Govtech open innovation labs

In previous articles we have told you how there is too much innovation that does not reach public administrations (AAPP), especially in the digital field. Startups, scaleups and digital SMEs that are impacting the digitization process of many industries are not approaching the public customer due to different barriers. In this context, the new govtech ecosystems emerge as a way to bring new solutions from non-traditional providers to the public sector.

In order for them to be found, we need to encourage the demand for this type of solutions by the Public Administrations on the one hand, and on the other hand, boost the supply of govtech startups. There are different policies, tools and regulations to activate both ways and today we want to talk to you about govtech open innovation labs.

The main goal of govtech labs is to reduce that gap between government and govtech solutions by creating pre-commercial spaces where public teams can identify and test new digital solutions and thus inform their future demand for technology in a more open, transparent and competitive way. By doing so, we aim to achieve:

• Bring digital solutions from new suppliers closer to specific management challenges.
• Develop in the participating teams dynamic capabilities to identify, test and scale new digital solutions.
• open the digital supplier market to a more diverse offer.

And how do we achieve this? At GOBE we structure the govtech open innovation labs in five phases:

1. Defining challenges

In this article we tell you about the importance of defining problems in the public sector. For this reason, laboratories start by identifying with the public teams problems or challenges they face in their area of work, with the objective of starting with the analysis of the problem instead of suggesting solutions.

This type of procedure is not common in the public sector, and is achieved by incorporating design and research methodologies. In this way, the institution manages to define "good problems" focused on the real needs of the people or the civil servant - differentiating causes and effects - and involves transversal teams that otherwise would not be in contact due to the operational structure of the administration.

After the analysis, a clear and concise challenge is articulated, with enough information to be able to communicate it, inspire good solutions and attract other types of suppliers. This phase introduces a new concept: problem-based work, which comes from the Stanford University School of Government's theory of the "Problem Solving based approach".

2. Dissemination of the challenge to the innovative community

Once the challenge is defined, a call is opened to invite digital startups and SMEs to submit their proposals for solutions to the challenge. But contrary to what is usual in public tenders, in govtech innovation labs the administration teams must take an active role in the search for new suppliers and approach them.

In order for the community to respond to the administration's calls and identify the best quality solutions for the institution, two aspects are important:

• On the one hand, investing in the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem of the territory on an ongoing basis to promote the supply of this type of solutions
• On the other hand, articulating relationships with actors in this ecosystem, such as accelerators, incubators, technology centers, universities and investors to disseminate the call and reach the maximum number of entrepreneurs possible.

In addition, the effort must be complemented by conducting market studies of innovative companies to call them directly to compete. The objective of this phase is to have a more diverse and competitive innovative offer than usual.

3. Knowledge exchange

This phase is fundamental for both worlds to lay the foundations for their collaborative work. Given the differences in their operations, culture and ways of working, it is advisable that both actors receive training on how to work together. To this end, we invite to create spaces and dynamics of rapprochement between the teams of the public administration and the innovative companies interested in solving the challenge. For example, semi-structured meetings such as pitching, rounds and interviews, so that the institutions get to know better the solutions offered and the innovative companies get to know much more information about the problem and its context.

4. Experimentation and piloting

Once the call for proposals is closed and the company with the most appropriate solution to respond to the challenge posed is chosen, the piloting process begins. One of the differential aspects of govtech open innovation is that in the pilots we not only measure the technological performance of the solution but also many other impacts in the context of the specific public service: impact on the way civil servants work, on the trust generated in the citizen user, on the sustainability of the process, in short: if the piloted solution provides public value.

To achieve this, at the beginning of the pilot we work with the institution and the innovative companies in the joint definition of a framework for evaluating the solution, the process of collecting evidence and learning, and the indicators for evaluating the pilot. This phase helps institutions to approach the world of experimentation and evaluation, learning to set objectives and measure results with data, and thus be able to make more informed decisions. We cannot conceive of a pilot without evaluation.

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5. Dissemination of the govtech case and scaling of the innovation that works

On completion of the pilot, a govtech case is produced that summarizes the process and lessons learned. This piece is useful for both teams:

• It allows to have evidence to inform future tenders or internal technological developments and to make the experience known to other institutions that have similar problems and may be interested in learning about the application of that particular solution.
• It allows to give visibility to the company and its solution to help them in their commercial process with other institutions.

This form of information sharing is also new for management. The communication of innovation is an important point that we must not forget. The govtech case helps to make visible all its work process, what has worked well and not so well, and the institution can start to communicate in a different way its way of working innovation.

To scale up the tested and evaluated innovation, two areas are worked on. On the one hand, the redesign of the service is proposed to integrate the functionality and value of the piloted solution. On the other hand, tenders are promoted which, by design, open the competition to this type of innovative, technological and specialized companies.

If you want to know more about govtech labs, feel free to write us at hello@gobe.studio.

También you can take a look at the first govtech labs in Spain with which Gobe collaborates, such as the Govtech Lab Bizkaia, the Govtech Program of the Madrid City Council and the govtechlab Madrid of the Community of Madrid launched in 2020.

By the way, next week we will explain in detail how was the experience of the Community of Madrid, you can take a look at the challenges posed and the pilots that were carried out.