GRIPS newsletter no 9
editorial on public services. (full text that had to be edited down, below)

and a blast from the past:

S Metcalfe and I Miles, 1997, “Services: Invisible Innovators?” presented at: Conference on Service Sector Productivity and the Productivity Paradox Ottawa, April 11-12 1997 http://www.csls.ca/events/confers/metcalfe.pdf



Public Service Innovation

This editorial draws on a few of the ideas developed at the recent INNO-GRIPS policy workshop on Public Sector Innovation.

Discussion at the workshop reflected a consensus on at least three points. First, public services are often highly innovative- competitive pressures and social concern drive innovation here. But, second, there are strong barriers to innovation and its diffusion in many public service organisations. Third, social, political and economic arguments underline the importance of stimulating more innovation in public services. Public service innovation should support the objectives of these services and not just reinforce the agenda of specific professions or organisations. Social and technological changes mean, too, that we may need to reconsider the objectives of public services. The Grand Challenges that Europe confronts can be translated into Grand Ambitions for our public services, in a world where citizens are increasingly demanding and informed users of services and agents of change in their own right.

Many public service innovations remain localised when they could be adopted more broadly to great effect. Knowledge about such innovations is lacking and those confronting problems need ways of finding out what public service innovations have been successfully brought to bear on similar problems elsewhere and tools to help them assess the requirements for adaptation of these innovations in new contexts. Such relevant experience may come from private or third sector providers of public services, as well as national and local government bodies.

There is also the issue of service objectives and outcomes. While there are many incremental innovations to diffuse that can improve service quality, we also need to consider more transformative innovations that can ensure the achievement of social goals. This may mean borrowing models from private sector organisation and management – an example is the way in which NHS Direct in the UK, inspired by telephone banking services, provides a first port of call for people facing health problems to get advice on which public services to turn to. While there are issues of access to consider, newer technologies, such as the Web and mobile phones, and emerging devices like health monitoring systems, could be used to restructure relations between citizen/consumers and care providers in dramatic ways. Public services should learn from external experiences but they can also be sources of innovation in their own right, and influence innovation elsewhere through demonstration effects and procurement.

Public service innovation is important for addressing societal challenges, maintaining economic dynamism and improving quality of life But fostering such innovation is more than just a matter of better dissemination of information and sharing of experiences. It will involve the development of tools for service design and engineering, the creation of spaces for creativity and testing of ideas and learning methods of innovation management. It will require leadership that can promote innovation, pay attention to ideas emerging from all stakeholders, and challenge the risk-averse culture of many public organisations.

We cannot hope to achieve all of these conditions overnight, but progress on even a few of them could help unleash innovation, and good examples in one dimension or at one location may inspire change elsewhere. Then we can look forward to public services being seen, not as laggards, but as exemplary innovators.