Complex Challenges – Innovative Cities 2 Oct 2012, Gävle

1. Complex Challenges – Innovative Cities2 Oct 2012, Gävle Overview of stakeholders’ interviews:Sweden, UK and Finland

2. Overview of stakeholders’ interviews Questionnaires sent by: • UK • Finland • Sweden • Italy – Genoa • Bulgaria

3. CCIC Definition of innovation:CCIC Methodology “New ideas that work at creating public value. Innovation is not an isolated phenomenon, but instead applies to quite a broad range of possibilities available to the public sector, including daily business and operations, policy design and implementation, internal and external communications, management systems, technological novelties, etc. What is common is that the result of any such application should contribute to greater public value, that is - have a positive net social impact.”

4. What is an innovation? Is innovation different between the public sector and the private sector? • Innovation – delivering economic, commercial and social improvements. • No principal differences between innovation in the public and the private sector, although the drivers might be different. The main motivation for both sectors is to create value. • Innovations in the private sector – it’s all about profits and markets; more product innovations. Another opinion - both product and service innovation. • Innovations in the public sector – cost savings, doing things better and new ways of doing things; more service innovations – public value. • Innovations in the public sector - new working practices and approaches. Innovations in the public sector have a more systemic nature, and thus a holistic approach is needed to understand the innovations in the public sector.

5. What is an innovation? Is innovation different between the public sector and the private sector? • Innovation in the private and the public sector is interlocked: public sector creates the space where innovations can be created. The public sector makes use of the innovations developed in the private and the third sector. In addition, in the public sector innovation has the “policy” dimension: innovations are often pursuits related to social policy. In some sectors there are lots of interfaces between private and public sector innovation: for example in medicine. • Innovations should be a part of problem solving. This is an ideal picture. • One of the important factors in innovation is communication: understanding of innovation at hand so that it can be disseminated and transferred. • The public sector will innovate where commercial organisations will not as they have different drivers. i.e public sector will seek to innovate for the social good.

6. Significance of local/regional public sector innovations to the communities and society at large? • It is the foundation for new thinking and growth: - Improvement of the quality of life- Improvement of the economic situation of people- Well-balanced economic development- Impact on regional diversity (improvements in know-how, improvements in regional activity etc.) • Public sector innovations – driver for the innovations in the private sector. The public sector as a whole has a very important role to fill. One of which is to inspire the private sector by asking for new solutions. The public sector can offer volume that makes it interesting for the private sector and private suppliers to develop new products and services.

7. Significance of local/regional public sector innovations to the communities and society at large? • Better engagement with the local community, better services and enhanced efficiency of the public sector.

8. Key benefits of innovations • Services – better and more diversified • Efficiency • Quality • Developed infrastructure • Social inclusion

9. Drivers and Hurdles • The most important drivers - the needs of the local community • Service needs (for example in the elderly care), which the current practices have not been able to meet • Political leadership • Positive environment for risk tolerance and development • Free, networked working culture in the region, a culture in which private and public sector meet • Creativity • Universities are also important drivers of innovations

10. Drivers and Hurdles • Resistance to change and ‘hostile’ attitude towards innovation • Budget cuts, scarcity of resources • Procurement – needs to be approached differently. Procurement of innovative services needs to be done differently to traditional procurement methods. • Short-term planning – mandates • Lack of competencies

11. Sectors of the local/regional economy that have potentially benefited the most from innovation stimulating policies • Automotive sector • Transport infrastructure and its secondary benefits to residents and businesses and economy. • Housing • Digital infrastructure • Low carbon services • The health care sector • ICT, energy and environment • Education • Libraries • City infrastructure

12. How the citizens have been affected by public sector innovations • Better engagement of the public sector with the community, better social care services • Increased efficiency of the services and improved access to services • Increased quality of public services • New services – telecare facility for carers • Citizens do not realize the impact of innovations on their everyday life - retrofitting of energy saving products to council house owners. They understand the value of the product, but not that there is a wider remit to infrastructure strategy. Other benefits which are secondary, it’s difficult to know whether citizens are aware of these or not • Co-production tools, eg recycling improvements. This has led to changes in behaviour. • Significant impact of the public sector innovations – they reach a high number of citizens, and have lasting impacts on generations to come

13. How does the local/regional authority support innovations? What are the primary beneficiaries of successful innovations there? • In a method project concerning Innovation Procurement. • Region Gävleborg “support the supporters”, but the main beneficiaries at the end stage are private enterprises. • The city supports innovation by cooperation and providing funding which support especially the science/educational sector. • The challenge in our region is, that we don’t have common vision or innovation strategy that all the organisations would share. Every organisation create their innovation support from their own perspective, but there is no proper, shared vision. • Innovation Services Unit of the city is an example that the city wants to support innovation.

14. Specific policies at the local level to support innovations • The region has already created e.g. a road map to an innovation hub • Budget changes drive innovation to the public • Public authority does support innovation, but doesn’t fund it • Early stages of Innovation Champions programme to create a network • The Authority facilitates relationships with business and universities

15. How innovation policy planning could be improved? • Cooperation between different actors, collaboration with the academy, and better involvement of private sector contractors • Focus on organisational culture • A clear leadership around strategic issues making it easier for all in the system to focus. The more user involvement early in the process, the better. • We have to learn to be a lot better on the leadership part, the much more difficult task of putting the policy into action. • To increase efficiency in the system – from idea to capitalisation and growth. To find the best merger between public and private capital. A little more courage. • We need to get rid of the top-down approach. We need to recognize the demand and the needs of the region.

16. How innovation policy planning could be improved? • Financial frames would be created on the national level, but content and activities would be built on the local level. There is no need for additional authors/actors between these two elements. • Stronger role of the universities and better collaboration with the local/regional authority • Removing duplication of activities, funds efficiency • Better transparency between the stakeholders. Working together needs some improvement still. The issue of policy coordination. • When planning innovation policy it would be important to get rid of hierarchy, traditional relations of power and set-ups • Also the new networks and Internet enable greater citizen’s involvement in planning • Wide engagement of stakeholders and citizens, cooperation should be creative and confidential and sufficient resources have to be made available.

17. External instruments available to the public sector to facilitate innovation planning and implementation • European funds - FP7, JESSICA. EU initiatives – provide stimulus • Central government, funds • Selective funding pots, eg Regional Growth Fund, Growing Places fund. • Private sector, eg consultants as supporters. • NESTA, an independent charity, promoting innovation in the UK. It publishes a wide range of research papers designed for policy makers; tests out radical theories and produces practical programmes to demonstrate how innovative schemes can improve public services and benefit local communities. • Dissemination and communication of the impacts of innovations

18. Collaboration and networking to foster public sector innovation • It’s simple to say: in every success case collaboration has helped to foster innovation, and in every unsuccessful case there has been lack of cooperation • Networking is a necessary means to allocate resources and funding • Collaboration with other cities and regions • There is no innovation without collaboration. It is essential to gather a range of different attitudes, across sectors, to get a different point of view.

19. Last, but not least … Let us remember that CCIC in itself is an innovation!