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Innovation in action: Taking procurement into the digital world

The event explored how government can better source innovation to support its digital transformation and was hosted by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).

Similar events were organised by the UK, Canadian, Australian and Chilean governments as part a commitment to the Working Party of Digital Government Officials, known as the OECD E-Leaders Forum. New Zealand currently chairs this forum, which will be meeting this week in Lisbon.

DIA General Manager Chris Webb said, “This was a great opportunity to reimagine how we access the innovation needed to drive government’s digital transformation. New Zealand is already recognised as a digital leader but we need to go faster.”

During the event, teams made up of public and private sector participants hacked pain points presented by three users – an agency procurement lead, an agency digital innovation adviser and a young startup with a creative solution to a difficult government problem.

By applying design thinking, teams focused on understanding and defining user pain points and then generating a range of creative solutions. Solutions pitched at the end of the day focused on making government’s procurement approach faster and more flexible to keep up with market innovation.

These ideas will inform the upcoming OECD E-Leaders meeting and will be tested further by a co-design community made up of agencies and suppliers here in New Zealand.

Original news article ICT.govt.nz last updated: 18 September 2017

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