Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, January 2016
“The bottom line is this: if change is the new constant, then innovation is the new imperative.” -Governor General David Johnston[i]
OVERVIEW
The following document outlines a business case for a whole-of-government Collision Hub that will host a range of unique innovation hubs championed by multiple departments/agencies. The Government of Canada Collision Hub will serve stakeholders across public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. To expand on the concept outlined here, it is proposed that a multi-stakeholder design event take place at Innovation, Science, and Economic Development’s Service Lab. Following this event, it is recommended that broader discussion take place among ADM and DM-level across government to achieve buy-in and commitment for the Hub.
CONTEXT
The Government of Canada is Canada’s largest single employer with over 250,000 employees and over 100 departments and agencies – all representing a diverse range of sectors and services to Canadians. Currently, as a way to optimize this structure, the Government is pursuing the largest single Public Service modernization effort in its history through Blueprint 2020, a major component of which is innovation.
For Canada to compete globally, it needs to leverage its knowledge economy to the fullest and continuously innovate to meet emerging demands. The Government of Canada Collision Hub is being proposed to facilitate the Government of Canada’s role in fostering tri-sector collaboration in a way that catalyzes our national potential. In today’s world, there is no room for silos. To be a global leader we need to harness the power of borderless networking, relationships, big data, open government, social media, and collaborative technologies. To do this we need to bring down the physical and notional walls in a way that maximizes innovation, R&D, and commercialization in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors so that we can export what makes us great – our ideas and know-how.
Aligned with the Blueprint 2020 vision for a world-class public service, the Government of Canada Collision Hub will support of a growing culture of employees who have an appetite for organizational improvement, are highly skilled, want to be innovative in creating efficiencies, and are passionate about increasing public value. The GoC Collision Hub will provide the framework to promote bottom-up innovation as well as support for top-led initiatives.
DRIVERS OF CHANGE
There are numerous drivers of change crossing environmental, technological, political, technological, and management perspectives. Changes include:
- Changing Workforce: The Public Service is rapidly changing, younger employees of the X, Y, Z generations entering the Public Service expect a series of tools and channels to collaborate. While online tools service as a place to obtain information, a physical space, outside the conventional office would self-serve as promoting ideas and thinking differently about a common issue.
- Private Sector Trends: Similar the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, a Government of Canada innovation destination could see multiple departments and agencies establish a centre of excellence in one dynamic location.
- New Thinking and its Application: Big Data, Chaos Theory, Networking Theory, Behavioural Economics, Systems Theory, etc.
BUSINESS NEED
The GoC Innovation Hub aligns with the Government of Canada’s public service modernization efforts and the vision of Blueprint 2020 for a world-class Public Service. It aims to enhance tangible whole-of-Canada collaboration and innovation in a way that positions Canada as a global leader. Like many countries around the world, Canada is feeling the pressure to adapt to the rapidly evolving ecosystems in which it operates.
Currently the Government of Canada employs a complex network of over 100 departments and agencies to provide a series of public services to Canadians. Through a siloed organizational structure, the Government of Canada has missed significant opportunities to allow its Public Service to interact, dialogue, and problem solve with one another and with stakeholders. The way of operating results in a confused picture of Governments service, policy, and entry points. A whole-of-government hub would serve to showcase scalable innovation across and between departments. This ultimately will reduce duplication, increase coherence of approach, improve communication to Canadians, and facilitate cost-saving by eliminating redundancies.
Problem/Opportunity Statement
Currently many Government departments and agencies are experimenting with small, medium, and large scale innovation hubs/labs. This organic experimentation is following private sector industry trends that are demonstrating that for employees to be able to innovate and collaborate with other innovators, the space needs to be conducive in a way the facilitates interaction and creativity. Already, private sector hubs like Hub Ottawa and the IBM Innovation Lab are engaging their Public Sector counterparts looking for ways to share networks, best practices, and hub/lab development approaches.
With over 100 federal departments/agencies, the cost-effectiveness of creating multiple hubs across government comes into question. The level of duplication of effort and the potential for poor coordination and innovation standards across departments could risk the professional image of government services. A consolidation of Innovation Hubs into one unique space would help address the issue of duplication and ultimately, fiscal responsibility.
To overcome the risk associated with an organic and uncoordinated approached to innovation hubs/labs, this business case proposes that the Government of Canada establish a multi-department/agency innovation destination that serves both the public and government clients. Similar the MaRS discovery District in Toronto, this Government of Canada innovation destination could see multiple departments and agencies establish their hubs in one dynamic modern location attracting public, private, academic, and not-for-profit engagement and collaboration.
The value of this model is having a single focal point where all stakeholders work together to collectively find new horizontal solutions and opportunities to serve Canadians better. Not only will the Hub help to foster exponential innovation across government, it will serve a single entry point for Canadians, businesses, academic institutions, NGOs and other stakeholders seeking to innovate alongside the public sector. By creating a tri-sector innovative capacity, the Government will more rapidly advance innovation in Canada’s knowledge economy, help to foster commercialization of our R&D, and ultimately make Canada more competitive in the global marketplace. This exciting and innovative approach to collaboration would not only raise the profile of the federal government across the country but would also showcase Canada’s public service and method of government to the world.
With the federal Government's growing focus on innovation, there is currently a tangible opportunity to make this vision a reality.
Prioritized Requirements (High Level)
- Interest and commitment from departments and agencies to locate/expand their innovation hubs/labs to a central location
- Interest from local Ottawa stakeholders (City of Ottawa, Invest Ottawa, Universities, Colleges, Business community)
- Commitment from central agencies and interested departments/agencies to make this whole-of-government initiate work.
Assumptions
- A single centralized location can be secured and that can accommodate 15-25 GoC innovation labs/hubs.
- Senior management and central agency approvals and support are received.
- Modern inspiring furniture, interior design, and technology can be achieved through current regulations.
Constraints
- Cost of a central innovation hub versus a localized departmental/agency hub could be a limiting factor.
- The benefits of a whole-of-government Innovation Lab is understood at the Executive Level.
Dependencies
For a true Government of Canada Innovation Hub to be realized it will require meaningful whole-of-government collaboration on a single establishment project as well as engagement with external stakeholders in Ottawa.
Proof of Concept
Finding innovative ways to shape and deliver policy and regulation can have a major impact on the quality of life in Canada and how Canada is perceived as a global contributor. As an export-based knowledge economy, Canada must continually monitor global progress and dynamics to be able to competitively market its knowledge and R&D to the world. This requires collaborative effort towards multi-sector and multi-stakeholder innovation. With the world becoming increasingly borderless with the rise of technology, Canada’s ability to innovate and partner with other countries and global entities is becoming increasingly important. To do this we must remain actively engage and be part of global conversations related to innovation and global advancement.
While Innovation Hubs/Labs are the latest trend in forward thinking organizations, isolated hubs serving only a fraction of the organization are not fully embracing the experience pioneered by Google, Gore-Tex, and Apple. The overarching awareness that people need to be fulfilled and limitless to maximize their creative potential must be fully embraced as part of the organizational culture if these experiments in Innovation Hubs are to be successful. This is go big or go home territory.
Closer to home, in April 2015, CIBC announced the construction of a permanent corporate innovation space located in the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. Banks are driven by profits and return on investments. The innovation hubs in the financial industry have proven viable and have demonstrated efficiencies and the ability to bring value to their organizations. MaRS Discovery District is a prime example of how scale, diversity, proximity, and innovation and shake-up how we traditionally do business. [add more]
Reach and Benefit
The Hub is intended to be a marketplace of ideas and communication, a hub where we can collectively discover solutions. There are five core beneficiaries of this initiative:
- The Government of Canada
- The Public Service
- Canadian Citizens
- Private Sector
- Not-for Profit Sector
- Academia
The federal government typically has been a closed organization. Strategic partnerships across government and across sectors (public, private and not-for-profit) will enable deeper whole-of-government analysis of issues, stronger more coherent policy products, and more fluid implementation. Government employees and external partners will have the opportunity to plan for the future, share ideas and be ahead of the curve of change. Public servants will be encouraged to share the Innovation Hub within their networks encouraging external partners to be part of both the potential and the solution.
SCOPE
Boundaries
How far can we go? What are our limitations?
Stakeholder Analysis
There are two groups of stakeholders: 1) Government of Canada departments, agencies, and employees; and 2) external non-government stakeholders. It is important to note that the Government of Canada offers many services to Canadians and in many cases this involves partnerships with other levels of government (P/T, municipalities), the private sector, academic initiations, NGOs, international organizations, and foreign entities.
Government of Canada:
- Over 250,000 employees and over 100 departments
- Many departments/agencies are already with or working to develop an innovation or collaboration hub (e.g. NRCan, ISED, Statistics Canada, PCO, ESDC, DFO, TC, Canadian Heritage, CSPS, CBSA, Bank of Canada, SSC, Health Canada, Global Affairs Canada)
- Innovating within their respective mandates and in collaboration with their respective stakeholders
- Innovating to improve internal operations and efficiencies
External Stakeholders:
- Provinces and Territories routinely collaborate with multiple departments to advance mandates, priorities, and services for their respective populations and stakeholders.
- Municipalities routinely collaborate with multiple departments, as well as provinces and territories, to advance mandates, priorities, and services for their respective populations and stakeholders.
- Private Sector is looking for collaboration with government on innovation, R&D, commercialization, export, partnerships.
- NGOs are looking for collaboration with government on innovation, partnerships, program/project development.
- Academia and Research Institutes are looking to share their knowledge and research with other sectors to help advance both the Canadian economy and society. To do this effectively, and to maximize relevance of their efforts, they must be plugged into government, private sector and not-for-profit sectors.
- International Organizations rely on research, data, analysis, and knowledge contributions from their respective members. Canada is an active member of countless international and regional organizations and can exert significant influence by sharing its knowledge, research and gained expertise. To do this effectively we must coordinate and collaborate across Canadian sectors to ensure the best possible Canadian contribution to international organizations and issues. This ultimately positions Canada and an open and meaningful contributor to international dialogue on regional and global issues buying us influence and the ability to shape the international agenda on issues of importance to Canada (e.g. Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Blended Finance, Economic Prosperity, Peace and Security).
- International Entities (foreign governments, businesses, NGOs) are constantly looking for truly collaborative and knowledgeable partners. With a world full or options, Canada must do more to stand out. Being part of collaborative and innovative communities, building networks, and exchanging information, analysis, research and knowledge can help position Canadian entities and preferred and trusted partners thus contributing to our global influence and prosperity at home.
OPTIONS ANALYSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS
- Status Quo: Departments organically develop their own approaches to innovation and collision hubs with minimal coordination or collaboration in terms of lessons learned and international/multi-sector bets practice. Whole-of-government potential in the multi-sector service of Canadians remains a missing element.
- Government of Canada Innovation Hub Coordinator (Lab of Labs Community): One department/agency act as a coordinator (online and in person) of the community of innovation hubs and labs. Currently PCO has a central innovation hub but other departments (like ISED and NRCan) are in some areas far more advanced and engaged than PCO.
- Government of Canada Innovation/Collision Hub: One location housing innovation hubs from all interested department/s agencies – similar to the MaRS Discover District (235 Queen is currently the proposed location based on the demonstrated success of the model piloted by ISED’s Service Lab).
- RECOMMENDATION: To catalyse our efforts in a way that changes the game and tangibly showcases our innovation, it is recommended that we advance the Government of Canada Innovation/Collision Hub.
ANNEX A
Changing the Culture
This initiative promotes a new concept of grassroots ideas, organizational support and incubation to develop improvement and change. The Collision Hub will provide opportunity for our all government employees, regardless of level or seniority, a space where they can share their insights and innovation, while contributing to organizational improvement and enhancing service to Canada and Canadians.
A culture of innovation and valuing employee contributions will help make the federal Public Service “the employer of choice”. This initiative is an investment in leadership development. The process of strategic planning, project planning, idea development and implementation are key skills for any organization. These skills will continue to develop and refine with practice and implementation. The Innovation Hub will encourage all employees to participate, be involved and bring ideas forward. The greater the number of employees who contribute, the greater the skill level and competence for the entire organization.
By promoting the freedom to innovate, share and communicate ideas, we are shifting the power to improve the organization and how we deliver services to Canadians. These initiatives will provide new methods, which combine the knowledge, expertise, technology and creativity of our employees. Our employees are looking to share their expertise, contribute to complex analysis, and innovate solutions, - this initiative will support this need.
[i] Johnston, D. (2015, June). Closing Plenary. Governor General Leadership Conference 2015, Gatineau, Quebec.