[Originally published on the Australian Government Public Sector Innovation Network under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence]
Recently I was lucky enough to attend the Western Australian Public Sector Innovation Workshop, organised (in the main) by the WA Department of Agriculture and Food.
Like the Australian Public Service, state and territory public sectors are also looking at how to foster and increase innovation. At this event there were a number of WA public servants involved with managing and supporting innovation in their agencies.
The event began with some speakers, including myself, covering innovative activity in WA and nationally. The presentations only touched on some of the examples of public sector innovation already happening in the West Australian public sector.
A compilation of examples had been collected together by the organisers in a case study booklet. The case studies cover a wide range of initiatives and I recommend having a look to see what’s been taking place in WA.
In the afternoon, the participants broke into groups and workshopped particular issues and actions that could be taken to encourage innovation. This covered a diverse range of topics, including barriers to innovation, skills and innovation and the policy process.
It was great to see this group of enthusiastic and interested people willing and eager to work for a more innovative public sector. I look forward to seeing what comes from the event.
Information about the Workshop and links to the presentations can be found on the WA Department of Agriculture and Food’s site.