The General Services Administration has launched its new Digital.gov Innovation Adoption Community of Practice (CoP) to learn, share, and adopt innovative approaches and new ways of working within organizations.
The Innovation Adoption CoP is rooted in the 2015 Strategy of American Innovation to deliver an innovative government with, and for, the people.
The strategy prompted the organic creation of a convening network of innovation drivers across government, with a significant effort on projects and outcomes that solve challenging problems within the Federal workforce. Participants have developed a unique collection of experiences and resources to address these challenges within the Federal workforce.
“We convened more than 2,000 federal government employees from 112 agencies across the U.S. in 100 co-creation workshops and two design-a-thons. [And] we established a network of more than 100 innovation mentors, coaches, and facilitators to amplify and evangelize innovation within their agencies,” GSA said in a statement.
From this, GSA developed six concepts based on innovative principles. Those include: everyone can build a better government; keep your user at the center of your design; embrace change and experiment; collaborate with partners; let data inform your decision making; and innovation is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
The agency also created a toolkit to explore four categories: 21st-century culture and workflow, improving government services delivery, solving complex problems, and working with innovators. And GSA designed four innovation archetypes to understand the behaviors and needs of innovators in government: the doers, dreamers, champions, and gatekeepers.
Additionally, GSA designed, staffed, and launched an Innovation Bootcamp to train and connect the many current and future innovators across the government over 12 weeks.
