Practical Innovation in Government

Practical Innovation in Government PDF Author: Alan G Robinson
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1523001801
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Book Description
This book is a comprehensive guide to an exciting new approach that managers at any level can use to transform their corners of government. Whether people want more government or less, everyone wants an efficient government. Traditional thinking is that this requires a government to be run more like a business. But a government is not a business, and this approach merely replaces old problems with new ones. In their six-year, five-country study of seventy-seven government organizations-ranging from small departments to entire states-Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder found that the predominant private-sector approaches to improvement don't work well in the public sector, while practices that are rare in the private sector prove highly effective. The highest performers they studied had attained levels of efficiency that rivaled the best private-sector companies. Rather than management making the improvements, as is the norm in the private sector, these high-performers focused on front-line-driven improvement, where most of the change activity was led by supervisors and low-level managers who unleashed the creativity and ideas of their employees to improve their operations bit by bit every day. You'll discover how Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses reduced wait times from an hour and forty minutes to just seven minutes; how the Washington State Patrol garage tripled its productivity and became a national benchmark; how a K8 school in New Brunswick, Canada, boosted the percentage of students reading at the appropriate age level from 22 percent to 78 percent; and much more.

Innovation in American Government

Innovation in American Government PDF Author: Alan A. Altshuler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780815703570
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Innovation does happen--even in government! Despite all the news about government scandals and failures, public officials are innovative. This book analyzes numerous examples of ingenious problem solving--in education in California, in the Department of Juvenile Justice in New York City, in government operations in Minnesota, in human service programs across the country. All organizations, both public and private, need innovation, but making innovation work in government is a greater challenge than doing so in business. This book identifies a number of dilemmas that complicate the process of innovating in American government. For example, there is the "trust dilemma": Innovation may be necessary to establish public faith in the ability of government agencies to perform, but before the public grants agencies a license to be truly innovative, it needs to be convinced that these same agencies have the ability to perform. The contributors to this book analyze a number of issues raised by the task of innovation, including: Who is responsible for innovating? How can innovative individuals and teams be held accountable? What kinds of organizational arrangements beget the most innovation? How can innovation be fostered in agencies devoted to routinization? How should innovative ideas be disseminated? And what exactly is an "innovation" anyway? The contributors gathered data for this book from winners and finalists in the Ford Foundation's Innovations Awards program, as well as from other innovators and innovations. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Babak J. Armajani, Michael Barzelay, W. Lance Bennett, Paul Berman, Richard F. Elmore, Robert M. Entman, Lee S. Friedman, Thomas N. Gilmore, Olivia Golden, James Krantz, Laurence E. Lynn Jr., Mark H. Moore, Beryl Nelson, Ellen Schall, Malcolm Sparrow, William Spelman, Deborah A. Stone, and Marc D. Zegans.

Innovating Government

Innovating Government PDF Author: Simone van der Hof
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9067047317
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Book Description
Governments radically change under the influence of technology. As a result, our lives in interaction with public sector bodies are easier. But the creation of an electronic government also makes us more vulnerable and dependent. Dependent not just on technology itself, but also on the organizations within government that apply technology, collect and use citizen-related information and often demand the citizens submit themselves to technological applications. This book analyzes the legal, ethical, policy and technological dimensions of innovating government. Authors from diverse backgrounds confront the reader with a variety of disciplinary perspectives on persistent themes, like privacy, biometrics, surveillance, e-democracy, electronic government, and identity management. Clearly, the use of technology by governments demands that choices are made. In the search for guiding principles therein, an in-depth understanding of the developments related to electronic government is necessary. This book contributes to this understanding. This book is valuable to academics and practitioners in a wide variety of fields such as public administration and ICT, sociology, political science, communications science, ethics and philosophy. It is also a useful tool for policymakers at the national and international level. Simone van der Hof is Associate Professor at TILT (Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society), Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Marga Groothuis is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of Leiden University in the Netherlands. Specific to this book: Offers the reader a clear structure Enables the reader to see across disciplinary borders Offers an in-depth insight into new modes of government in various policy domains This is Volume 20 in the Information Technology and Law (IT&Law) Series

The Persistence of Innovation in Government

The Persistence of Innovation in Government PDF Author: Sandford F. Borins
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815725612
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
A Brookings Institution Press and Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation publication Sandford Borins addresses the enduring significance of innovation in government as practiced by public servants, analyzed by scholars, discussed by media, documented by awards, and experienced by the public. In The Persistence of Innovation in Government, he maps the changing landscape of American public sector innovation in the twenty-first century, largely by addressing three key questions: • Who innovates? • When, why, and how do they do it? • What are the persistent obstacles and the proven methods for overcoming them? Probing both the process and the content of innovation in the public sector, Borins identifies major shifts and important continuities. His examination of public innovation combines several elements: his analysis of the Harvard Kennedy School's Innovations in American Government Awards program; significant new research on government performance; and a fresh look at the findings of his earlier, highly praised book Innovating with Integrity: How Local Heroes Are Transforming American Government. He also offers a thematic survey of the field's burgeoning literature, with a particular focus on international comparison.

Innovative State

Innovative State PDF Author: Aneesh Chopra
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 9780802121349
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Aneesh Chopra, America's first Chief Technology Officer, tells the story of a new revolution in America. Over the course of our history, America has had a pioneering government matched to the challenges of the day. But over the past twenty years, as our economy and our society have been completely changed by technology, and the private sector has innovated, government has stalled, trapped in models that were designed for the America of the past. Aneesh Chopra, tasked with leading the charge for a more open, tech-savvy government, here shows how we can reshape our government and tackle our most vexing problems, from economic development to affordable healthcare.

State of Innovation

State of Innovation PDF Author: Fred L. Block
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317251423
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has generated a fundamental re-evaluation of the free-market policies that have dominated American politics for three decades. State of Innovation brings together critical essays looking at the 'innovation industry' in the context of the current crisis. The book shows how government programs and policies have underpinned technological innovation in the US economy over the last four decades, despite the strength of 'free market' political rhetoric. The contributors provide new insights into where innovations come from and how governments can support a dynamic innovation economy as the US recovers from a profound economic crisis. State of Innovation outlines a 21st century policy paradigm that will foster cutting-edge innovation which remains accountable to the public.

Innovation and Public Policy

Innovation and Public Policy PDF Author: Austan Goolsbee
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022680545X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259

Book Description
A calculation of the social returns to innovation /Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers --Innovation and human capital policy /John Van Reenen --Immigration policy levers for US innovation and start-ups /Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr --Scientific grant funding /Pierre Azoulay and Danielle Li --Tax policy for innovation /Bronwyn H. Hall --Taxation and innovation: what do we know? /Ufuk Akcigit and Stefanie Stantcheva --Government incentives for entrepreneurship /Josh Lerner.

Government’s Role in Innovation

Government’s Role in Innovation PDF Author: Dennis Patrick Leyden
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780792392613
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
Inadequate investment in innovation is particularly costly in today's globally competitive environment where continued technological advancements are critical to sustaining economic prosperity. The government has a critical role in ensuring that society's general interest in innovation, and the public good associated with innovation, is represented in private-sector decision making. This can be accomplished through a variety of programs and initiatives that reward innovation at all levels. The various activities that make this possible fall into two general categories: (1) the creation and maintenance of a legal environment that encourages private sector investment in innovation (patents and the relaxation of antitrust); and (2) the provision of incentives to overcome the natural inclination of private parties to consider only their private benefits when choosing the level of innovation in which to invest (governmental grants and contracts to targeted tax incentives). The role of government, more specifically, can be found in three key areas: (1) funding of research and development performed in the private sector; (2) funding of Federal laboratory research activities and the effective transfer of that knowledge to the private sector; and (3) encouraging the industry-university collaboration in research and development. It is these three areas of research that generate technologies fundamental to increasing the rate of technological development in the private sector, and it is these areas that are the focus of this book.

The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth

The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth PDF Author: Michael J Andrews
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022681078X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 633

Book Description
"Innovation and entrepreneurship are ubiquitous today, both as fields of study and as starting points for conversations among experts in government and economic development. But while these areas on continue to attract public and private investments, many measurements of their resulting economic growth-including productivity growth and business dynamism-have remained modest. Why this difference? Because not all business sectors are the same, and the transformative gains of some industries have been offset by stagnation or contraction in others. Accordingly, a nuanced understanding of the economy requires a nuanced understanding of where innovation and entrepreneurship occur and where they matter. Answering these questions allows for strategic public investment and the infrastructure for economic growth.The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, the latest entry in the NBER conference series, seeks to codify these answers. The editors leverage industry studies to identify specific examples of productivity improvements enabled by innovation and entrepreneurship, including those from new production technologies, increased competition, new organizational forms, and other means. Taken together, the volume illuminates whether the contribution of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic growth is likely to be concentrated, be it selected sectors or more broadly"--

A Guide to Innovation Processes and Solutions for Government

A Guide to Innovation Processes and Solutions for Government PDF Author: Gregory C. McLaughlin DBA
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1498721583
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
This book provides a roadmap for successful implementation of innovation for organizations working as subcontractors or suppliers for the federal government. With a focus on the federal sector, it details tools and processes that can make significant improvements in how the federal sector handles innovation opportunities. Presenting insights that can help readers bridge the gap between supplier and customer, the book includes many examples and a case study that illustrate the application of the methodology. It also includes process flowcharts, tools, and strategies for innovation within an agency or organization.