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vps innovation challenge

VPS InnoVatIon Challenge

The VPS Innovation Challenge 2011 was an opportunity for all VPS members to put forward ideas to tackle specific public policy or service delivery challenges.

JudgeS

Jonathan Spear Department of Premier and Cabinet

Sarah-Jane McCormack Department of Sustainability and Environment

Amanda Caples Department of Business and Innovation

Maria Katsonis Department of Premier and Cabinet

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SeCretary’S foreword

foreward

In the Victorian Public Service (VPS), we have always looked for new approaches to improve the way we work and respond to the needs of the Victorian community. Today we face many complex and interlinked challenges that require new ways of thinking and new approaches to solve them. We need to do more with less and meet the rising expectations of citizens.

We cannot do this with existing approaches. That is why public sector innovation has been and remains a strategic priority for the VPS. Innovation is a core capability of the VPS and in 2010, I launched a VPS Innovation Action Plan that was endorsed by all departmental secretaries. One of the flagship initiatives under the action plan is the VPS Innovation Challenge. It aimed to harness the talent in the VPS by seeking ideas to address public policy and service delivery issues.

The challenge was issued across the whole of the Victorian Government and was a resounding success. It attracted 136 entries with diverse and broad-ranging ideas. The standard of entries was very high which made judging difficult.

It was pleasing to see that all departments were well represented by entrants and several agencies also participated. Some entries involved collaboration between two or more departments and agencies, or across levels of government which was particularly pleasing to see. Public sector innovation comes from working across disciplines, across departments, across levels of government and across sectors.

On behalf of the other secretaries, I congratulate all the entrants, the finalists and the winners.

Helen Silver Secretary Department of Premier and Cabinet

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IntroduCtIon

The Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) launched the VPS Innovation Challenge in March 2011. The challenge gave every member of the VPS the opportunity to voice their ideas on how to tackle public policy and service delivery challenges.

There were two categories in the challenge:

THe Open CHAllenge Any good idea however big or small that would enable the VPS to do better in areas such as:

› a specific public policy area (e.g. population growth, climate variability, aging or education)

› the way in which the VPS works (e.g .better recruitment, more efficient procurement or more effective engagement).

THe SeCreTAry’S CHAllenge The DPC Secretary sought ideas on three specific policy issues:

› How can VPS workforce and resources be used to provide better approaches to service delivery?

› How can the VPS tap into the potential of people and communities in designing and delivering services?

› How can we build a more effective relationship with local government?

The challenge was run entirely on the VPS Hub, the whole-of-government intranet that is a social media platform for collaboration across government. Ideas were immediately visible as soon as they were posted, providing a high degree of transparency.

After the closing date, members from the VPS Innovation Advisory Group assessed the submitted entries and selected a short list. The shortlisted entries were then given the equivalent of five days off-line to develop a detailed business case or feasibility study for their idea. The completed business cases were again posted on the VPS Hub and assessed by the judging panel for the Judges Award. There was also a Peer Award which was voted by their peers across the VPS through the VPS Hub.

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VPS InnoVatIon Challenge tImetable

1 March VPS Innovation Challenge launched by Helen Silver, DPC Secretary

31 March Entries closed

7 April Short-listed finalists announced

19 April Short-listed finalists received training on business case preparation

9 May Feasibility studies and business cases submitted

9-27 May Peer voting opened on the VPS Hub

30 May Winners announced

8 June Winners presented to the DPC Secretary and other secretaries

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emergIng themeS

The major themes emerging from the entries were:

› focus on the citizen

› whole-of-government collaboration

› social inclusion

› greater use of Web 2.0 technologies

› VPS employee health and wellbeing

› attracting, managing and retraining talented people

› improving internal processes.

Open Challenge

Secretary’s Challenge

AnAlySiS Of enTrieS by brOAd THeMeS

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oPen Challenge

Winner – JudgeS AWArdSustainability Guidelines for Major Public Capital Works

Ashley Admiraal, Rod McLellan, Lucy Carrigg, Andrew McKinley, Zorana Zanoskar, Nicole Opie, Jeremy Gronow, Penny Blunden and Melissa Clark (Department of Business and Innovation)

The Victorian Government’s capital works program involves diverse projects such as public housing, arts and sports facilities, prisons, schools, road and rail, parks and zoological gardens. As there are no applicable Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) guidelines for project owners and managers in government, agencies develop guidelines on a project-by-project basis resulting in variable performance in the delivery of ESD outcomes.

The development of whole-of-Victorian-Government ESD guidelines would establish consistency and incorporate greater use of ESD in capital projects and contribute to:

› lower environmental impact for capital projects

› better value for money for government over the life cycle of capital assets

› the VPS leading the way for other governments

› Victoria’s sustainability agenda through positive spill-overs.

Winner – peer AWArdVictoria-Asia Unit: Growing an Asia-literate Victoria

Joel Backwell (Department of Premier and Cabinet), Julien Leyre and Amelia Fyfield (Department of Primary Industries)

A dedicated Victoria-Asia unit would bring a coordinated and systematic approach to positioning Victoria in connecting with and prospering from opportunities arising in Asia. The unit would improve our Asia literacy by focusing on educating the next generation, Victorian business and the Victorian Government.

The Victoria-Asia Unit would involve cross agency staff from the departments of Premier and Cabinet, Business and Innovation, Education and Early Childhood Development and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship to develop an Asia Ready Workforce Strategy. The unit will harness the untapped Asia knowledge and expertise across the VPS and the wider community to better co-ordinate existing initiatives and develop new policies and programs to build and maintain an Asia-ready Victoria.

The unit adopted a multi-faceted approach that would be mutually reinforcing. It has the potential to realise economic and social benefits for Victoria.

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finAliST – CuSTOMer firST Rod Holland, Darrel Wollensack and Michael Oldaker (State Revenue Office)

Approaching service delivery from the citizen’s point of view, Customer First would engage Victorian citizens and give them an opportunity to express their opinions regarding service delivery. By having a greater understanding of the needs and concerns of citizens, a platform for change would be created that would facilitate:

› improving voluntary compliance by improving citizen knowledge and acceptance of their land tax obligations

› reduction in compliance costs (red tape) for citizens

› improving assessments, forms and publications to better suit citizens’ needs.

finAliST – eMerging fuTureS Art Truter and Neil Houghton (Department of Planning and Community Development)

Emerging Futures would put citizens in the centre by engaging with the community on challenges to encourage collaboration between government and the community. Emerging Futures is a portal that would open up to a growing segment of the population that is both internet-aware and social media smart. By asking a series of questions around matters of interest such as “Where will you live?” “Where will you work?” “What

values do you think should drive our futures?” Emerging Futures would allow individuals to respond in many ways that allow the VPS to find out what is important to Victorians and provoke discussion and conversation around these ideas.

finAliST – MAJOr prOJeCT revieW bOArd Fiona Prowse (Department of Premier and Cabinet)

The Major Project Review Board would be an independent body that reviews completed major projects, allowing the VPS to strengthen governance and decision making around major projects. The board will mandate a post-implementation review of all major projects and significant government projects. By evaluating projects that hold strategic significance, the board will be able to develop a greater understanding of project management in a Victorian context and feed key learnings into future projects.

Secondary benefits of the board would include strengthened VPS capacity and internal relations due its cross collaborate nature and increased community faith that will enable new projects to be approved and existing ones to be supported by the public.

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Winner – JudgeS AWArdEnhanced operational decision making for service delivery to complex clients

Stephen Graham (Department of Human Services)

A small proportion of clients may consume the majority of service-delivery resources. They are complex clients and may receive services from a range of departments and agencies (e.g. youth justice, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health, housing and disability).

Often navigating a wide range of services unaided, they continue to present and can add to intergenerational demand on these services. To help break this cycle we need to know what happens to them in an operational setting and get enough information to tailor services to help them.

Enhanced Operational Decision-making is an integrated reporting solution, using data warehouses across departments and agencies to get more comprehensive information about complex clients. It would promote better outcomes for complex clients by allowing service providers to get the information they need to focus appropriate expertise, make better informed decisions and intervene early to head off any intergenerational issues.

Using this client centred approach, providers can manage clients to a point where they can exit the system and not have a long-term need for such services.

Enhanced Operational Decision-making will mean fewer services to clients are duplicated, more efficient use of funds and resources, better use of specialists and caseworker expertise and, with a client focus, an improved perception of government service.

Winner – peer AWArdPeople Plus and MindLab-in-a-Box

Celia Pollard (Transport Ticketing Authority), Christian O’Dea (Department Of Justice), Leonie Newnham (Department of Sustainability and Environment),

Neil Houghton (Department of Planning and Community Development), Harry Buskes (Department of Business and Innovation)

Today’s public servant is facing an unprecedented array of complex social, environmental and economic policy issues, together with the changing community expectations of public services and the government. The aim of People Plus and MindLab-in-a-Box is to create a more agile public service that is at the leading edge of public policy thinking and service delivery design. This idea proposes two complementary elements in a cross-departmental proposal that would embed innovation as a systematic discipline in the VPS.

Members of the VPS would be used to develop a new unit that has a mobile innovation capability (MindLab in-a-Box) as well as an internal consulting agency (People Plus) that would comprise of public servants using design principles to

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assist public policy decision-makers. The unit would create a dynamic VPS workforce that would deliver better public sector management and service delivery, and also bring in members of the community to collaborate on new solutions.

finAliST – @ur.ServiCe Murali Maheswaran (State Revenue Office)

One call. One click. One window into local government.

By creating a single citizen interface with local government, @ur.service would streamline service phone numbers and online portals across local government by consolidating call centres, dispatch, job tracking and data capture services. By providing a ‘one-click, one-call’ system similar to the 311 service currently in place in Baltimore, USA, the Victorian Government would improve operational efficiency and provide a one-stop shop for citizens.

Through a thorough exploration of the current research and findings from similar systems in place, @ur.service would provide continuous service improvement through rigorous evaluation and follow-up. By allowing the Victorian Government to collect detailed data with job tracking information and real-time monitoring of citizens needs, valuable information would be gathered to assist when planning future services and applications.

finAliST – COnneCTing gOvernMenT ServiCeS TO THe COMMuniTy Patrick Ow (Department of Health)

This idea aims to connect government services to the community by creating an interactive online directory. The directory would include events, activities, providers and services grouped by postcodes and municipalities that will combine information offered by community service providers in the 3,160 postcode locations across Victoria. The information would be compiled into a format that would allow members of the public to view, search and connect with their required services and providers through a centralised community services portal.

The portal would also allow organisations to collect donations and volunteer participation by implementing a secure online payment gateway to connect Community Service Providers with volunteers and private benefactors. The Community Services Portal would allow information to be collected to help make informed decisions about resource allocation and funding to the areas and services on a needs basis. The Portal would encourage document and information sharing, collaboration and interaction between the Government, Community Service Providers and citizens.

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finAliST – STATe/lOCAl gOvernMenT exCHAnge prOgrAM Leonie Newnham and Ben Schofield (Department of Sustainability and Environment)

A State and Local Government Workforce Exchange Program would enable people working in interconnected systems of government to understand each system better and develop strategic thinking skills. The program would deliver better government services by:

› creating a systematic approach to develop staff, and assisting local and state government agencies in understanding the work that each sector does

› actively building skills and relationships across the two sectors

› building capacity and collaboration in a consistent and strategic way

› creating a cohort of cross-sectoral experts available to tackle difficult and complex problems at both levels of government

› undertaking system-wide activity across sectors in a way not done before

› setting up workplace projects and looking at workplace problems differently using a fresh set of eyes.

The exchange would allow knowledge transfer and relationship building between sectors by connecting the VPS with local government.

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Aaron SweetAlasdair MoodieAlex KusmanoffAlexandra LinksAlfie OlivaAmanda FinnisAmanda WellsAmber ElliotAmelia FyfieldAmit GolderAndrew McKinleyArt TruterAsa LetourneauAshley AdmiraalBarry DenhamBecky SharpeBen SchofieldBen TanBertan MackaliBethany JohnsonBrenda PetersenByron ThompsonCathy LipkeCelia PollardCheryl Hardy

Chris BroughamChristiaan O’DeaChristine HooperChristine PapponClaire PritchardClaire Stonier-kipenClare GleghornClare MoranCraig WhitefordDale AhernDarrell WollensackDarren RoothDavid HaubenschildDeborah ParkerDeborah WestfieldDespina BabbageDespina PoursanidisDr Iain ButterworthDrew GrantEddie DolceamoreEmma CoathEva Hamilton

Faye SchmidtFi XuerebFiona ProwseFrank LavoricoFrankie MacLennanGeorge PetersGeorgie FosterGerard Van EmmerikGerardine O’SullivanGrant ArnoldHarold Adem Harry BuskesIan BridgerIlona NicolaJacqueline Le Grand-CondelloJames BairdJames DennisJayne ColeJeff MoranJeremy GronowJeremy MoloneyJess Strickland

Jo Beth TaylorJoel BackwellJohn ArmstrongJohn BarkerJohn CheeversJohn JonesJohn KayeJohn KennedyJohn LimJohn MalliganJulianna BaloghJulie FrancisJulie JensenJulien LeyreJustin GehdeKeelie ReaderKellie FixterKelly ZuccalaKim SellingKris FaulksKylie ShanahanLaura WalshLauren FearneLaurie HawkinsLeesa Willan

Leonie NewnhamLiana ShiLisha ConstantinoLouise OsborneLucy CarriggLuke HorwillLyn MaloneLyneve WhitingLynne AllanMadeleine OwenMarc BradleyMark Hamilton-SmithMark LimMark MalkounMark MeadeMartin BotrosMartin ButcherMatthew PayneMax CoffmanMelissa KramerMichael KennedyMichael McKenzieMichael OldakerMichael Walker

Michaella RichardsMichelle GoldsmithMichelle WellsMurali MaheswaranNardia SmitsNatasha IlievskaNeil E WelshNeil HoughtonNicole OpiePatrick OwPaul BeavisPen FisherPeter GutbierPeter HeazlewoodPeter MorisonPeter SculleyPhilippa NihillRichard ChapmanRichard PangRichard WoodmanRod HollandRod McClellanRose BroadstockRosie Pitman

Ryan ThomasSam RidleySarah LangmoreScott RawlingsSean ShielsSimon BlankensteinSimon PiantaSophie PattenStacey ChapmanStefan HladenkiStephen GrahamSusan GreenTania SherwoodTim FryTim MarshallTony MohorovicTracey MattersTracie MartinVanessa ScottVesna Penjin-MarjanovicViviana GoldingWilliam YuZorana Zanoskar

We would like to acknowledge everyone who submitted an entry to the challenge for their time, effort and for contributing to the success of the project.

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If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, such as large print or audio,

please telephone 9651 5135. This document is also available in an accessible format on the

Internet at www.intranet.vic.gov.au.

Department of Premier and Cabinet 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne 3002

Published September 2011

Design and production Strategic Communications Branch,

Department of Premier and Cabinet