Victorian Public Service Innovation Week

Posted by Brenton Caffin on 25 February 2010 | 1 Comments
Tags: public sector, innovation, john kao, christian bason, do-tank

On Monday, I attended the first ever Victorian Public Service (VPS) Innovation Week, organised by the indefatigable Maria Katsonis and her team in the Victorian Premier’s Department. The week consists of 14 events designed to get the Victorian Public Service as well as its partners in the not-for-profit sector talking and thinking about innovation in and around the public sector.

The week was kicked off with an intimate discussion with respected innovation thought leader and Harvard professor John Kao and Director of MindLab in Copenhagen, Christian Bason.

Christian talked about MindLab’s experience and techniques in helping government agencies to see their services from the perspective of users and how to reinvent the user experience armed with that knowledge.

John drew on his extensive experience to deliver some memorable gems, including, “it’s not enough to ‘get it’, you have to get it done” and reminding us that there is no ‘three-ring binder’ for innovation, rather that we must write the manual ourselves. These were encouraging words as we have styled TACSI as more of a do-tank than think-tank, with a focus on action and learning by doing. Rest assured, we will share the contents of our three-ring binder as we write it.

Discussion flowed to the challenge in the public sector of risk appetite for experimentation. John acknowledged the tension between ‘flawless execution’ and ‘radical experimentalism’ and the need to provide space for both. Christian spoke of the need for leaders to create licence for ‘smart failure’ where the outcome is unknown. 

In the afternoon, I attended an innovation lab facilitated by Christian to explore collaboration opportunities between the public and not-for-profit sector. It was great to see senior members of both sectors explore the strengths and capabilities of their respective sectors before using these as a springboard for generating ways to strengthen collaboration. The session produced some compelling ideas that can be started immediately, including the need for ‘hats-off’ collaboration forums and opportunities to build a shared view of clients through better sharing of data.

All in all, a great start to the week, and with further sessions planned on Government 2.0 and the launch of the VPS Hub, expect to hear much more out of Victoria on the subject of public sector innovation.