Collaboration helps innovation in government, says American think tank

Capital Ideas: How to Generate Innovation in the Public Sector
This report is full of good news stories about how innovation is happening - with some examples from the UK too. From the Center for American Progress and The Young Foundation. Fascinating.

In particular: collaboration is more innovative.

Capital Ideas

"Outside government, much innovation happens through collaboration. Academics build on each others’ work to advance new ideas. So-called “open source” innovation is increasingly common in business, especially in the tech- nological field. Businesses have always looked to competitors for ideas of better products or services. Yet in government, there is the tendency to be secretive and develop new products in-house. There are exceptions: New Zealand uses a wiki—or collaboratively edited website—to rewrite police legislation, and the city of Seoul has tapped thousands of citizens’ ideas in implementing public policy. But there is generally a deep-rooted cultural aversion to admitting that government may not have all the answers."