tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8750343339904865739.post7689466550636826331..comments2023-11-02T20:45:14.873+11:00Comments on eGov AU: Why does government struggle with innovation?Craig Thomlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350603210658700252noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8750343339904865739.post-27892495479041088352010-04-17T19:24:28.196+10:002010-04-17T19:24:28.196+10:00Hi Tim,
The dilemma is always how should the publ...Hi Tim,<br /><br />The dilemma is always how should the public sector measure economic value (in order to demonstrate value and benefit). Profit is a nice clean yardstick. Money goes in, money goes out, profit (or loss) is the difference between the two (with various complicated accounting steps).<br /><br />However other economic value is harder to measure because it is based on guestimating the benefit of doing one thing rather than another. <br /><br />We saved 'x' dollars or created 'y' revenue for the private sector is hard to quantify compared to what would have happened if we did nothing - as we didn't do nothing and therefore cannot compare like for like.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />CraigCraig Thomlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18350603210658700252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8750343339904865739.post-74468670747223061502010-04-15T20:16:53.627+10:002010-04-15T20:16:53.627+10:00Thanks for mentioning my blog post Craig - I appre...Thanks for mentioning my blog post Craig - I appreciate it!<br /><br />Like David, I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with introducing too much of a profit motive into the public sector. When I talk about innovation, I define it as executing new ideas that create economic value. The key point is that value is not necessarily profit. All of David's innovation examples clearly create economic value - but not necessarily profit.<br /><br />Interestingly, I ran across this post today:<br /><br />http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/strategy/public-sector-challenges/136386<br /><br />which reports that in the UK at least, public sector managers are actually much more innovative than the stereotypes would suggest. I've seen similar examples of dynamic, innovative public sector organisations here in Australia as well. So I know it can be done within the existing frameworks. Plenty of challenges involved though...<br /><br />Thanks for the thought-provoking post!Tim Kastellehttp://timkastelle.org/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8750343339904865739.post-81977438761251460362010-04-15T12:40:10.845+10:002010-04-15T12:40:10.845+10:00Craig, I've been thinking about this issue for...Craig, I've been thinking about this issue for a few days before I saw this post today. My feeling is that there is a role for the profit motive in some areas of public sector innovation but something bothers me about giving it the primary role in all innovation. After all, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the profit motive would not explain the success of innovations such as scholarship, creative commons licensing, open source projects of all kinds, as well as other collective management arrangements aligned with a commons. Is it possible that innovation occurs along different lines in different "sectors"? And if so, what would innovation specific to the Australian public sector look like?DavidPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16904986138078206130noreply@blogger.com