Government innovation under the spotlight at upcoming London conference

Innovation has become a central part of the government’s ambitions to reform public services, improve productivity and deliver better outcomes for citizens. But while new technologies and approaches offer considerable opportunities, turning promising ideas into lasting improvements remains a challenge.

Across central and local government, public bodies are exploring how AI, better use of data and new approaches to service design can help address longstanding problems. Yet innovation is about more than introducing new technology. It also requires organisations to rethink established processes, challenge existing ways of working and create the conditions for successful ideas to be adopted more widely.

Questions remain about how government can move beyond individual projects and pilots, overcome organisational barriers and ensure innovation delivers measurable benefits for the people who use public services.

These challenges will be explored at Think Innovation for Government,  on Wednesday 11 November at One Great George Street in Westminster, London.

Organised by Think Digital Partners, the conference will bring together around 30 speakers from central and local government, industry bodies and technology suppliers to discuss the opportunities and obstacles facing public sector innovation.

From ideas to implementation

The agenda will examine how innovation can support government priorities and civil service reform, alongside its potential to improve policymaking and public service delivery.

Sessions will also challenge some established assumptions about innovation, including whether government’s biggest problem is really a shortage of new ideas, or a lack of demand for adopting them.

Speakers include representatives from the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Ministry of Defence and the London Office of Technology and Innovation.

“The agenda doesn’t pull any punches either with sessions that focus on Government not having an innovation problem but rather that the problem is demand,” said Think Digital Partners’ co-founder, Matt Stanley.

“We will have discussions covering such varied topics as how innovations can support govern priorities and civil service reform or designing better policy.”

With other sessions on user-centred design and how to use data to improve public services, there are plenty of reasons for public sector tech professionals to attend, learn and network.

View the full agenda and register for Think Innovation for Government