Enhancing Innovation Capacity in City Government
Cities are reinventing themselves to adapt and respond to their evolving contexts. One instrument that local government is leveraging is innovation. To understand how cities approach public sector innovation, the OECD and Bloomberg Philanthropies carried out a survey on innovation capacity across 89 cities in OECD countries and non-OECD economies. The focus of the survey was to unpack the capacity to innovate in the local public sector and explore the resources – human, financial, and institutional – and how they can work to boost innovation in a city.
This report explores the approaches and goals, staffing and structure, data, financial resources, and evaluation efforts that local administrations are making to innovate. It also reviews the outcomes that are resulting from these measures, especially related to resident well-being.
Innovation capacity in cities – an empirical perspective
Cities are becoming key actors in the advancement of public sector innovation. This chapter presents the findings of the OECD/Bloomberg Survey on Innovation Capacity in Cities. First, it presents the strategy and goals cities have adopted to realise innovation. Then the chapter discusses the organisational arrangements for innovation, which examines components such as leadership, innovation teams, funding and human resource management. The chapter will then move to present the findings on data management capability, which is considered a key element in enhancing innovation capacity in city government. Finally, this chapter will discuss the governance mechanisms that facilitate public sector innovation, such as citizens’ participation in policy making and partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders.