The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD has today (Wednesday, 11th November) launched Making Innovation Real, the Public Service Innovation Strategy.
This new Public Service Innovation Strategy coordinates the Government’s ambitions and commitment to grow innovation across Ireland’s Public Service. The Strategy incorporates commitments from the Programme for Government, notably in relation to the establishment of a Policy Innovation Office. It provides for much greater involvement of citizens in working with our public servants to develop policy responses to meet their needs. It also calls for higher levels of collaboration amongst organisations and sectors across the public service.
The development and production of this Strategy was part of an EU funded project, under the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service.
Commenting on the launch of this strategy, Minister McGrath said:
At its very essence the objective of innovation in the public service is to ensure that vital services are provided to people in a more timely and efficient manner. In a short space of time, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments throughout the world to change the way they organise their activities to meet the needs of the public. Ireland’s Public Service has responded admirably in this transformed environment, quickly developing new channels to deliver services to citizens, whilst simultaneously taking measures to mitigate the pervasive impact of the virus on our economy and society. As we plan our recovery from this unprecedented economic shock, it is imperative that we identify ways to sustain the enhanced culture of innovation that has featured prominently across our Public Service since the onset of this pandemic.
The Public Service Innovation Strategy has identified four key priority areas to be addressed. These priorities are supported by a number of key actions that will be taken in order to achieve our vision of Ireland having a truly world-class, innovative Public Service:
• Citizen-Centric Innovation - Public Service bodies should will put users at the heart of the services they perform and the policy responses they craft, in order to enhance their experience. This will involve engaging with the citizens to understand their needs and design interventions that reflect the user’s perspective, using digital solutions that are informed by the right data.
• Culture of Innovation – organisations in the Public Service will develop a permanent culture where staff are continuously empowered and equipped to innovate. This will involve building skillsets at all levels and developing the right supports and structures that make innovation the norm in our Public Service.
• Scale-Up Innovation – the Public Service will share successful innovations so that new ways of working are adopted (or adapted) through better collaboration. The Irish Public Service will look elsewhere – to other Governments abroad as well as to industry and Ireland’s own vibrant start-up ecosystem – in order to foster mutually beneficial partnerships.
• Transformative Innovation – public servants have learnt some valuable lessons in recent months about the need to anticipate change and secure long-lasting transformation. In order to operate effectively in a fast, dynamic environment, policy-makers need to include different voices in the governance of innovation in public services, and increase experimentation with new technologies and emerging policy approaches.
Coordination of the delivery of this Strategy will be managed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Reform and Innovation Division. To ensure its success, it is vital that Public Service organisations begin considering and identifying their own innovation ambitions.
In recognition of this need, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has also developed guidance, supports and toolkits to assist Public Service organisations to set their own innovation goals and actions and to incorporate these activities into their corporate strategies and business plans. These were developed using a piloting approach with four Public Service organisations: the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, the Courts Service, the Local Government Management Agency and Monaghan County Council.
Concerning the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s role in supporting Public Service reform and modernisation, Secretary General Robert Watt said:
Over the last number of years, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has put in place a number of key initiatives designed to promote a culture of innovation in the Public Service. These include a Public Service Innovation Fund: a strong and diverse Innovation Network; as well as structured innovation training and learning supports. These interventions are now being further complemented by this Public Service Innovation Strategy. The strategy includes guidance and toolkits to enable Public Service organisations to incorporate innovation into their own corporate strategies and business plans. I strongly encourage all Public Service bodies to make use of these supports and tools to deepen a culture of innovation across our Public Service.
Commenting further, Minister McGrath said:
The response to Covid-19 has highlighted the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our public servants. This pandemic has seen unprecedented levels of collaboration, inventiveness and organisational agility combined with grit and determination. These are markers of a truly innovative Public Service and I am confident that the implementation of this Public Service Innovation Strategy will help us to sustain this trend into the future.