Most of us see innovation as the realm of tech entrepreneurs and the companies they build – the likes of Google, Facebook and Tesla. But it is government that has given us many of the world’s boldest inventions, from vaccines and wind power to the internet and space exploration.
As the annual World Government Summit demonstrates, innovation is becoming the norm in governments big and small, all over the world. At the summit, policymakers will be gathering to discuss the tools they need to solve the challenges of the future, from the threat of automation to fast-escalating climate change.
With trust in government at an all-time low in many countries, it's more important than ever to replace archaic, bureaucratic systems and services with better ones. But how can governments best harness innovation, not just at at the highest levels but throughout the public sector? And what does innovation really mean in the government context?
In the private sector, innovation is synonymous with invention. It's about disruption, blue-sky thinking and, often, flashy technology.
And from India's digital ID, a national biometric database launched in 2009 to streamline welfare services and cut public spending, and Estonia's data embassy, the world's first virtual embassy for data stored in a privately owned but publicly accessible cloud, to Singapore's robotic police force, it's technocentric innovations that grab headlines in the public sector too.
But there’s much more to innovation in government than just these big-ticket tech projects. Indeed, one of the most misleading assumptions about government innovation is that it must involve complex technology. That gives everyday public servants the impression that innovation is unattainable.
This isn’t to say government should never try anything completely new, nor use technology to tackle social problems. Tech has helped tackle a number of such issues, from curing malaria to combating air pollution and curbing loneliness.
It’s just that often, there are simpler, tried-and-tested fixes out there. It’s when policymakers use technology or reinvent policies just for the sake of it that they waste time and money.
Great innovation might lie in simply changing how those in the public sector work — by axing outdated processes or re-engineering risk-averse culture.
Finland, for example, wanted to encourage more innovation in its government but realised that fear of failure was holding most public servants back. It factored funding for experimentation into its national budget, building collaboration networks and idea accelerators where the message was clear: all civil servants have licence to experiment.
Giving public sector workers that protection to take risks has started to create a culture where innovation is the norm for all. Canada, which has integrated innovation funding into its federal budget, has taken a similar approach.
And while most would say that for a policy, intervention or approach to be innovative, it has to be new, government innovation can also mean building and improving upon solutions that already exist.
Research conducted by the Danish government, often cited as one of the most inventive in the world, found that 73 per cent of innovations introduced by its public servants are inspired by or copied from other departments.
It may seem like a contradiction: copying someone else's policy and calling it innovation. But as one of the researchers in charge said: "You can't fully grasp public sector innovation looking through the same lens as you would the private sector." The easiest way for policymakers to innovate, they found, is by reproducing a solution that works. (While, of course, tailoring it to their own context.)
It’s not just Denmark – governments all over the world are replicating solutions proven to have worked elsewhere. The UK’s Government Digital Service, for example, shared code and lessons from its successful digital transformation process with New Zealand to help it get a head start with providing online public services.
After all, a single-minded focus on novelty can be counter-productive. Governments might spend millions redesigning government websites that don't work. They might axe schools' arts and sports programmes to pay for tablets with few proven educational benefits. Some use artificial intelligence in courtrooms to save time, only to find out that they can discriminate against minorities.
Regardless of how they’re achieved, the best government innovations take a system that’s hard, slow or inefficient and make it easy to use while having an impact.
And they should focus on what citizens want and need, not necessarily what looks flashiest. This might mean working on simple ways to improve roads, hospitals and schools, rather than using the latest application of blockchain or artificial intelligence.
The biggest stumbling block of government is the inability to learn from itself. Better lesson-sharing, storytelling and evidence-building are key to changing that. The less policymakers get distracted by the private sector’s twin pillars of innovation – technology and novelty – the better they’ll be able to serve citizens.
Jennifer Guay is the government innovation editor for Apolitical, an online platform about government initiatives
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
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%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PAST 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNERS
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2012 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2011 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2010 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)