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For the last two decades, the Kennedy School of Government has been home to the Innovations in American Government Awards -- a program that celebrates the ingenuity of those who strive to foster positive change in government. The school was a natural place to help develop and administer the United States' most prestigious awards program for public sector leaders at the local, state, and federal levels of government.
Just as the private sector must innovate to survive in the marketplace, government must innovate to meet the demands of its increasingly savvy citizen-clients for the best available public services delivered with maximum efficiency. And government has risen to the challenge: today government is the source of legitimate innovation that has transformed the way public servics are delivered. Instead of the bonus checks and stock options typically awarded to innovators in the private sector, public servants are motivated by a different calling. The Innovations in American Government Awards have been giving public servants the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments.
In 1985, the Ford Foundation established the Innovations in State and Local Government Awards program to honor exemplary programs that address important social and economic issues. With the addition of innovative federal projects in 1995, the name was changed to the Innovations in American Government Awards program. The program identifies and promotes excellence and creativity in the public sector by celebrating the capacity of federal, state, and local governments to meet critical societal needs in a period of reduced resources and increased public skepticism about government. Award winners reflect the best in the public sector, and the recognition and grants they receive serve as a catalyst for transforming creative and effective ideas into best practices throughout the nation and around the world.
In 2001, the Ford Foundation established an endowment at the Kennedy School to continue the program in perpetuity. A generous gift from Roy and Lila Ash enabled the school to create the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, where the program is now housed. Over the years, the program staff has streamlined the application process for public officials, but the award selection process has remained rigorous and multistaged. A panel of experts
narrows down the more than 1,000 applications that are received annually to a group of 20 finalists, who are vying for one of the seven available awards of $100,000 each.
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20 Years of Innovations
> 25,000 applications reviewed
> More than 200 chosen as finalists
> 182 winners from all levels of government
> More than $20 million awarded
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Those finalists' programs are visited and evaluated by experts, and their representatives travel to Cambridge to field questions from the National Selection Committee. This distinguished panel of policy experts, chaired by Kennedy School Professor David Gergen, selects the winners. The broad categories for selection are novelty and the degree to which the program takes a leap in creativity, proven effectiveness with tangible results, significance in successfully addressing a problem of public concern, and the extent to which the lessons learned can be transferred and replicated, in whole or in part, by other jurisdictions.
It is no secret to those in the public sector that citizens' consistent demand
for more effective services is matched only by the increasing need for efficiency. Award winners share these and other common characteristics, such as the development of new technologies or novel use of an old one, creative reorientation of existing programs, or the development of an entirely new way of solving an existing problem.
According to Gergen, the next decade of awards will reflect the next evolution
of how public services are delivered. "The public sector's increasing reliance upon community organizations, nonprofit entities, and social entrepreneurs means that government is no longer the sole or, in some cases, the most important provider of public services," he said. "We will pay special attention to those innovations that rely upon partnerships across sectors in order to leverage public resources."
While innovation typically adds value, it has a disruptive effect as new developments clear away or change old organizational forms and practices. Hence innovation typically involves risk. For innovation to occur, something more than the generation of a creative idea or insight is required: the insight must be put into action to make a genuine difference, resulting in new or altered processes within the organization, or changes in the services provided. Most important, strong and courageous leadership is imperative to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in order for innovation to occur.
"Innovation bubbles up from the bottom of the organization," says Gergen. "But without leadership that fosters the right environment, systemic innovation will struggle to become a reality."
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Frontiers of Innovation: Celebrating 20 Years of Innovation in Government
March 31–April 3, 2008
Innovators from across the globe will explore the latest trends in government innovation. For more information on this global conference of the Ash Institute of Democratic Governance and Innovation, contact ashconference@ksg.harvard.edu.
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The Kennedy School itself has benefited greatly through its stewardship of
the program. For example, hundreds of case studies used in Kennedy School classrooms and beyond have been developed based on award winners'
experiences. The public recognition the awardees receive raises the profile of
the school and further defines it as a place where excellence in public service can be found and taught to future generations of leaders.
For 20 years, the innovations program has recognized the government agencies
at the local, state, and federal levels from around the country for their ingenuity in addressing public challenges in a variety of areas, including public safety, environmental stewardship, alternative justice, child development, public education, family services, community policing, government accountability, and economic development, just to name a few. The innovations made in one jurisdiction are significant there, but they are also the catalyst for others to learn, modify, and create their own version of the original idea within their own town hall, state house, or federal agency. The desire of public servants to innovate is the ultimate form of responsiveness to the constituents they strive to serve, and if given the right place to stand and the resources they need, they can move the world.
Visit www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu to find out more about these and other Innovations award winners.
David Rice MPA 2001 is director of Strategic Policy Concepts in Cambridge, MA.
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