Economic Crisis Requires Governments To Be More Innovative

New Playbook Provides Roadmap for Governments to Become "Serial Innovators"

WASHINGTON, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new book published today by
Deloitte Research with Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Institute for Democratic
Governance and Innovation, governments need to become better at innovating in
order to successfully address today's complex challenges. "The Public
Innovator's Playbook: Nurturing Bold Ideas in Government," describes how
public-sector organizations can go from a culture of "innovation by accident"
to one in which a sustained organizational commitment to innovation is baked
into the organization's DNA.

"Now more than ever, governments, which are facing revenue slowdowns, must
embrace more creative and different approaches to daunting problems," said
Greg Pellegrino, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Public Sector Industry Leader. "They
must adopt innovation as a discipline in the government organization, and
create a culture where anyone can contribute ideas --employees, partners,
citizens, private organizations and governments from other states or countries
-- in order to produce successful new processes and practices on regular
bases."

According to the book, governments do innovate. However, few governments take
an integrated view of the innovation process or treat it as a discipline like
strategy, planning or budgeting. Like these disciplines, sustained innovation
requires a methodical view of the innovation process, from idea generation
through selection, implementation and diffusion. This entails moving beyond
the "idea equals innovation" model to embrace the process of converting best
ideas into practice.

"Typically, new ideas or processes come either in response to a crisis or a
specific new project championed by one individual. Once the crisis has passed
or certain individuals have moved on, the organization is left with no lasting
capacity for ongoing innovation," said book co-author William D. Eggers,
Deloitte Global Research Director, Public Sector.

Packed with dozens of examples and case studies from around the world, this
groundbreaking book makes three important breakthroughs in the field of
innovation. First, the book shows how government organizations can become
"serial innovators" by moving beyond the "idea equals innovation" model to
embrace the process of converting best ideas into practice. Second, it
describes five strategies governments can use to generate innovation,
including how to use network and open source approaches to in-source great
ideas from elsewhere. Third, the book details how to create organizational
structures and systems that are better and faster at leveraging the creativity
of those closest to the problem, whether they are employees, partners or
citizens.

"This book lays out a blueprint for executing innovation in the public
sector," said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American
Government Program at the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and
Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School. "It can serve as an indispensable guide
for those government officials looking to help make government better at
nurturing bold ideas and delivering great results."

For an electronic copy of the Innovation Playbook, please visit:
www.deloitte.com/us/innovatorsplaybook.

To order a hard copy of the book, please visit or contact Tourang
Nazari:http://www.amazon.com/Public-Innovators-Playbook-Nurturing-Government/dp/0979061113/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238059476&sr=1-3

About Deloitte
As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and Deloitte Services
LP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a
detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its
subsidiaries.

About the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation
The Roy and Lila Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation
advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions
worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and
government innovations awards, the Institute fosters creative and effective
government problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the
most pressing needs of the world's citizens. Asia Programs, a school-wide
initiative integrating Asia-related activities, joined the Ash Institute in
July 2008. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Institute.
Additional information about the Ash Institute is available at
www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu.

SOURCE Deloitte

Tourang Nazari, Public Relations, Deloitte, +1-202-262-5574,
tnazari@deloitte.com