncovers ideas and practices in government-to-employee web-based communication. It investigates and analyzes the visions of online collaboration that are emerging in federal agencies and the web-based governemnt-to-emploee practices that are in place. The study considersr the leverage points, opportunities and barriers to developing these innovations. Technology and E-Government

 

Modernizing Human Resources at the Internal Revenue Service

Submitted by on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 20:00

This project describes the many human resource innovations that have taken place in the Internal Revenue Service over the past five years. Organizational human resource innovations include splitting the personnel function in IRS into three parts: the Office of Strategic Human Resource Management, agency-wide Shared Services, and "embedded" human resource units in each of the major operating divisions. This project also describes the use of broadbanding at the IRS.

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