A variety of innovation-related activities are being held throughout the country
The first Public Service-wide Innovation Week takes place from today, (Monday, 9th December) until Friday, 13th December.
This initiative, under Action 6 of Our Public Service 2020 - the current framework for reform and innovation in the public service -will see public service organisations put a spotlight on innovation for the week.
Welcoming the initiative, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, said:
For the first time ever we will hold an innovation week across all sectors of our public service. Organisations will focus on innovation through activities they have designed to engage and inspire their teams.
Public service leaders will have an opportunity this week to deliver innovative activities that convey to their teams not only the imperative, but also the opportunity, for developing new and improved ways of working and delivering better services for the public.
We are facing unprecedented global challenges – new and emerging technology, demographic pressures,, exponential growth of data and rising citizens expectations all together with competition and race for talent. To meet these challenges we need our public service to continue to adopt new ways of working and new ways of thinking to respond to this changing world.
While there are undoubted challenges, there are also opportunities, for example, through digital technologies and smart data. Technology can transform how we manage our work, communicate with one another and engage with our citizens. These technologies and smart data provide the opportunity for governments and public services to connect with people in new ways and this can have a positive impact for the public.
Innovation Week will see public service organisations create ways to engage their teams in aspects of innovation. Workshops will explore design-thinking, user-centricity, prototyping, ideation, and collaborative working, among other topics. The week is designed to further deepen an innovation culture throughout the public service; a key action under the current Public Service Reform and Innovation Framework.
Notes for Editors
Photographs of the main event during Innovation Week, the innovation conference and from some of the scheduled innovation workshops will be available from Maxwell Photography on Tuesday 10th December.
For more information see www.ops2020.gov.ie
For more information on Innovation Week 2019, click here.
Our Public Service 2020 is the policy framework designed to build on previous reform programmes while expanding the scope of reform to focus on collaboration, innovation and evaluation. For more information click here.