The Danish Centre for Public Innovation (COI) has published a new report about public innovation – “Ud på kanten, ind til kernen, over til naboen”.
The points made by COI are:
· The politicians are an enabling factor if the allow an experimenting approach.
· A culture based on curiosity, openness and experimenting is key
· Using employees and users in the process is important
· It is difficult to sum up the effects of innovation – there are many different bottom lines
· There is a large potential for knowledge sharing
One of the cases in the report was very inspiring and at the same time a picture of the challenges, you have to overcome as an inventor in the public system. A nurse at a hospital got an idea for a pacifier for infants supplying oxygen to the child. The idea was picked up and developed into a product and resulted in a patent.
The voyage from idea to a product took 6 years and that is a process that will stop most people. Of course it could be a strategy to whittle out the weakest innovation but I doubt that is the case.