scaling up innovation in the public sector final report of the capability building programme project...
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Scaling Up Innovation in the Public Sector
Final report of the Capability Building Programme Project Group
April 2011
This report was produced as a result of a twelve week project undertaken by a team drawn from across the public service. It is not a statement of Government policy. Rather, it
comprises a set of ideas and propositions to inform and support future policy and service delivery across the wider public sector.
Capability Building Programme
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3333 Discover
Project context, objectives, approach
4444 Distil
6666
Design
Annexes
1111 Executive Summary
7777
5555
Taking this forward
Executive Summary
•This report sets out proposals to support scaling up innovation in the public sector.
•The challenge is complex: there is no shortage of good ideas, big and small, within and outside of the public sector, yet, there is a failure to scale them up and spread innovative solutions. We are in an era of public service reform with pressures on resources and major structural change across the public sector and this may constrain the opportunities and enthusiasm for scaling up.
•However, the shift away from ‘Big Government’, towards the ‘Big Society’, including an emphasis on social reform, localism and community empowerment, presents a genuine opportunity to be more radical in galvanising the scaling up of innovation across the Public Sector.
•We reviewed the literature on scaling up innovation and spoke to both ‘catalysts’ (those who fund, support or design solutions in scaling up) and ‘practitioners’ (those who do it). We distilled everything they told us into 8 key themes which highlight the conditions necessary to successfully scale up innovation across the public sector:
Culture: build a culture that rewards and encourages scaling up innovation
Evidence: make the business case and demonstrate the social return
Skills: embed skills needed for scaling up and understand that skills to innovate and to scale up are different
Networks: develop and use networks to make connections, provide advice, share knowledge and create dialogue
Processes: embed processes and mechanisms that facilitate scaling up
Ownership: recognise that a feeling of ownership acts as an incentive to share learning about what works
Resources: manage resources, funding, expertise and support to actively encourage scaling up.
Credibility: credibility, endorsement and reputation provide the business case for scaling up
We took the eight themes and reviewed them in the light of the Open Public Services White Paper to design our overarching bold recommendation.
Culture
Evidence, Social Returns,
Outcomes
Skills
Networks and Knowledge Sharing
Processes and Mechanisms
Ownership
Resources
Credibility
Open Public Services
White Paper
CULTURE
NETWORKS
CAPACITY
EVALUATION INNOVATION
Overall bold recommendation
To achieve this, work is needed in four key areas.To achieve this, work is needed in four key areas.
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
4a. Design a model for portfolio management of resources whereby a number of ideas are funded in parallel and funding form those that fail is diverted to those that succeed. Test the model and document the learning.
4b. Adopt the learning from the testing of the portfolio funding model and implement the model.
5. Explore whether the tested model /process for scaling up digital innovations can be applied more widely and apply it.
6. Use corporate tools, skills development and leadership activity to encourage effective scaling up of innovation.
7. Establish a mentor or buddy scheme for individuals who have an idea they want to scale, offering one-to-one support to establish that the idea can be scaled and the best method for doing so. In turn, those supported are actively developed as change agents by the mentor to support others in the cycle.
8. Establish an one stop online shop for public sector innovators to find out about innovative ideas that could be or have been adopted or adapted elsewhere.
9. Add a category to existing Civil Service Awards to incentivise scaling up activity to both reward effective scaling up activity and provide an opportunity to articulate the range of ideas that can be successfully scaled in future.
In designing our recommendations, we considered the need to both facilitate scaling up from the centre and find ways to provide dynamic support at the point where scaling up is happening
CORPORATE INTERVENTIONS AT THE CENTRE
to co-ordinate support and drive culture change
INTERMEDIARIESSupport and guidance to innovators who have
ideas with potential to scale up
INNOVATIVE IDEAS FROM ANY LOCATION OR ORGANISATION
A change is needed at a range of levels: central, local, individualA change is needed at a range of levels: central, local, individual
Here are our nine key recommendations in more detail. The first two concern central support for innovators.
1. Central co-ordination
Government should consider the merit of drawing together a small central resource to co-ordinate support for the scaling up activity needed to bring about the required organisational and cultural change at the centre. This streamlining will simplify overall co-ordination of support while allowing for individual differences in approach. This should also include linking in to the Open Public Services White Paper recommendations on common evaluation.
It will be clearer where to get support for those with good ideas to both assess the potential to scale and how best to do so. As scaling up becomes the norm, it becomes natural to embed it into policy design and delivery.
2011 Not testedBIS / DCLG
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
2. Expert resource
pool
Central and local government should work together to establish a programme to facilitate and encourage public sector organisations at all levels to proactively come together to scale up specific innovations or areas of good practice from any source or sector. This should include: finding a way to pull together cross-agency teams to work on specific time-limited scaling projects; establishing Action Learning Sets; developing evaluation to suit different organisational circumstances; and support to make a business case for scaling up.
Better and more cross-government working leads to: more effective sharing and application of learning; development of a public sector innovation mindset; a strong evidence base.
2011Project team process is itself an example of running a time-limited scaling project
BIS / LGID
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
For each of the recommendations below, we set out what should be done, by whom and when. Where we can, we also link to the work done by the team to test or start acting on the recommendations and set out the longer term improvement we expect to be the result of acting on the recommendation.
Our next three recommendations concern commissioning and funding
4a. Portfolio Funding: develop
Design a model for portfolio management of resources whereby a number of ideas are funded in parallel and funding from those that fail can be diverted to those that succeed. This allows innovators to ‘test it, prove it, grow it and adopt it’. Test the model with practitioners both within DH structures and with a range of Local Authorities.
Fear of failure and risk are reduced so more people are more likely to scale up more good ideas.
Model developed: Sept 2011
Testing starts: Jan 2012
Team identified potential attendees for a co-design session but were not able to complete in time.
DH National Innovation
Fund
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
4b. Portfolio funding: adopt
Adopt learning from the testing at recommendation 4 and implement the model
Risk is reduced by application to the most suitable kind of resource funding
2012 Not tested(TBC)
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
3. Outcome-based commissioning
Establish an expert learning network in outcome-based commissioning for those working both in policy and practical delivery. This should include talking to Local Authorities and LGID. It will help those involved understand the range of approaches being used and share learning about what works best and in what circumstances.
Clearer commissioning processes and increased accessibility to more potential applicants which in turn will lead to better outcomes. Clear evaluation processes and outcomes.
December 2011 Not testedDH
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
We also have recommendations about making best use of tools, frameworks and individual support
6. Corporate tools
Government should use corporate tools (e.g. Include scaling in Business plans and individual objectives); skills development (e.g. Include in CSL Skills Strategy and competency framework); and leadership activity (e.g. Cabinet Secretary champions scaling up in guidance and speeches) to encourage effective scaling up of innovation
Principles and process of scaling up become embedded in Civil Service culture and policy through senior buy-in, recognition of value of scaling up and better staff engagement
2011
Talked to Defra about mainstreaming scaling up into Government's crowd-sourcing approach to e.g. prevent regulation that works against scaling up
HMG: CO lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
7. Mentor scheme
Establish a mentor or buddy scheme for individuals who have an idea they want to scale. The mentor provides one-to-one support to establish that the idea is scalable and what support is needed to make it happen. In turn, those supported are actively developed as change agents by the mentor to support others in the cycle. This requires explicit support from the employing organisation e.g. Allowing time for meetings
A virtuous circle of support and active learning ensures a constant stream of developed and scaled ideas to improve public service.
2011
Natural Value Ambassadors at Defra are a network of credible change agents who will include a focus on scaling up ideas
HMG: DCLG lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
5. Scaling up framework
Explore whether the tested model / process for scaling up digital innovation can be applied more widely and apply it.
Innovators ‘new to market’ find it easier to scale up. Can be used in conjunction with mentor or other expert resource
December 2011Digital Scaling Up framework (see Annex J)
DCLG / BIS / LGID
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
9. Award
Add a category to existing Civil Service Awards to incentivise scaling up activity. This will both reward effective scaling up activity and provide an opportunity to articulate the range of ideas that can be successfully scaled in future. It can also be used to help identify a network of Scaling Up Champions or future mentors.
Successful scaling up and the people who do it are recognised and become role models for others which leads to more successful scaling up.
2011Initial conversation with awards team was positive
HMG: BIS with CO lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
8. One-stop shop
Establish a one-stop online shop for public sector innovators to find out about ideas that could be or have been adopted or adapted elsewhere. This should signpost existing sources of advice (e.g. Business Link, the Innovation Launch Pad and LGID's Community of Practice), be in a searchable format and capture examples of successful scaling up in an interactive way.
Simpler and more consistent means of finding out about ideas and tools that might help individuals scale up and benefit from existing practice. Networks develop to offer additional peer support.
December 2011
Identified current platforms and sources of support and have started talks to establish a single platform.
DCLG / BIS
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
Our final two recommendations will help innovators find ideas or advice on and offer an incentive for scaling up
Executive Summary
• Finally, we have reviewed the learning for team members as future change agents and highlighted some examples of how this has helped them improve their working practice. We have also organised a number of events or other means of disseminating the learning from the project:
Civil Service Live workshop on scaling up innovation in July 2011
Post-project diffusion event to share recommendations with interviewees and workshop attendees
Share report with the BIS Public Sector Innovation Delivery Group which includes organisations interested in public sector innovation
DCLG Policy Picnic to highlight project findings and what this means for the Civil Service
Blog post on the Public Sector Innovation portal
Project LinkedIn group: taking forward conversations about scaling up
Innovate! Newsletter: dedicated edition to scaling up innovation project.
DCLG Executive team meeting item
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3333 Discover
Project context, objectives, approach
4444 Distil
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Design
Annexes
1111 Executive Summary
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Taking this forward
So, we defined innovation as the processes and ideas about how to do things differently that work to create or improve public value and outcomes.
But what happens next after we’ve worked to develop, test, refine, prototype, and implement the great idea?
This is where the scaling up of innovation matters.
This means we disseminate, diffuse, exchange, share, and apply the lessons learned from innovative ideas more widely. If something works, it should be adopted elsewhere (inside the same or another organisation) or, if not directly applicable, adapted to deliver similar benefits elsewhere.
Project definitions
Innovation is generating new ideas that work in practice – and being willing to learn from those that don’t.
More broadly, innovation within the public sector is about working with our customers and the frontline to apply new ways of thinking to public sector challenges; and new ways of working to public sector organisations.
A conducive culture plays an important role: structures and leadership need to support innovation to make it happen systematically in an organisations
What is public sector innovation?
Embedding innovation within public sector organisations benefits policy making, service design, and service delivery.
[1] http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/b/bis-package-of-support-prospectus.pdf[2] Mulgan, G. and Albury, D. (2003) Innovation in the Public Sector. The Strategy Unit. p23
“Successful innovation is the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which result in significant improvements in outcomes, efficiency, effectiveness or quality”.[2]
Mulgan & Albury, 2003
“Doing things as we have always done them won’t be good enough. We must find new insights and develop new ways of working. In short we need to build on our capacity to innovate, to make innovation central to our work.”[1]
Sir Gus O’Donnell, 2009
There is no shortage of good ideas, big and small, within and outside of the public sector. Yet, there is a failure to scale them up and spread innovative solutions.
To address this challenge, DCLG and BIS commissioned a project team to explore the questions set out below.
“Our public services desperately need an injection of openness,
creativity and innovation…”Prime Minister, David Cameron
President Clinton is often cited in this context: “Nearly every problem has been solved by someone somewhere. The challenge of the twenty-first century is to find out what works and scale it up”.
How can we effectively ‘scale up’ & disseminate the lessons learned from good and innovative ideas within and across the public sector?
How can we share knowledge laterally across the public sector?
What are the opportunities brought about by the Big Society and Localism; moving control away from the centre?
What are the mechanisms and processes that help translate innovations from one locality, tailor and then embed them in another?
As the public sector seeks to generate more innovative solutions to policy problems and challenges, it is clear that we still have a lot to learn in how to scale up successes and apply the lessons learned from innovative ideas more
widely.
Rather than explore what innovation is, or what conditions are required to stimulate it within the public sector, the focus was on scaling up. However, some of our findings on barriers and enablers to scaling up innovation clearly illuminate innovation more generally
Rather than explore what innovation is, or what conditions are required to stimulate it within the public sector, the focus was on scaling up. However, some of our findings on barriers and enablers to scaling up innovation clearly illuminate innovation more generally
Scaling up is essential to ensuring that the public sector meets its policy challenges. Successful innovations that are not scaled up are a lost opportunity to meet the challenges the public sector faces. The public sector needs to develop the tools and expertise to scale up.
[1] Empowering Change, p7, http://www.apsc.gov.au/mac/empoweringchange.htm
We are in an era of public service reform with pressures on resources and major structural change across the public sector and this may constrain the opportunities and enthusiasm for scaling up.
The shift away from ‘Big Government’, towards the ‘Big Society’, including an emphasis on social reform, localism and community empowerment, presents a genuine opportunity to be more radical in galvanising the scaling up of innovation across the public sector.
But why is it essential to
scale up?
The Australian Public Service suggests that dissemination of innovative ideas and approaches “can help governments to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ and maximise the value of investments”[1]. In turn, if widely encouraged, such a systemic approach to diffusing innovation can “lead to new services or service delivery modes, the development of new concepts, new policy or administrative approaches, and new systems”.
And why is it essential to scale up now?
Case study examples of scaling up innovation in practice can be found at Annex G (international) and Annex H (UK)
Case study examples of scaling up innovation in practice can be found at Annex G (international) and Annex H (UK)
Within the new model for public service reform there are new drivers and levers to enable scaling up across the public sector.
Scaling up in the ‘new world’ of open public services
The new model for public service delivery involves a shift away from central and local government regulation and funding; top down targets; and audit and inspection.
Instead, the drivers and levers for scaling up in the new world that stretches beyond the usual service providers, include: behaviour change, collaboration, co-production, openness, transparency, incentives, de-regulation, enabling and influencing. Central government becomes the catalyst for change and stimulator of innovation – firstly by building the structures for localism and open public services; and secondly, by mobilising people and organisations to take forward opportunities created by the new landscape.
This makes the challenge to scale up – the need to identify success and find ways to disseminate it – all the more important.
HOWenabling
influencingco-productioncollaborationmarketplaceopennessincentives
HOWenabling
influencingco-productioncollaborationmarketplaceopennessincentives
service usersservice users
citizenscitizens
third sectorthird sector
health care providershealth care providers
mutuals and co-opsmutuals and co-opssocial enterprisessocial enterprises
local governmentlocal government
central governmentcentral government
SMEsSMEs
private sectorprivate sector
localism and community empowermentopening up of public services
social action
localism and community empowermentopening up of public services
social action
WHYBig Society
budget reductionpublic service reform
growth agendadecentralisation
localismtransparency
WHYBig Society
budget reductionpublic service reform
growth agendadecentralisation
localismtransparency
To make the most of these levers to tackle the challenge of scaling up, DCLG and BIS commissioned a Breakthrough Solutions cross-government project to develop recommendations and practical solutions.
Sponsored jointly by DCLG and BIS, and facilitated by the Capability Building Programme in the National School of Government, the project provided a unique opportunity to challenge the ‘silo’ stereotype of central government working, and create the space for productive cross-public sector working. An in-house public sector ‘consultancy team’ was recruited to tackle the policy challenge, for a day a week for twelve weeks.
From the start, the team was clear that we needed to take a cross-government and cross-sector approach to the scaling up challenge. Emphasis was placed on the value of collaboration, constructive challenge, and creativity in generating innovative solutions.
Our thirteen strong team was recruited from across central and local government from wide variety of roles and departments including…
Project team membership
• Public sector innovation
• IT and digital innovation
• Employment
•Strategy and policy
•Change management
• Statistical profession
Our team was also challenged to take an innovative approach to this project as individuals.
We were encouraged to think about how we could ourselves become a network of change agents beyond the end of the project.
By taking this approach, we would be equipped with ideas to implement different ways of working and thinking, and be more motivated to share these more widely with our partners.
See slide 43 for examples of how this learning has already been applied by team members or will be in future.
Capability Building Programme
• Finance
•Human resources
A list of team members is at Annex AA list of team members is at Annex A
To understand scaling up and address the challenge, we broke the work down into three main stages.
1. Discover
fact finding, researching, interviewing, developing workstreams, and looking beyond the usual suspects
2. Distil
reflecting, discussing findings, identifying emerging themes, and analysing what this means
3. Design
developing ideas for action, prototyping them, and putting forward bold recommendations
IDEAS FOR
ACTION
WHAT DOES
IT MEAN?
Catalysts
Practitioners
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Design
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Taking this forward
There is a wealth of published research on fostering innovation but less on scaling up. However, the literature review we carried out did lead us to some conclusions on scaling up.
* Evidence was gathered from a literature review of over 25 bodies of work. The literature review looked beyond scaling up innovation to related phenomena, for example, scaling up good practice and knowledge sharing.
1. Discover
Innovation in context – local applicability, scale or relevance is key to scaling up
A ruthless sifting process to determine which ideas are really worth scaling up and where focus should be
Understanding the adverse impact of regulation on the local adoption of innovative solutions
Evaluation using credible and consistent metrics, designed with scaling up in mind, showing what works in what circumstances and why
Active transfer of experience amongst the right community including mentors
Responsive, outcome-focused funding models (e.g. stage gate funding)
Need to resource “roll-outs” and local adoption properly – tend to have heavily resourced pilots vs thinly resourced replication
Champions to be responsible for scaling-up and reinforcing commitment, enthusiasm and confidence
See Annex B for a full reference list.
We identified 3 ways of looking at scaling up at this stage: push-pull, adapt-adopt and horizontal-vertical. See Annex C for more detail.
We identified 3 ways of looking at scaling up at this stage: push-pull, adapt-adopt and horizontal-vertical. See Annex C for more detail.
Having looked at the literature, we wanted to understand more about the conditions required to scale up. We ran a workshop with think tanks, funders and academics, who stimulate, support, invest in and advise on scaling up
* Data was gathered from an interactive workshop with 12 ‘innovation expert’ attendees. Discussions were organised around the themes of people, processes, resources and organisations.
1. Discover
See Annex D for list of organisations attended and the purpose.
Resources – successful scaling up requires different skills to the original pilot or innovation. A pilot is often heavily resourced in a way that any subsequent roll out can’t be
Organisational culture – reluctance to accept and discuss failure is more common in larger organisations and can prevent learning and the sharing of experience which leads to successful scaling-up
Efficient Processes – mechanisms for scaling up and credible, accessible sources for sharing and listening to experience
Making the most of marketing and competition – using reward, access to resources and pooled funding to achieve success and attract the right skills mix at the right times
Risk management – being able to manage risk effectively and feel able to “pull the plug” on activity when things don’t work
These ‘catalysts’ told us what they
think is needed and what the barriers are
Before the workshop, the ‘catalysts’ were asked
what the key three features of scaling up
were. Here are the top 6.
Ensure diffusion plans and
strategies for scaling up are in
place from inception
Listen to the local voices quietly saying what works
Needs to be evaluation of
existing innovations to establish if rolling them out elsewhere
is worthwhile
Pool and align funding across organisations to
allow them to adopt innovations or scale
them up
Know clearly when something should be scaled up, using
metrics and cost benefit analysis
Refine success (outcomes not
outputs) to understand what to
scale up
We also spoke to innovators and practitioners to understand the practical opportunities and challenges faced by those attempting to scale up innovative ideas. Here is what they told us:
* Data was gathered from over 30 one-to-one interviews with a range of innovators, including social entrepreneurs and enterprises, representatives of the voluntary and community sector, individuals from private sector organisations, and public sector employees from both central and local government. For further examples of what our interviewees said, see Annex E
1. Discover
See Annex E for a list of those interviewed, and the interview questions used.
“Access to the right people – connections are the most important factor. We often ask – ‘If we could open five doors for you, what would they be?’”
“Almost all ideas need a degree of trialling and contesting before ‘going to market’ – once a model has evolved and is tried and tested, the ‘pedigree’ promotes confidence.”
“Government needs to provide specific points of contact that enterprises can approach and connect with; the current systems, bureaucracy and culture hinder worthwhile engagement.”
“The culture of many public bodies is very risk adverse…it is a mentality that stops things happening.”
“Bureaucracy needs to be removed and there needs to be a greater focus on outcomes rather than the process.”
“Solutions need to be tailored to a local area but, the lessons learnt from developing those solutions are completely transferable.”
“We need to fundamentally redefine the relationship that we have with citizens… we must ensure that citizens understand our processes and systems”.
“It [scaling up innovation] needs clarity of rationale and objectives and a strong evidence base to succeed.”
“You need good evaluation of the inception / feasibility phase so that you know what works and can extrapolate to predict some of the challenges.”
“Working alongside people makes a real difference… find the bright sparks, put them in a room together and they can have a chat.”
“Innovation often means working in a new and different way – attempting to operate under old structures just wastes significant amounts of time and money.”
“There must be an internal narrative in the organisation that follows through innovation as part of the core objectives, otherwise the trust that scaling up will occur will be lacking.”
24
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3333 Discover
Project context, objectives, approach
4444 Distil
6666
Design
Annexes
1111 Executive Summary
7777
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Taking this forward
The information gathered in our discover phase was distilled into eight core themes that highlight the pre-requisites for, and barriers to, successfully scaling up innovation across the public sector.
CultureBuilding open and “supportive culture [that] reward[s] and encourage[s] innovation” provides the public sector with “both the means and the permission to innovate”[1]. Requires: shift in attitudes, move away from risk adversity, senior buy in and mandate, credible champions, and collective will.
Evidence, Social Returns,
Outcomes
Importance of evidence in demonstrating the social return and positive outcomes of an innovative idea to provide the business case for scalability. Requires: horizon scanning, prototyping to gather evidence, evaluation of what’s out there, upscaling as a business tool.
SkillsBeing innovative and understanding how to scale up good ideas should be embedded into the skill set of every public sector worker. Requires: public sector skill set focusing on being open, collaborative, creative, innovative; co-designing; creating a network of mentors and buddies.
Networks and Knowledge Sharing
Having in place networks (formal and informal) to: make connections, provide peer advice, link up those who have done it before, share learning and knowledge, share tools, provide platforms, provide leverage, create relationships and dialogue, act as change agents, and support bright sparks.
Processes and Mechanisms
Without organised processes and structures in place to encourage the sharing of information across the public sector, it is difficult to facilitate and support the roll out of innovative ideas. Requires: open source policy making framework, flexibility to try and pilot, adaption of external ideas internally.
Ownership‘Owning’ an idea and being seen to own it acts as an incentive that helps facilitate knowledge sharing. There is also a role here for considering the role of community ownership of an idea, and listening to the local voice.
ResourcesManage the resources, funding, expertise and support for scaling up. Without resources in place to support an innovative idea, it’s unlikely to get to a prototype stage, or achieve the recognition it deserves to be adopted elsewhere. However, to over-resource at the start makes scaling up harder.
CredibilityCredibility, endorsement, and reputation all provide the business case for scaling up an innovative idea; alongside proof of concept and proof that it ‘works’. This generates trust, and helps bring in potential investors or service ‘buyers’ to diffuse the idea.
2. Distil
[1] Empowering Change, 2010, p63
Public sector organisations need to develop a supportive culture that shifts behaviours to value risk-taking and to build the evidence base to show what can be achieved by scaling up innovation
Culture
Evidence, Social Returns,
Outcomes
Building open and “supportive culture [that] reward[s] and encourage[s] innovation” provides the public sector with “both the means and the permission to innovate”[1]. Requires: shift in attitudes, move away from risk adversity, senior by in and mandate, credible champions, and collective will.
Importance of evidence in demonstrating the social return and positive outcomes of an innovative idea to provide the business case for scalability. Requires: horizon scanning, prototyping to gather evidence, evaluation of what’s out there, upscaling as a business tool.
2. Distil
[1] Empowering Change, 2010, p63
Horizon scanning, and exploring potential threats, challenges, opportunities, and likely future developments to improve the robustness of our future policy decisions
Having a long term strategy for the innovation, and understand the potential of the idea to transform the public service arena
Pilots and prototyping of new and innovative ideas to gather the evidence that demonstrates successful outcomes, and to learn lessons from the failures and successes
Sustainability, and finding alternative forms of funding to supplement start up capital (especially in the new marketplace)
Better evaluation of what else is out there to establish whether there are ideas to adapt or adopt elsewhere, and having the evidence to demonstrate whether this would be worthwhile
Our evidence highlighted the following areas to focus on:
Credible champions at all levels across the organisation, that have the personality and ability to raise awareness of the agenda, endorse ideas and provide the push for them to be scaled
Committing time and resources to scaling up of innovation – and having rewards, incentives, and recognition in place to facilitate scaling up
Overcoming the barriers and procurement practices that make it hard to fail (a) with public money, (b) in performance terms; and (c) in political terms
A collective will to address the problems at hand, and generate innovative solutions to challenges
A shift in organisational attitudes and behaviours to a culture that provides permission to try and fail, less risk adversity, and senior buy in to mandate prototyping new ideas
Our evidence highlighted the following areas to focus on:
Scaling up is more likely to succeed with the right skills base and support in place, using both individual mentors and networks to make connections
SkillsBeing innovative and understanding how to scale up good ideas should be embedded into the skill set of every public sector worker. Requires: public sector skill set focusing on being open, collaborative, creative, innovative; co-designing; creating a network of mentors and buddies.
2. Distil
Creating a network of mentors and buddies whose skills, experience and remit includes scaling up of innovation
Putting in place training that facilitates and encourages the aforementioned public sector skill set
Co-designing, to work with service users (not for them) to develop the best solutions to challenges
Public servant skill set that focuses on the importance of being open, collaborative, creative, innovation, networked, and seeing links
Having empowered and skilled public servants who have the freedom to take an idea and deliver it (this does not necessarily mean they are the same people that generate the ideas)
Our evidence highlighted the following areas to focus on:
Networks and Knowledge Sharing
Having in place networks (formal and informal) to: make connections, provide peer advice, link up those who have done it before, share learning and knowledge, share tools, provide platforms, provide leverage, create relationships and dialogue, act as change agents, and support bright sparks.
Overcoming the boundaries of not having a network of contacts. Where a contact is needed to facilitate the scaling up of an innovative idea, it’s often difficult to find the right person, and gain access to networks within the public sector
Encouraging innovators to talk about their experience and show others the context, including failures and set backs, rather than simply writing case studies with a bias towards success
Using new media to bring case studies alive, and enable real time learning and for visible progress to be demonstrated which will transfer lessons learned and knowledge
Horizon scanning, and building links with academia, think tanks, public intellectuals and others to proactively seek out new innovative ideas and approaches that might inspire new policies, new ways of solving or tackling problems and/or new ways of delivering desired outcomes
Our evidence highlighted the following areas to focus on:
The right processes or structures and developing a sense of ownership can both facilitate rolling out or scaling up of successful innovations.
2. Distil
Processes and Mechanisms
Without organised processes and structures in place to encourage the sharing of information across the public sector, it is difficult to facilitate and support the roll out of innovative ideas. Requires: open source policy making framework, flexibility to try and pilot, adaption of external ideas internally.
Ensuring that users and providers can influence priorities, which means the Government explains the rationale for their strategic priorities and is more flexible about how to (and who can) achieve them
Building external influences into internal structures and processes to ensure that the outside ideas are consistently being brought in and made the most of
Providing market access to the public sector, and having the processes in place that actively encourage the innovators to bring their ideas to the table
Flexibility within structures and processes to try, pilot, prototype, adapt and tailor innovative ideas to develop solutions locally
Having a policy- making framework in place that actively encourages and improves processes and opportunity for internal and external challenge to scaling up
Our evidence highlighted the following areas to focus on:
Feedback from our interviewees included:
Ownership
“Importance of ‘ownership’ in encouraging the dissemination and take up of ideas – this can be facilitated by making the process visible and transparent.”
“Ownership of an idea can often build capacity and the ability to scale.”
“Community ownership of an idea will encourage diffusion.”
“Somebody needs to be listening to the quiet (local) voices that are saying “we’ve got a good idea and it works!”
For the following three core themes, written research evidence was not as strong. Instead, their importance was highlighted in the qualitative research gathered from the workshop, and one-to-one interviews.
‘Owning’ an idea and being seen to own it acts as an incentive that helps facilitate knowledge sharing. There is also a role here for considering the role of community ownership of an idea, and listening to the local voice.
More can be done to think creatively about how to resource scaling up and to find a way to endorse ideas for scaling from the centre.
2. Distil
CredibilityCredibility, endorsement, and reputation are all essential factors for providing a good business case for scaling up an innovative idea; alongside proof of concept and proof that it ‘works’. This generates trust, and helps bring in potential investors or service ‘buyers’ to diffuse the idea.
“Publicly support good initiatives – talk about good examples to give projects a better chance of getting partners, resources, or recognition”.
“Need to have a proven business model to enable effective sales and marketing.”
“Innovation needs visibility and accountability for it to be a success. If people don’t understand it, it’s unlikely to be scaled up. There needs to be a level of reputation, trust and openness (which can be facilitated by interpersonal behaviours).”
“Credibility can be showcased by maintaining a key quality of service and demonstrating past success.”
Feedback from our interviewees included:
“How can you centrally endorse organisations to help them scale up?”
Resources
Feedback from our interviewees included:
“Consider how you could make funding more tailored to enable local authorities to trial the more radical innovative ideas… Ringfencing and siloed localism often means that multiple agencies have split incentives – there should be central government backing to tackle this.“
“Not having funding or resources is a technical barrier to scaling up.”
“You need to provide support, access to expertise, knowledge on how to pilot and test, and provide understanding of how evidence works... All of this will create the environment for continuous improvement (they will feel empower and obligated to scale up as the tools, skills, and resources are there).”
“How can you pool or align resources across organisations to help them scale up?”
Manage the resources, funding, expertise and support for scaling up. Without resources in place to support an innovative idea, it’s unlikely to get to a prototype stage, or achieve the recognition it deserves to be adopted elsewhere. However, to over-resource at the start makes scaling up harder.
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CULTURE
NETWORKS
CAPACITY
EVALUATION INNOVATION
Overall bold recommendationTo achieve this, we must:
1. Create the conditions that maximise the capacity for innovative ideas to scale across the public sector; and
2. Ensure that the public sector has the organisational culture, leadership, and people conducive to supporting the scaling up of innovative ideas.
3. Establishing networks that facilitate the dissemination of innovative ideas that could be scaled, supporting the spread of knowledge; and
4. Using appraisal and evaluation of innovative ideas to provide the business case for scaling, to ensure the right ideas are implemented and driven forward.
These conditions, in turn, will drive further improvements in capability and culture.
By embracing this systemic change, we can in turn facilitate the conditions for:
Our overarching bold recommendation is that to create the systemic change required, we need to design the conditions for our systems, processes, and institutions to actively support the scaling up of innovation.
3. Design
Drawing on our evidence, we identified some underlying assumptions about how public services need to operate (within a model that embraces systemic change) for scaling up to occur in each of the 4 areas.
Drawing on our evidence, we identified some underlying assumptions about how public services need to operate (within a model that embraces systemic change) for scaling up to occur in each of the 4 areas.
Flexible resource mechanisms
Open Public Services
Our focus must be to create the capacity to make best use of limited resources, and:• implement funding models and mechanisms that encourage scaling (e.g. stage-gating)• encourage resources to be pooled and aligned at a local level• provide new forms of resources (e.g. social impact bonds, payment by results)• provide new clarity on profit making in service provision• enable opportunities for portfolio approaches to piloting• encourage sustainability through alternative forms of funding start up capital• enable more diverse commissioning approaches
Processes and structures that support scaling up
This in turn will mean our internal central Government processes and structures:• provide flexibility to prototype innovative ideas• provide reward, recognition, and incentives for adoption (e.g. awards)• remove burdens and barriers that prevent the adoption of innovative ideas• de-regulate to create systemic change that encourages innovation at a local level• provide endorsement and support structures for innovative ideas• create a conducive policy environment for scaling up to occur• capture and share ideas more widely
Within the new model for open public services, for scaling up to occur we must:• decommission poor providers, enabling market entry for others• provide flexibility to develop solutions and target outputs at local areas• be transparent, and provide data and information in one location• ensure there is freedom to implement what is right• take an open source approach to challenges to develop solutions & digital applications• enable users and providers to influence policy priorities and outcomes• publicly support and acknowledge what works: providing credibility for scaling
3. DesignWe must create the conditions that maximise the capacity for innovative ideas to scale across the public sector.
We must have: Led by central Gvmt
through work on:
OPS Big Society Bank
Big Society Awards Transparency
Business Plans Decentralisation Social Financing Barrier Busting
Better RegulationsDigital by Default
Right to…Payment By Results
Mutuals
Flexibleorganisationalculture and environment
Sitting above this must be an organisation culture and environment, that:• creates the space to think and work differently• provides collective will to generate innovative solutions to problems• removes barriers to scaling up innovation within structures and processes• has flexible and flatter organisational structures (focus on networks and • is transparent in learning (and sharing) lessons from failure and success• commits space, time, and resources to the scaling up of innovation • provides credible champions that have the personality and ability to raise awareness of the agenda, endorse ideas and provide the push for them to be scaled
Our leaders must actively support the scaling up agenda, and:• provide permission to innovate• be tolerant of failure and risk• provide senior buy in of the agenda and mandate for prototyping ideas• act as positive role models and champion what works• provide proactive support for the switch to digital delivery
The right peopleskills
Proactive Leadership support
And the skill set of people within the public sector, must highlight…• importance of co-designing and collaboration• focus on being empowered, open, creative, innovative, and networked
+ ensure…• staff consistently scan the horizons, make connections and links across policy areas• we provide support, skills, and expertise to facilitate scaling up of ideas• we avoid complex and unnecessary language which discourages scaling up• there is an active learning environment• skills are in place to take forward public sector mutuals
Must be driven
throughout the wider public sector
3. Design
We must ensure that the public sector has in place the organisational culture, leadership, and people supporting the scaling up of innovative ideas.
We must have:
Collaboration to facilitate scaling up
Platforms that support scaling up
As part of this, emphasis must be placed on active learning, which can, and must:• enable real time learning for visible progress to be demonstrated• discard case studies that have an inherent bias toward success • encourage self learning knowledge management • be clear that it is as vital to learn from failure, as it is from success
Active Learning
The power of collaboration to facilitate scaling up must be highlighted, with the platforms providing opportunities to:• collaborate and co-produce in the policy design, implementation, and delivery process• facilitate trust between the sectors• horizon scan, and build links to proactively seek out and implement new ideas• enable critical challenge within a safe space• provide peer to peer advice, learning and support• host dissemination and learning events
Physical and digital platforms must be implemented across and beyond the public sector, that:• embed innovation hubs with feedback loops• utilise digital agenda and social media to share information• ensure there is open access to networks within the public sector• ensure vertical and horizontal process are in place to facilitate sharing of information• provide the space for networks to grow• encourage conversations and dialogue to disseminate ideas• provide opportunities to actively share knowledge and reflect on lessons learned
Must be owned by the whole sector and interested
parties
3. DesignWe must encourage the establishing of networks that facilitate the dissemination of innovative ideas that could be scaled, supporting the spread of knowledge.
We must have:
Scaling up embedded into policy-making
A scalable business model
Evidence must also be embedded into our policy making processes, by encouraging others to:• take forward more evidence based policy making that is future focused• redefine success in policy to focus on outcomes (rather than outputs)• horizon scan to improve robustness of future policy decisions• have a long term policy strategy that focuses on scalability of design and implementation• use better evaluation of what else it out there to adopt or adapt• take forward open source policy making and crowdsource ideas• learn lessons and understand what works, what hasn’t, and why not
Prototyping
Prototyping is essential in gathering the critical evidence that demonstrates a business case, and innovators must:• prototype innovative models – test it, prove it, grow it, adopt it• plan intention to upscale when designing prototype of the original ideas• gather the evidence that demonstrates successful outcomes • learn lessons from failures and successes
In identifying solutions to policy challenges commissioners and innovators must be encouraged to:• develop a scalable business model with clear strategy for implementation• have a strong narrative about what works (with evidence) to interest and motivate partners• address a clear need and fill a gap within the public service market• understand where the gaps in the market are to adopt an idea• demonstrate the value, social return and positive outcomes of innovative ideas for users
Must be driven by
commissionersand
innovators
3. DesignThe fourth element in this process is to ensure that the public sector focuses on appraisal and evaluation of innovative ideas to provide the business case for scaling, to ensure the right ideas are implemented and driven forward.
We must have:
In designing our recommendations, we considered the need to both facilitate scaling up from the centre and find ways to provide dynamic support at the point where scaling up is happening
CORPORATE INTERVENTIONS AT THE CENTRE
to co-ordinate support and drive culture change
INTERMEDIARIESSupport and guidance to innovators who have
ideas with potential to scale up
INNOVATIVE IDEAS FROM ANY LOCATION OR ORGANISATION
A change is needed at a range of levels: central, local, individualA change is needed at a range of levels: central, local, individual
Here are our nine key recommendations in more detail. The first two concern central support for innovators.
1. Central co-ordination
Government should consider the merit of drawing together a small central resource to co-ordinate support for the scaling up activity needed to bring about the required organisational and cultural change at the centre. This streamlining will simplify overall co-ordination of support while allowing for individual differences in approach. This should also include linking in to the Open Public Services White Paper recommendations on common evaluation.
It will be clearer where to get support for those with good ideas to both assess the potential to scale and how best to do so. As scaling up becomes the norm, it becomes natural to embed it into policy design and delivery.
2011 Not testedBIS / DCLG
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
2. Expert resource
pool
Central and local government should work together to establish a programme to facilitate and encourage public sector organisations at all levels to proactively come together to scale up specific innovations or areas of good practice from any source or sector. This should include: finding a way to pull together cross-agency teams to work on specific time-limited scaling projects; establishing Action Learning Sets; developing evaluation to suit different organisational circumstances; and support to make a business case for scaling up.
Better and more cross-government working leads to: more effective sharing and application of learning; development of a public sector innovation mindset; a strong evidence base.
2011Project team process is itself an example of running a time-limited scaling project
BIS / LGID
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
For each of the recommendations below, we set out what should be done, by whom and when. Where we can, we also link to the work done by the team to test or start acting on the recommendations and set out the longer term improvement we expect to be the result of acting on the recommendation.
Our next three recommendations concern commissioning and funding
4a. Portfolio Funding: develop
Design a model for portfolio management of resources whereby a number of ideas are funded in parallel and funding from those that fail can be diverted to those that succeed. This allows innovators to ‘test it, prove it, grow it and adopt it’. Test the model with practitioners both within DH structures and with a range of Local Authorities.
Fear of failure and risk are reduced so more people are more likely to scale up more good ideas.
Model developed: Sept 2011
Testing starts: Jan 2012
Team identified potential attendees for a co-design session but were not able to complete in time.
DH National Innovation
Fund
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
4b. Portfolio funding: adopt
Adopt learning from the testing at recommendation 4 and implement the model
Risk is reduced by application to the most suitable kind of resource funding
2012 Not tested(TBC)
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result
3. Outcome-based commissioning
Establish an expert learning network in outcome-based commissioning for those working both in policy and practical delivery. This should include talking to Local Authorities and LGID. It will help those involved understand the range of approaches being used and share learning about what works best and in what circumstances.
Clearer commissioning processes and increased accessibility to more potential applicants which in turn will lead to better outcomes. Clear evaluation processes and outcomes.
December 2011 Not testedDH
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
We also have recommendations about making best use of tools, frameworks and individual support
6. Corporate tools
Government should use corporate tools (e.g. Include scaling in Business plans and individual objectives); skills development (e.g. Include in CSL Skills Strategy and competency framework); and leadership activity (e.g. Cabinet Secretary champions scaling up in guidance and speeches) to encourage effective scaling up of innovation
Principles and process of scaling up become embedded in Civil Service culture and policy through senior buy-in, recognition of value of scaling up and better staff engagement
2011
Talked to Defra about mainstreaming scaling up into Government's crowd-sourcing approach to e.g. prevent regulation that works against scaling up
HMG: CO lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
7. Mentor scheme
Establish a mentor or buddy scheme for individuals who have an idea they want to scale. The mentor provides one-to-one support to establish that the idea is scalable and what support is needed to make it happen. In turn, those supported are actively developed as change agents by the mentor to support others in the cycle. This requires explicit support from the employing organisation e.g. Allowing time for meetings
A virtuous circle of support and active learning ensures a constant stream of developed and scaled ideas to improve public service.
2011
Natural Value Ambassadors at Defra are a network of credible change agents who will include a focus on scaling up ideas
HMG: DCLG lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
5. Scaling up framework
Explore whether the tested model / process for scaling up digital innovation can be applied more widely and apply it.
Innovators ‘new to market’ find it easier to scale up. Can be used in conjunction with mentor or other expert resource
December 2011Digital Scaling Up framework (see Annex J)
DCLG / BIS / LGID
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
9. Award
Add a category to existing Civil Service Awards to incentivise scaling up activity. This will both reward effective scaling up activity and provide an opportunity to articulate the range of ideas that can be successfully scaled in future. It can also be used to help identify a network of Scaling Up Champions or future mentors.
Successful scaling up and the people who do it are recognised and become role models for others which leads to more successful scaling up.
2011Initial conversation with awards team was positive
HMG: BIS with CO lead
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
8. One-stop shop
Establish a one-stop online shop for public sector innovators to find out about ideas that could be or have been adopted or adapted elsewhere. This should signpost existing sources of advice (e.g. Business Link, the Innovation Launch Pad and LGID's Community of Practice), be in a searchable format and capture examples of successful scaling up in an interactive way.
Simpler and more consistent means of finding out about ideas and tools that might help individuals scale up and benefit from existing practice. Networks develop to offer additional peer support.
December 2011
Identified current platforms and sources of support and have started talks to establish a single platform.
DCLG / BIS
Who implements: Proposed timescale: Areas tested by project team: How the world will be different as a result:
Our final two recommendations will help innovators find ideas or advice on and offer an incentive for scaling up
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The topic and challenge was a huge one, but in twelve weeks we have made a difference. To make this impact sustainable we need this agenda to be taken on and owned by others
12 Weeks
13 Team Members
9 Recommendations50+ Interested
Parties
We have identified a number of ways of ensuring the learning from this project is taken forward, including through diffusion events:
1.Civil Service Live Workshop on scaling up innovation (July 2011)
2.Post-project diffusion event to share recommendations and learning from the project3.Share report with the BIS Public Sector Innovation Delivery Group which includes organisations interested in public sector innovation
4.DCLG Policy Picnic to highlight project findings and what this means for the Civil Service
5.A blog post on the Public Sector Innovation portal
6.Project LinkedIn group: taking forward conversations about scaling up
7.Innovate! Newsletter dedicated edition to scaling up project.
8.DCLG Executive team meeting item
The project has successfully created a space for productive cross-public centre working which has challenged the usual corporate centre paradigm. The collaborative nature of this project has been seen also at client level, as we have delivered jointly to two central government departments. DCLG and BIS are keen to continue this collaborative style of working in future.
The project has successfully created a space for productive cross-public centre working which has challenged the usual corporate centre paradigm. The collaborative nature of this project has been seen also at client level, as we have delivered jointly to two central government departments. DCLG and BIS are keen to continue this collaborative style of working in future.
Finally, we were challenged to take an innovative approach to this project as individuals, to think about how we could become a network of change agents. By taking this approach, we will be able to implement different ways of working or thinking in our working lives, and be more motivated to share these more widely with our partners.
Learning for me has been around the fact that different skills are required for the scaling up of innovation than are required to actually have and promote the idea in the first place – not sure that had really occurred to me before but when I build teams in the future I’ll definitely be taking it into account.
I have set up a discussion board on the Defra Policy team site – “Spreading Innovative Ideas in Defra – what works for us?”
I am actively considering scaling-up innovation when policy asks and information crosses our paths – (for example, that’s where the thoughts about crowd-sourcing and Natural Value Ambassadors came from)
Team members as
change agents
I‘ll be more likely to speak to people outside the usual suspects when designing policy and strategy
I have learned that scaling up starts with ME and US
I am going to speak to the policy lead about embedding Scaling Up into our Innovation Fund
I understand now how important it is to embed this into policy recommendations and solutions
I have learned that we as individuals can champion change and make it happen
Scaling up innovation is a problem shared across government, sectors etc – I am going to use our report to further engage with my department.
Working on this project has gone a long way to helping us to crack the problem of how local digital innovation can become national.
I have learned both the challenge and value of actively trying to work innovatively I am planning to introduce Breakthrough Solutions type projects to my organisation
I have learned how important it is to prototype ideas
I am introducing change agent roles into two teams in my organisation
I am more confident about challenging the status quo and representing my views to senior people
We are planning to feed our findings into the launch of the Knowledge Hub
I have learned that both small + large changes to our organisational culture can make things happen
I am more likely to search out ideas from alternative sources
I will build more networks across my policy area
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Annex: contents
A Who we are
B Literature review list of references
C Scaling up model and 3 axes
D Workshop list of organisations attended
E List of interviewees, the template used in interviews and more examples of what our interviewees told us
F Project team testing activity
G International case studies
H UK examples and case studies
J Digital scaling up framework
Who we are
What is the NSG’s Capability Building Programme? The Capability Building Programme uses public sector people to find innovative solutions to public sector problems. It brings together a team of experienced people drawn from across government and the wider public sector to collaborate on a real policy, delivery or corporate challenge. Its unique mix of action-based enquiry, problem-solving, design and learning has a strong focus on the delivery system and the customer. This approach has proven to be a quick and cost effective way of tackling challenges. Capability Building projects not only deliver implementable solutions. In doing so they also enable people to develop expertise and build and test a body of knowledge and practice that can be taken back into their own organisations and be used by wider government. So they fulfil two objectives: developing people; solving problems.
The project team was drawn from across central and local government
ANNEX A
In the discover phase, a literature review of over 25 bodies of work was conducted into scaling up innovation. A full reference list is below.
[1] http://la27eregion.fr
Albury, D. (2005) Fostering Innovation in Public Services. Public Money and Management, 25(1), 51-56.
Bergman, N. et al (no date) Bottom-up, social innovation for addressing climate change. University of Oxford., Oxford.
Buchanon, D. and Huczynski, A. (2004) Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text. Prentice Hall., Harlow.
Bunt, L. and Harris, M. (2010) Mass Localism. NESTA
Chesbrough, H. (2003) Open Innovation: the New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology. Harvard Business School Press, Boston MA.
Cordingley, P. and Bell, M. (2007) Transferring Learning and Taking Social Innovation to Scale. www.curee.co.uk.
Design Council. (2008) Public Sector Innovation: Can we deliver better public services for less money? Design Council Magazine, 4 (virtual discussion) http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/publications/design-council-magazine-issue-4/public-sector-innovation/
Dodgson, M. (2000) The Management of Technological Innovation: and International and Strategic Approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Moore, M. H. (1995) Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Moorse, R. and Moore, P. (2006) Little acorns taking root: Systemic approaches to good practice transfer within organisations.
Morgan, M. (2000) Making Innovation Happen. Kogan Page, London.
Mulgan, G. (2006) The Process of Social Innovation. Innovations, Spring, 145-162.
Mulgan, G. and Albury, D. (2003) Innovation in the Public Sector. The Strategy Unit.
Mulgan, G. and Kohli, J. (2010) Scaling New Heights: How to Spot Small Successes in the Public Sector and Make Them Big, www.americanprogress.org.
Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J. and Mulgan, G. (2010) The Open Book of Social innovation. NESTA/The Young Foundation.
Osborne, S. P. and Brown, K. (2005) Managing Change and Innovation in Public Sector Organisations. Routledge, Abingdon.
Redway, K. M. (2003) Make it happen! A step-by-step guide from creativity to innovation. Judy Piatkus, London.
Fenwick and Elcocks from Public Money 2005
Fielding, M. et al (2005) Factors Influencing the Transfer of Good Practice. Department for Education and Skills, University of Sussex and Demos.
Gray, A. and Broadbent, J. (2005) The State of Public Management – Improvement and Innovation, Editorial. Public Money and Management, 25(1), 7-8.
Hartley, J. (2005) Innovation in Governance and Public Services: Past and Present. Public Money and Management, 25(1), 27-34.
Hartley, J. and Benington, J. (2006) Copy and Paste, or Graft and Transplant? Knowledge Sharing Through Inter-Organizational Networks. Public Money and Management, 26(2), 101-108.
ISOS. (2009) Local Innovation: a short review of how local authorities innovate.
Jowell, R. (2003) Trying It Out; the Role of Pilots in Policy-Making: Report of a review of Government Pilots. Government Chief Social Researcher/’s Office and Strategy Unit. Crown London.
Kamarck, E. (2004) Government Innovation around the World. Faculty Research Working Papers Series, Harvard University John F Kennedy School of Government.
ANNEX B
The following model simplifies the innovation process, representing it as linear to highlight the various approaches to scaling up, upon which the literature touches.
idea
development
test
evaluate prototype
refine implement
SCALE
disseminate
exchange
diffuse
share
adopt / adapt
embed locally
Scaling up can be carried out in a number of ways which we have described as fitting along 3 axes most easily summarised by ‘push-pull’, ‘adapt-adopt’ and ‘horizontal/vertical’.
• push-pull: an innovation might be conceived of, and tested, in one area, with senior managers or quality standards organisations then promoting its introduction elsewhere: push. Another area might have heard of, or sought out, something being tested and refined elsewhere and be keen to put the same sort of innovation in place locally: pull.
• adapt-adopt: another innovation might work in one area and be suited for application in another; for instance, one school might adopt an approach tried in another, making few if any changes. Conversely, one organisation might learn from something tested or used elsewhere and identify a way to adapt it work locally.
• horizontal/vertical: horizontal captures to innovations that are required to spread throughout an organisation or similar organisations. Vertical refers to an innovation that is ‘cascaded’ throughout an organisation.
ANNEX C
In the discover phase, a workshop was held with discussions organised around the themes of people, processes, resources and organisations.
[1] http://la27eregion.fr
ANNEX D
SCALING-UP INNOVATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR/SERVICES An Exploratory Workshop Purpose To explore with a group of experts the best lines for further investigating how scaling-up innovations in the public sector and services can be liberated and be more effective. Ethos This is an interactive workshop using collaborative techniques with a focus on exploration and investigation. The intention of the workshop is to generate creative options for further design work for the latter part of the project. The creativity is generated through the interaction of the participants. Outcomes The key outcomes of the workshop will be a series of options (overlapping/contradictory is fine) on what could make the upscaling of innovations in public services/sectors more embedded, effective and routine. This will include an understanding of what works at what level and in what circumstances.
Organisations attended
Communities & Local Government
Young Foundation
National Innovation Centre (NHS)
NESTA
Local Government Improvement & Development
Local Government Leadership Centre
Cranfield/Steria
Innovation Unit
UnLtd
OCS – Cabinet Office
Spark/The Key
Directgov – Innovation Hub
In the discover phase, interviews took place with innovators and practitioners to provide insight into the practical opportunities and challenges faced by organisations and individuals attempting to scale up their innovative ideas. A (near) full list of interviewees is below.
Brendan Harris, LGID Local Gvmt Whole School Meals Social Enterprise
South East Public Health, DH Public Sector Cohousing Berkshire Social Enterprise
Homeshare International VCS Kathy Atkinson, Campaign for National Parks VCS
Criminal Justice System Capability Builder Public Sector Community Wood Recycling, Brighton Social Enterprise
PieMinister Private Youth at Risk VCS
Bricks and Bread Social Enterprise Social Enterprise UnLtd Social Enterprise
First Steps to Employment Ltd Social Enterprise Sunderland Council, Sarah Reed Local Gvmt
Cohousing Network UK Social Enterprise Care and Share Associates Social Enterprise
The Northern Way Local Gvmt Barry Quirk, Lewisham Chief Exec Local Gvmt
Mental Health First Aid England CIC Social Enterprise Walk the Line, Job Centre Plus Central Gvmt
Matthew Skinner, Lambeth Council Local Gvmt NAAPS, Community Catalyst VCS
Giles Slinger, Transparent Consulting Private Gripple Private
Tris Dyson, Spice Innovations VCS Sheffield Council Local Gvmt
Hill Holt Wood SE VCS Richard Tyrie, Good People Consultant
Dave Briggs, Learning Pool Consultant Brandon Hallam, Essex County Council Local Gvmt
Tell Us Once Central Gvmt Device Access UK Ltd Private
Christian Bason, MindLab International National Audit Office Central Gvmt
Hackney Community Transport Social Enterprise Julie Wootton, Government Office SE Local Gvmt
Serious Fraud Office Central Gvmt Andrew Elkington, Windsor & Maidenhead Local Gvmt
National Improvement Agency Central Gvmt Jane Kendall & Geoff Wild, Kent Cty Council Local Gvmt
Peter Gilroy, Northgate Consulting Private Collan Murray, GLA / TfL Regional Gvmt
ANNEX E
In the discover phase, interviews took place with innovators and practitioners to provide insight into the practical opportunities and challenges faced by organisations and individuals attempting to scale up their innovative ideas.
LGID (Local Gvmt
Improvement & Development)
LGID supports improvement and innovation in local government. They work with local authorities and their partners to develop and share good practice through networks, online resources, and support from councillor and officer peers. Main role is to support local government at the heart of local innovation... helping councils work with and learn from each other is at the heart of what LGID does.
UnLtd
UnLtd is a charity which supports and develops the role of social entrepreneurs as a force for positive change - people with vision, drive, commitment and passion who want to change the world for the better. UnLtd Ventures is the in-house consultancy division of UnLtd. It provides business support to a number of outstanding social entrepreneurs, helping them to scale up or replicate their organisations.
Hackney Community Trust
HCT is a social enterprise which has scaled up their provision of community transport from one London borough to a company with 490 staff and a turnover topping £20 million, providing training and jobs for hundreds of long-term unemployed people and running transport services in the capital and Yorkshire.
SPICETimebanking
Spice develops credit systems for engaging people and to create active thriving community and public services. Spice’s community credit systems have been tried and tested and are uniquely successful in dramatically increasing participation of community members in public services and in achieving community transformation.
NationalAudit Office
The NAO scrutinises public spending on behalf of Parliament. Their audit of central government has two main aims. By reporting the results of our audits to Parliament, they hold government departments and bodies to account for the way they use public money, thereby safeguarding the interests of taxpayers. In addition, their work aims to help public service managers improve performance and service delivery.
Serious Fraud Office
The SFO are an independent Government department that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud, and corruption. The SFO have successfully worked to SFO implement and embed a culture for innovation within their organisation, following an independent review in 2008 that recommended an overhaul of the organisation’s functions.
Find out more about some of our interviewees below.
In the discover phase, interviews took place with innovators and practitioners to provide insight into the practical opportunities and challenges faced by organisations and individuals attempting to scale up their innovative ideas.
Can you tell me about an idea that you have scaled up within, or beyond, your organisation? Has it been successful?
Was it your own idea? If so, where did it come from? ‘locality’? If it wasn’t your own idea, where did you source it from? Did you tailor it to your locality?
How did that idea spread? Focus on mechanisms and utilisation of networks
What is your role in scaling up innovation?
What, in your view, helped the idea to spread? What were the enabling or success factors?
May explore the availability or accessibility of tools, expertise and know how, cultural or behavioural factors (including networks), incentives and rewards (including financial), legislative or political drivers (e.g. big society or localism).
Is there a mechanism within your organisation for sharing good ideas? If yes, how well is it used? How are those ideas sorted and filtered? Who filters them?
What, if any, were the barriers to the idea spreading?
May explore limited access to tools, expertise or know how, individual or cultural barriers, financial barriers, legislative or political barriers.
Have there been any unintended consequences of scaling up?
What are the three key lessons you or your organisation have learnt about how to better scale up ideas?
What one thing could central government could do to better facilitate or support the spread of ideas?
Do you want to be involved in our next steps? Can you help us launch our end product?
Questions from our interview template are set out below.
* Data was gathered from over 30 one-to-one interviews with a range of innovators, including social entrepreneurs and enterprises, representatives of the voluntary and community sector, individuals from private sector organisations, and public sector employees from both central and local government.
1. Discover
“Must be transparent in learning (and sharing) lessons from failure and success.”
“Importance of networking, collaboration, providing an interface, and partnership working.”
““Scale up and disseminate through a range of mechanisms: workshops, bringing people face to face discussion, as well as conferences and dissemination events “
“Scaling up will not occur without cultural change within how the public sector operates and interacts.”
“Make it easier for the smaller guys to get in and provide value.”
“Must never under-estimate the importance of scaling up through connections and the six degrees of separation.“
“You should be able to learn what’s out there, and adapt it to suit your local area. “
“Important for the social enterprise cohort to come together to share learning and enable peer networking.”
“You need to identify the context, what the problem was, and what the solution was – but then highlight what the common solution that can be used by all is.”
“There needs to be a diversity and range of mechanisms to promote, stimulate and diffuse innovative ideas – including evaluation mechanisms, taking forward pilots, and networks.”
“Organisational skills, conditions and behaviour must focus on being open and porous, be supportive, and encourage sharing. These are all the skills of a natural innovator.”
“There needs to be all the right ingredients, all at once that spark scaling up. This could be by creating the space, encouraging the right skill set, or having networks in place.”
We uncovered a wealth of insight into the practical opportunities and challenges faced by organisations and individuals attempting to scale up their innovative ideas. Here is a further selection:
* Data was gathered from over 30 one-to-one interviews with a range of innovators, including social entrepreneurs and enterprises, representatives of the voluntary and community sector, individuals from private sector organisations, and public sector employees from both central and local government.
1. Discover
“Central government should hold a mirror up to itself and ask – how are we getting in the way in the new decentralised world?”
“Most innovations have boundaries – whether it’s the siloed nature of the funding, or the legal barriers in the way.
“There should be critical internal challenge and perspective in place – this can contribute added value to the scaling up process. All you need to do is use your existing staff better.”
“You should always try out ideas to see if it works – and ask the question, if it doesn’t work everywhere, why not?”
“Need a focal point – a catalyst which makes things join up and hold people to account.”
“Identify those with the skills to pick up on the innovative ideas, and: (a) push them forward; (b) adapt and tailor them; and (c) value them and highlight them as successes. “
“Central government’s role is to set the overall direction of travel, crucially allowing local and regional flexibility to tailor to their localities.”
“There is a lack of sharing knowledge within and across organisations. There needs to be a distinct fertilization of knowledge and lessons learned.”
“Lack of support from the public sector - this seems to be due to systems, bureaucracy and culture (rather than individual people not being interested.”
“Need to ask yourself what the problem to which scaling up is the solution? How would you characterise the problem – what’s creating that problem, and what is the full breadth of the issue?”
“Disconnect between the centre and the ground on innovation. All the ideas that are seen as ‘innovative’ by Government Departments still tend to be driven by top leadership…”
“Champion and talk about the success stories as part of the solution. But also have the confidence to highlight failure… Innovation is a continuum, of which failure is a part.”
We uncovered a wealth of insight into the practical opportunities and challenges faced by organisations and individuals attempting to scale up their innovative ideas. Here is a further selection:
The team worked on a number of work streams at design stage including exploratory discussions on some and testing or prototyping of others. Here is the full list:
Product What it is Who benefits Next steps / when by Implementer
Model for a portfolio approach to funding
Several innovations are supported in parallel with funding diverted from those that fail to those that succeed
Public sector investors: it manages risks and reduces fear of failure
Pilot use of model: test it, prove it, grow it, adopt it.
DH National Innovation Fund
Outcome-based CommissioningNetwork
Network to share knowledge on commissioning which focuses on evaluation and an end result that demonstrates social value
Commissioners
Public Sector Innovators
Feed recommendations into Government's work on Big Society Bank and propose event.
TBC
Crowd-sourcing at Defra
To mainstream scaling up innovation into Government's crowd sourcing approach by including relevant questions (e.g. whether certain regulations get in the way of scaling up innovation) and influencing design of website
Smaller organisations coming into contact with restrictive legislation Central government by receiving more constructive feedback
Working with Defra policy team to look at questions asked and raising awareness with other departments.Each member of the project influencing process through their own departmental leads
No 10 via the Defra Better Regulation Team
Mutuals Taskforce
Asked the taskforce to consider means of scaling ideas and ways of working more widely, and how to demonstrate evidence for social returns of an idea to make a case for scaling
DCLG Innovation team
Mutuals Taskforce
Public Sector Scaling Up Innovation award
To add a specifically scaling up award to the existing innovation award to the annual ‘Civil Service Awards’.
Practitioners who scale up
Practitioners with an idea they want to scale up, learning from others
Continue working with awards team to ensure new category is included in next round. Use it to identify a network of Scaling up champions
BIS / CO
ANNEX F
Product What it is Who benefits Next steps / when by Implementer
Scaling-up Digital Innovation framework (see Annex J)
A one-stop shop for advice which helps identify digital products ripe for replication
Digital innovators looking to scale up and identify partners
Hold discussions with implementers on how the model can be tested and developed in step with the follow-up to HMG ICT Strategy. Cascade the framework more widely. Consider whether it can be embedded into other policy areas.
LGDC / LCIOC working with Government skunkworks and Tell Us Once
Central team to act as focal point for innovation
Means of driving forward systemic change which supports scaling up including: how to evaluate; wider use of change agents; and using Departmental Business Plans.
Public sector innovators Finalise proposal to include narrative, timeline and framework for implementing a central team.
BIS / DCLG with Cabinet Office and No10
Natural Value Ambassadors
Network of credible change agents with a focus on scaling up innovative ideas. NVAs are an example of the use of change agents
Local natural environment from use of known successful approaches
Central government – policy delivered more effectively & reputational benefit for doing something differently and working locally
Following policy collaboration workshop to co-design NVA approach, ensure this report is cited in White Paper to cement commitment to supporting scaling up
Defra Natural Environment White Paper team. Ultimately, the Natural Value Ambassadors
Product What it is Who benefits Next steps / when by Implementer
Mentor scheme Public sector wide mentor scheme to support and encourage those trying to scale up
Practitioners who would like to scale up
Public sector organisations that see the value of scaling up
Pursue with No10 DCLG / BIS
One-stop online shop To provide a linked / inter-connected one-stop online shop for public sector innovators to find out about ideas that could be or have been adopted or adapted elsewhere
All practitioners with ideas to share
Experts who can connect with partners / deliverers more easily
Further discussions between the two departments to establish functioning connected platform
BIS + DCLG
Speed networking event
Civil Service Fast stream and National Graduate Development Programme shared event to develop connections and share ideas on innovation especially in a policy context.
All members of the two graduate schemes and their employing organisations
Organise and run event. Disseminate learning from event. Future activities could include Lion’s Lair sessions and network of innovation talent scouts.
DCLG Fast Stream committee
NGDP
Brokerage: SUI ‘match.com’
Link up individuals and organisations wanting to scale up to avoid reinventing the wheel
Those wanting to scale but unsure how
Coventry, Warks and Solihull to test the approach in service delivery
TBC
International Case Studies: Australian Government
To overcome these barriers, the report recommended a number of tools that can support the diffusion of innovation throughout the public sector, including:
• strategy, and understanding why scaling up fits within our organisational goals
• environmental scanning, and going externally to see what innovative ideas are being trialled and implemented elsewhere
• innovation roles, and having coaches, champions, and sponsors to drive forward the scaling up of innovation
• people and training, and building an organisation’s innovation appetite and capability
• resources, having these in place to evaluate, trial and implement innovative ideas
• innovation teams, to provide support, give advice, strengthen the business case, connecting innovators, and providing links to lessons learned
• idea management systems, and having a process for managing, tracking, progressing, and recording ideas
• measuring and reporting, and understanding the impacts achieved (and if not, why not), and identifying and celebrating the successes,
• evaluation, and recording lessons learned
• awards, which provide recognition for innovation, and also information that can inform future innovation
Innovation is a core concept of the Australian Government’s drive for high performing public services. Encouraging continuous improvement and innovation is seen by them as being essential to developing the best solutions to challenging policy problems. In 2010, they published a report on ‘Empowering Change: Fostering Innovation in the Australian Public Service’, which sought to make a number of recommendations to support and drive an innovation culture within the Australian Public Service.
Identified barriers to innovation at the diffusion phase of the innovation process included:
• risk adversity, and unwillingness to prototype untested ideas
• short term focus, and being responsive to the immediate political challenges
• failure of leadership, in driving outcomes and diffusion of ideas
• policies and procedures, and not being able to gain approval
• efficiency and resources, including time and funding
• external opposition, and fear of negative public or stakeholder reaction
• measurement and impact, and demonstrating why an idea should be scaled
• lack of champions, to push forward ideas
• scrutiny, as a disincentive
• identifying success factors, and understanding what led to the successful outcomes
[1] Empowering Change, http://www.apsc.gov.au/mac/empoweringchange.htm
ANNEX G
International Case Studies: Denmark
[[] http://www.mind-lab.dk/en/about_mindlab/strategy_and_values [2] MindLab Results Report, 2010, www.mind-lab.dk/assets/431/MindLab_Results_Report_2010.pdf [3] http://innovationsguiden.dk
Activities of the unit are spread across four central areas: project support (providing expertise and innovative methodology); training (giving civil servants the capability to take forward user driven policy solutions); research (including PhD projects); and finally dissemination. MindLab is keen to ensure that it actively disseminates internally and externally information on MindLab’s “competencies, working methods, projects and specific results and experiences”[2]. This includes:
• information about what MindLab is and does;• inspirational presentations, on the role of co-creation and the benefits it offers;• developing an Innovation Guide of “practical tools to help public sector project managers create new ideas”[3] • a network of project managers based in each of the three sponsoring ministries, who “disseminate knowledge about new methods and approaches” and provide a platform for exchanging experiences• running seminars and workshops to “present experiences and development perspectives” on public sector innovation• placements of civil servants from the sponsoring ministries in MindLab
Denmark host a cross-ministerial innovation unit called MindLab, which involves citizens and businesses in co-creating new solutions for society. Run by (and working with civil servants in) the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs, the Ministry of Taxation, and the Ministry of Employment – MindLab is instrumental in helping the Danish government’s policy-makers view their efforts from the outside-in and view service design and delivery from a citizen’s perspective.
MindLab’s mission focuses on five strategic objectives: innovation (development and dissemination of new innovative public solutions that produce better outcomes); efficiency (using public resources better); culture (transforming civil service culture and practices to increase collaboration); knowledge (sharing experience and lessons learned); visibility (communicating new methods and ways of working).[1]
International Case Studies: America
[1] White House, 2009, ‘A Strategy for American Innovation’, http://www.whitehouse.gov/admistration/eop/nec/StrategyforAmericanInnovation /[2] White House, 2011, ‘Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation’, http://www.whitehouse.gov/admistration/eop/sicp [3] White House, 2011, ‘About SICP – The Community Solutions Agenda’, http://www.whitehouse.gov.uk/administration/eop/sicp/about
The Executive Office of the President’s 2009 “Strategy for American Innovation” recommended that the Federal Government should “take advantage of the expertise and insight of people both inside and outside” to “use high-risk, high-reward policy tools such as prizes and challenges to solve tough problems, support the broad adoption of community solutions that work, and form high-impact collaborations with researchers, the private sector, and civil society”[1]. Tools put forward in the White Paper to achieve the space for public sector and civil society innovation are not dissimilar to the public service reform promoted by the Coalition Government, and include: promoting innovative, open, and competitive markets; making the government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative, and promoting open government (and data). But the White Paper also went one step further, and proposed committing White House resources to the scaling and promoting of community innovations through the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. Obama was clear that Federal Government should be supporting the grass root social innovators to develop the solutions to America’s challenges, and this should be done in a way that focused on outcomes, encouraged bottom up solutions, and broadened participation in communities[2].
To achieve these objectives, the Office works closely with Government agencies to create the tools (such as innovation funds, prizes and other social capital market structures) to drive resources towards community solutions that are able to demonstrate successful outcomes; and collaborates with others across the public sector to “promote better mechanisms to measure and evaluate programs and improve outcomes, to create knowledge about what works, and to disseminate why it works”, breaking down the barriers to innovation that currently exist[3].
International Case Studies: America
[1] White House, 2011, ‘A Strategy for American Innovation’, http:///www.whitehouse.gov/innovation/strategy/innovation [2] White House, 2011, ‘Innovation Funds’, http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/sicp/initiatives/innovation-funds[3] http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/sicp/initiatives/communuity-solutions-tour [4] http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/sicp/initiatives/prizes-challenges [5] http://challenge.gov/search [6] http://www.allforgood.org/about
Since the Innovation Strategy was published in 2009 (and revised in January 2011[1]), the US Government has committed to a number of initiatives and models that encourage the scaling of the most promising social innovations. Including: Innovation funds to “find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges”[2]. Social Innovation Fund grants (totalling $50m in 2010) are funded in alignment with evidence of impact and potential to scale, with a selection criteria that focuses on: outcomes, evidence, learning, sustainability, and scalability.
Community Solutions Tours across the country “to find the best community solutions… learn more about them, and to help spread good ideas across the country”. The aim is that the knowledge generated from the Tour (which has so far visited over 10 states), “will inform the Office’s agenda and allow us to bring back knowledge about what works on the ground” to drive their policy agenda[3].
Prizes and challenges to stimulate innovation and “enlist bottom-up problem solvers in identifying new ways to create progress”[4]. In 2010, the Federal Government launched Challenge.gov – an “online challenge platform” which acts as a one-stop shop to identify innovative solutions to a particular public sector problem (or challenge), and bring together best practice and lessons learned[5]. All Federal Government Departments are actively involved, and challenges include designing web apps for healthcare data, and producing campaigns to raise awareness about mental health.
Partnership to collaborate with “nonprofits, foundations, philanthropists, private organizations, academia, and all levels of government” to solve shared problems. Initiatives within this grouping are guided by the principles of building upon others’ expertise, capabilities and skills; and leveraging collective action. Examples include Allforgood.com (which utilised crew members from Google’s 20% time), which allows users to browse volunteering activities based on location and interest, and share these with others[6].
International Case Studies: Singapore and France
[1] http://www.ps21.gov.sg/challenge/2005_09/innovation/innovation.html [2] http://www.challenge.gov.sg[3] www.la27eregion.fr
For a number of years, the Singapore Government hosted ‘The Enterprise Challenge’, an initiative that encouraged the development of high level innovative (mainly technical) solutions to challenges the country faces. TEC was intended to help new and un-proven ideas overcome the “hurdles for adopt on” by “providing funding and test-beds for innovators to trial test risky, unproven innovations that could bring about quantum leap improvements in the delivery of public services, if proven and implemented”[1]. But TEC also went one step further, by offering to provide “platforms for innovators to showcase their innovations” and to look beyond the TEC trial period to search for funding, potential investors and customers.
Focusing mainly on horizon scanning activities, the hub has two core objectives – firstly, to “promote the production and exchange of innovative ideas between regions”, and secondly, to “give policymakers and citizens the elements of understanding on the future of the territories in the digital age”.
Supported by the Association of Regions of France (a public sector body which works to encourage partnership between Government, Parliament, and regional councils), La 27 Region’s success is founded upon the premise that regions work together by “identifying and promoting their innovations… talking [to] each other about their ideas and projects… [and] opening up their minds to other regions and at the national (and) international scale”.
This public interest project helps the French regions create “new ideas, creative approaches, prototypes or original scripts for the future” in relation to the themes and challenges they have identified as policy priorities. Current projects include: how to create public space to encourage citizen participation; and towards a culture of public transformation.
Within France, La 27 Region innovation network has positioned itself as the “first agency of public innovation that allows regions to prepare for the future and change their methods of action”[3].
The Singapore Public Service also produces ‘Challenge’, a bimonthly magazine which is dedicated to encouraging innovation within the public sector.
‘Challenge’ is distributed online to the entire SPS, and provides articles on the “diversity and creativity of our Public Service” and dares to ask “the hard questions that… spur us to higher heights”[2]. Current articles include, ’10 ways to kill a brainstorm’, ‘Gov 2.0: pulling together for better outcomes’, and ‘Public Service – are you really lovin’ it?’.
International Case Studies: Victoria Public Service
[1] http://innovativecouncil.wikidot.com/start [2] http://www.vpscin.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Innovation-Action-Plan1.pdf
The Australian Local Government community have also committed to encouraging innovation through the local public sector. They have established an ‘Innovation Central’ wiki to “provide a platform for individual employed in local government to understand and educate themselves through sharing information and experiences on innovation” [1].
Victoria Public Service has additionally launched an Innovation Action Plan [2] to ‘create’, ‘collaborate’, and ‘change’. The aim of the action plan is to “make innovation an integral part of how [they] approach [their] day-to-day work” to drive home an environment that “creates the connections, and develops the skills and culture that will stimulate ideas and turn them into action”. There are four key initiatives:
1. creating connections between people, ideas and opportunities – by developing a VPS Hub (virtual platform for collaboration); and Innovation Zone (hosted on the VPS Hub, and provides a platform for staff to come up with challenges and solutions); and an Innovation Advisory Group (which monitors the implementation of the Action Plan);
2. building innovation capability – by Innovation Transfer (secondments from the public sector to the private and VCS); Innovation Skills (embedded in recruitment processes, learning and development, and performance management); Innovation Toolbox (hosted on the VPS Hub, a collection of tools, best practice and resources); and Communities of Practice (hosted on the VPS Hub, and building groups of mutual interest);
3. generating ideas and rewarding good practice – by Innovation Challenge (challenge to generate new ideas to add specific policy or delivery problems); Micro Challenge (challenge to save $1m through small space innovation projects); and Innovation Annual Awards;
4. sharing information and data – by Information and Data Sharing Business Case (development of business case to identify opportunities).
International Case Studies: World Health Organisation
4 Key lessons from WHO on Scaling-up
• Base scaling-up innovation in the real world not just theory – piloting, case study development and roll-out strategies need to be integral parts of the process from the start – keep focussed – “Beginning with the end in Mind”
• Proactive participation - Involve people and communities in the process from the start to finish – this will help with scaling-up across multiple environments as local communities adapt or adopt the innovation. “Field based participation”
• Move away from the “gray market” - of scaling-up innovation literature (studies about the innovation that just sit on bookshelves) to dynamic case studies that are the basis for both corporate intelligence and access to real lessons learnt.
• Be practical - Critical to ease of transfer is the capacity to simplify / streamline the innovation as required to local circumstances. Understanding what essential components need to be maintained during the scale-up will allow for a proper balance to be maintained so that the needs of local adaptors do not over-ride the priority of ensuring the essential elements of the innovation can be replicated intact.
The World Heath Organisation (WHO) has developed extensive guidance for scaling-up innovation from national and sub-national localities and basic communities from across the developing world.
The Challenge: While small scale innovations testing ways to improve access to health care have often shown impressive results, larger scale impact was rarely being achieved.
The Response: WHO took a proactive decision to move to the fore-front of Scaling-Up Innovation research, best practice strategy development and practical guidance based on field-based experience and the direct participation of professionals, people and communities from across the developing world. [1]
What it does: It offers a focussed approach to scaling-up innovation based on the work of health innovators, practitioners, developers and community workers; drawn from front-line field work across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
It looks at the common frameworks to scaling-up innovation that has been developed from this environment. It poses challenges and questions to those working inside and outside the normal public service hierarchies and bureaucracies about how and why scaling-up matters and how it can be achieved with the needs of people and their communities in mind.
[1] See http://www.expandnet.net/PDFs/WHO_ExpandNet_Practical_Guide_published.pdf
Within the current environment, scaling up of innovative ideas is achievable, as the UK examples below demonstrate.
Hackney CommunityTransport
Hackney Community Transport launched in 1982, backed by a funding grant from Hackney Council. In the early 1990s, they decided to build up a more sustainable business model – that would focus on expanding the commercial elements of their service delivery, to support the ‘social’ profit motive. It took almost seven years for HCT to reach a level where they felt comfortable that the business model could be sustained. This required a complete change in mindset, in both the employees and the Trustees. Now HCT have expanded to Leeds, Wakefield and Hull.
SPICETimebanking
Spice began life as an institute within the University of Wales, Newport. Over a 6 year period the community credit systems developed and became increasingly successful in achieving neighbourhood cohesion and engaging people in community services. By focusing on replicating the model, Spice has now spun-out as an independent organisation and with the support of the university and of the Young Foundation in London are now developing these applications across England and Wales – working alongside communities and local authorities.
Tell Us Once
Following work completed by Cabinet Office, it was clear that customers were having to approach several different Government departments to provide the same information. DWP identified a potential solution to this, which was given further impetus by the 2006 Government report by Sir David Varney on ‘Service Transformation’. In response, the Government launched ‘Tell Us Once’ – a single point of call for people to tell Government (central and local) about changes to their circumstances. Led by DWP, TUO is a collaborative initiative that spans across Government, and has been prototyped in several local authority areas. Following intensive piloting, the Coalition Government has approved the national implementation of the TUS Service, with national roll out during 2011.
http://www.hctgroup.org/http://www.justaddspice.org/index.html
ANNEX H
UKGovcamp
UKGovcamp is the movement of self-organised unconferences for government types with an interest in how the public sector uses technology. Branching out from the LocalGovcamp movement (which held events in a variety of areas including Birmingham, Lincoln, and Cheltenham); UKGovcamp now hosts an annual unconference event, run on ‘open space’ principles….without a pre-planned agenda! The event aims to: create spaces for discussion and engagement, allow the sharing of experiences and the creation of new ideas, and encourage conversations amongst attendees from a wide range of backgrounds across the public sector.
The Coalition Government has already started to put in place some of the levers to facilitate the scaling up of knowledge across the public sector and communities. But there is still further to go to ensure that innovative ideas on public service delivery can be scaled at large.
Mutuals and‘Rights to Provide’
The Coalition Government has committed to supporting the innovation and entrepreneurialism of front line staff by enabling them to form mutuals and co-operatives. These employee-led mutuals will give frontline staff a real stake in the ownership and governance of the organisations they work for – and will have a crucial role in reforming public services.
In time, every department will put in place “Rights to Provide” for public sector workers to take over the running of services. To drive forward this initiative, a Mutuals Taskforce has been established, and a second wave of Mutuals Pathfinders has been launched. Scaling up questions that could be considered include…
• How will the innovative ideas and ways of working differently that are raised by frontline staff be disseminated, shared, diffused and applied more widely by others?• How can proposed mutuals demonstrate evidence for social return and positive outcomes of an innovative idea to provide the business case for scalability?• How do you empower public servants with the skills, freedom, and senior support to take an idea forward and deliver it?• Is there a role for a mutual network to highlight real life case studies, share knowledge, contacts, best practice, signpost, and to encourage others to ‘scale up’?
Online Ideas Management
The Key is a BIS sponsored programme to develop and pilot a set of online open access innovation tools, in collaboration with DWP and the NHS Innovation Centre (NIC) for use across the public sector. The programme is piloting three interconnected tools to help public sector organisations to strengthen capability for innovation: Idea Street: an online ideas-management platform that can be used to encourage employees or outside communities to put forward ideas around operational, service or policy challenges. The way Idea Street works encourages ideas to be developed by the collective expertise within the community and the most promising suggestions can be brought to the attention of relevant decision makers.
Competition Manager: an online application of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to help public sector organisations to run competitions for business to provide innovative solutions to public sector issues.
Spark: a showcase of rich media case studies to increase the spread, adaptation and impact of innovations that have delivered significant results in both efficiencies and results..
http://www.hctgroup.org/http://www.justaddspice.org/index.html
Digital Delivery – Scaling Up Innovation : 1 – Making Change Happen
Identified four areas for action arising from the launch of the Manifesto for a Networked Nation
1. Leverage of the £1bn plus investment in local online services – how to overcome the problem of failing to scale-up digital innovation
2. Establish linkage to Localism Big Society and Transparency agendas
3. Support Race-Online and Digital Inclusion
4. How to identify digital innovation projects on the ground that could be ripe for replication
“Getting online can help people save money, find a job, access services in a way that works for them, and make connections with each other and with their community. It will also help us all to drive down the cost of delivering public services.” David Cameron, June 2010
July 2010: DIGITAL DELIVERY WORKING GROUP established, comprising:
• Cabinet Office• Department for Communities and Local Government• Local Government Association• Local Government Improvement and Development,• Local Government Delivery Council• Local Chief Information Officer Council• DirectGov and Race Online WHAT HAPPENS NEXT…
• Networked Nation launched – PM appoints Martha Lane Fox Digital Champion and establishes “Digital by Default” policy for UK Public Services.
• DCLG Digital Innovation Mash-up – an audit identified 200 plus local digital innovation / transformation projects across England and Wales (See 3 overleaf)
• Cabinet Office – launch of Digital by Default, HMG ICT Strategy and Government Digital Service
• Local CIO Council – Commissions the creation of Local Public Service Routemap
• Breakthrough Solutions – Scaling-up Innovation project - scoping a framework for scaling-up digital innovation (See 3 overleaf)
ANNEX J
Digital Delivery – Scaling Up Innovation : 2 – Making the connections
OP
EN
PU
BLIC
SER
VIC
ES
:
Sup
po
rt Co-op
s, mu
tua
ls, ch
ariti
es &
socia
l en
terp
rises
Tell Us OnceOnline Free School Meals
Front Office Shared ServicesLocal DirectGov/Info4Local
LOGASnetGovernment Connect
Employee Authentication Service
BROADBANDDELIVERY
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC SERVICES
DATATRANSPARENCY
DIGITAL INCLUSION
BIG SOCIETY : Give Communities more powers and encourage people to take an active role in their communities.
LOCALISM : Transfer power from central to local government
TR
AN
SPR
EN
CY
:
Op
en-u
p &
pu
bli
shGo
vern
me
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da
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ONE Digital Digital Birmingham
Data Connects Government Connect
Case Studies Electronic Licence
Management System
Digital Challenge 10 Front Office Shared
ServicesDigital Inclusion PWC
Study
Local Information Partnerships
Places DatabaseTimely information to
Citizens Project
Central Local Innovation
Digital Delivery – Scaling Up Innovation : 3 - Front Line Innovation
Government Connect
Digital Challenge DC10 LA
“Communities in Control”
Local Govt “Digital” Studies Front Office Shared Services (FOSS)
Total Place PilotsTimely Information to Citizen’s Projects
Local Data Sharing and Local Information Systems
Brent’s e-enabled Client Index allows Council staff to offer customers a personalised response to their needs, whilst at the same time helping staff to eliminate wasteful duplications across back office systems.
The ‘Redbridge i’ website has rewritten the rules for council websites, in the delivery of deliver highly personalised, customer-driven ‘Web 2.0’ services.
Liverpool - "My Neighbourhood" citizen portal for service requests, neighbourhood problem reporting, request tracking/automatic updates and providing information on reported incidents and performance against SLAs via interactive ‘neighbourhood dashboard’
Lichfield’s Business Data Standardsproject has create an innovative standardised approach to identity assurance and data collection for businesses that enables data sharing both within an authority and across agencies
My Norfolk - Norfolk County Councilon behalf of the Norfolk Ambition County Strategic Partnership have established Norfolk Connect’s Council Information Centres which offers people within isolated rural communities one-stop access to a range of local services available on and offline and providing, where necessary referrals on, or sensible signposting.
Sunderland – The customer service centre at Bunny Hill brings together business, public and voluntary services in one place. This enables the council and partner agencies to provide access to a range of services to residents in one of the more deprived areas in the city.
Kent has identified 3 projects which will delve deeper into specific local issues in order to identify new ways of tackling them, with the emphasis on extending joined-up solutions. Gateway multi channel access improvements, a reduction in information duplication and the Margate Task Force to facilitate regeneration.
Digital Delivery – Scaling Up Innovation : 4 - Scoping a scaling-up framework
5 Stage Digital Scaling-Up Framework
Open Innovation
Innovation•Open Source•Customer Insight•Work with the end in mind
Innovation Teams•Co-production •Knowledge, Cost & burden sharing •Multi–disciplinary resource Teams
Outcome-focussedAdoption
• Big Society/Localism• Open Public Services • HMG ICT Strategy• Digital by Default• Strategic Commissioning• Shared Services
Creating a Vision
& Broad Strategy
Mappingthe Context
Establishing the Preconditions for an effective Scaling-up
Process
OptionsAppraisal
Implementing theScaling-up
Process
1 2 3 4 5
5 Stage Digital Scaling-Up Framework
1 2 4 53
Digital Scaling Up Framework-Next Steps
LCIOC/LGDC, and TUO in discussion on how the model can be tested and developed in step with the follow-up to HMG ICT Strategy.
Aim: LGDC/ LCIOC working with the Govt Skunkworks and Tell Us Once and test/develop alongside Local Digital Public Service Routemap due to be published by the LCIOC in June/July 2011.