The UK Government has launched One Big Thing 2024, a programme designed to encourage innovation among civil servants.
The Government is partnering with scale-up Wazoku on the programme, which runs from October 14 2024 to February 14 2025. 470,000 civil servants can use the platform to collaborate, track progress, and share innovations across departments.
“One Big Thing 2024 is about using our combined creativity to improve how we work and how we serve the public,” said Joe Torjussen, head of innovation, Civil Service Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office. “Focusing on small, actionable changes creates a safe environment where civil servants can experiment, learn, and grow, and we create a more innovative and ambitious Civil Service as a result.”
The 2023 People Survey revealed that less than half of civil servants (42.6 percent) believe they have the knowledge and skills to turn ideas into something impactful.
One Big Thing 2024 drives innovation through three key steps that encourage learning, collaboration, and action. Civil servants will start by completing the Innovation Masterclass, a structured online course that teaches practical steps for ideation and innovation. Teams will then gather to share ideas and agree on a ‘small change’ to implement, with the platform facilitating those conversations and tracking progress.
The third stage will encourage teams to experiment with their chosen change, monitor its impact, and reflect on the outcomes. Wazoku’s platform enables them to submit case studies and share successes and learnings across departments.
“One Big Thing is about building and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the entire Civil Service, and empowering civil servants to be bold and creative is at the heart of how we improve service and operational delivery,” said Torjussen.
“Being innovative is not limited to certain fields or roles, and we all need to creatively respond to the challenges we face in our teams, functions or departments and as a Civil Service.”
Targeting entire UK Civil Service
One Big Thing is now in its second year. Last year’s kick-off programme delivered more than half a million hours of data learning to 212,000 civil servants, and 2024’s initiative is aiming to involve the entire UK Civil Service.
“Governments know the value of innovation and One Big Thing is one of the biggest innovation programmes any government has undertaken,” said Simon Hill, CEO, Wazoku. “By harnessing the collective knowledge of the civil service in this way, the government can drive positive change and scale the best ideas to transform departments.”
