This week at OPSI, we have explored different strategies for more effective systems change and innovative government transformation. We have also extended the Call for Innovations deadline until 21 May.

What type of oversight should we use to lead effective public sector reforms? How can we solve problems involving multi-causality and interdependencies? What are common pitfalls encountered when pioneering systems change?

What are the government capabilities needed for 21st Century challenges?

The governments of tomorrow cannot be the same as the governments of yesterday. Change is needed – but what sort of capabilities do governments need to manage that change successfully? This post provides some reflections on that question from a recent event, ‘Government Capabilities for 21st Century Challenges: What Types of Innovation Do We Need'. Click here to watch the replay!

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DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL 21 MAY:
Call for Innovations on Cross-Border Collaboration

Submit your innovative project to our ongoing 2021 Call for Innovations. This year we are focusing on cross-border collaboration - projects that bring together collaborators from different jurisdictions (e.g., countries, cities, regions) to innovate. Select cases will be featured in high-profile OECD reports, invited to present at global events, and showcased as global best practices.

Webinar: Getting Started with Anticipatory Innovation in the Public Sector

20 May 2021 at 02:00 PM in Paris

OPSI and the Portuguese Agency for Administrative Modernisation's Experimentation Lab for Public Administration (LabX) invite you to explore the challenges and opportunities of anticipatory innovation and strategic foresight in the public sector. We will define and discuss the specific demands of building support from the ground up and barriers to engaging civil servants and leaders.

Following the webinar, LabX and OECD-OPSI will host an in-depth workshop on the topics that were raised in the session. If you would like an invitation to the workshop, please contact labx@labx.gov.pt.

How do digitalisation and behavioural insights increase public sector productivity?

Join us at the Enhancement-Oriented Innovation Workshop

Enhancement-oriented innovation aims to optimise current ways of working through digitalisation, behavioural insights, productivity improvements, or other means and starts with the question, “How might we do X better?”.

OPSI and the Government of Austria are hosting a workshop on Enhancement-Oriented Innovation on 11 May 2021, 14:00-17:00 CET.

Supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, this event will bring together experts and practitioners from around the world to share best practices and discuss major challenges. The virtual session will provide:

A theoretical overview of OPSI’s Innovation Facets model.
A showcase of Austria’s work on enhancement-oriented innovation, alongside a variety of other international case studies.
Presentations on the use of behavioural insights in last-mile service delivery, public sector productivity and its link with innovation, and the contribution of digitalisation to public sector efficiency.

Express your interest in participating

Futures LIVE

Scenarios For The Future Of Public Service Media

Scenarios are most useful when tailored and applied. This means focusing on the most relevant and disruptive developments from one organisation's point of view. YouChoose, Subsaharan Superstars, Come Together Apart, and Fake Fun are four fictional future worlds our scenarios expert Josh Polchar created with his students and the European Broadcasting Union to help public sector media envision strategies for success.

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Featured Toolkit: Thinking Big: How to Use Theory of Change for Systems Change

This toolkit identifies five common pitfalls that organisations fall into when using theory of change, and walks through five rules of thumb that will help organisations to use the approach to tackle complex problems. It also includes case studies demonstrating these pitfalls and rules of thumb in practice.

Open toolkit

Featured Case Study: Online Tool for Systemic Change

This toolkit has been developed to assist communities and governments to address complex wicked problems (those which cannot be successfully addressed through traditional linear, analytical approaches because of their complexity). This toolkit helps identify gaps around a current solution ecosystem, providing a scorecard for addressing the problem in a target community and suggesting strategies that can be developed to increase the system functionality and performance.

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Upcoming Events & Initiatives

• 11 May 2021: Enhancement-Oriented Innovation Workshop - This workshop will provide a theoretical overview of OPSI's Innovation Facets Model, showcase Austria's work on enhancement-oriented innovation, and address topics ranging from behavioural insights in last-mile service delivery to the contribution of digitalisation to public sector efficiency.
• 13 May 2021: ANZSOG and Centre For Public Impact Series Webinar: Reimagining Government: Learning to Listen Again - Learn how governments can effectively listen to and build trust with those experiencing complex challenges linked to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to develop inclusive policy responses.
• 20 May 2021: Webinar: Getting Started with Anticipatory Innovation in the Public Sector - OPSI and Portugal's LabX invite you to explore the challenges and opportunities of anticipatory innovation and strategic foresight in the public sector. We will discuss building support from the ground up and barriers to engaging civil servants and leaders.

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The Observatory of Public Sector Innovation is an initiative of the Directorate for Public Governance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Observatory is co-funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union (grant number 671526).