Innovation in Government – success outside the corporation

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Jeffrey Tobias in Globalization, Innovation

Innovation in government comes in two forms (at least): innovation that governments can spearhead for the constituents, and innovation that can happen within governments around process. McKinsey recently reported on innovation by two developing countries to show how a willingness to take bold risks can make government services better and cheaper.

McKinsey’s public-sector practice, under the editorial leadership of Eric Braverman, Ceci Connolly, and Nick Lovegrove, presents a collection of “snapshots” that capture the people, places, and management strategies driving this wave of change. The series (based on field reporting and on interviews with government officials, senior executives, academics, and nongovernmental organizations) focuses on broadly applicable, cutting-edge innovations—the disruptive moves that are transforming the 21st-century state. Several of the stories come from the edge: governments that believe they have no choice but to take bold risks.

It opens with two entries: an interview with Kenya’s information and communications minister, who is spearheading a government-wide “open data” initiative, and a report on Georgia’s customer-focused service delivery methods.