Designing a public innovation governance model for Bogota

This article is written by Iván Mauricio Durán Pabón, High District Counselor for ICT, and Manuela Barrero González, Public Innovation Ecosystem Manager at iBO (The Bogota Public Innovation Laboratory).

• The problem: The need to articulate and integrate the various actors of the public innovation ecosystem of Bogotá to meet the common objectives of the city.
• Why it matters: iBO's governance approach is relevant because it promotes collaboration, transparency and responsibility in a public innovation ecosystem, aligning with the principles of managing complex systems and allowing goals and results to be achieved effectively.
• **The solution: **A digital dashboard that allows knowledge management, progress measurement and results to be presented clearly and effectively in the iBO governance model.

The city of Bogota has a vibrant public innovation ecosystem, with a multiplicity of laboratories, units, and groups in charge of this topic in public entities. Proof of this is reflected in the city having the highest score in public innovation in Colombia, according to the National Planning Department's (DNP) Capabilities Index for Public Innovation published in 2021, ranking in the high-performance category with a score of 92 points out of 100.

In Bogota, we will continue iterating and learning from the iBO governance model for its replicability and scalability in other public innovation contexts around the world.

However, this diversity of actors posed challenges in terms of the articulation and integration of different work streams; a governance model was required that enabled each project to organise and link to the fulfilment of the city's common goals. This was established through the District Development Plan (PDD) within the scope of the Bogota Public Innovation Laboratory (iBO).

Based on this diversity of different innovation projects, the following question arose: how could we generate a systemic innovation ecosystem?

Donella Meadows, the author of 'Thinking in Systems', argues that complex systems are characterised by their diversity, interconnectedness, and interdependence among their parts to achieve a positive impact. She also emphasises that they are not controllable from a single source, but require distributed management and leadership in which each part of the system assumes responsibility and works in a coordinated manner to achieve a common goal.

This means that, in the case of innovation ecosystems in the public sector, it is essential to have governance models that promote horizontality, collaboration, transparency, and accountability for the effective achievement of goals and results.

The solution

At iBO we applied the systems thinking approach mentioned above to propose a solution to the context that characterises the city's public innovation ecosystem. As Santiago Amador (iBO Director) says: “We designed a governance model that works as an intelligent innovation system with eight public innovation enablers in which more than 10 entities and agencies participate.”

The public innovation enablers are:

1. Management of innovation enablers in the public sector.
2. Articulation and dynamisation of the public innovation ecosystem.
3. Public procurement for innovation.
4. Co-creation, prototyping and sectorial experimentation.
5. Behavioural science experiments and citizen culture for innovation.
6. An open innovation hub for the solution of city challenges and incubation of start-ups of public interest.
7. Incubation and acceleration of public digital transformation projects, implementation of emerging technologies and promotion of the GovTech ecosystem.
8. Civic innovation, Open Government, local and community innovation, participatory innovation and Civic Tech.

Within its model, the laboratory has an orchestrator role focused on the generation of trusting relationships among members, articulation of actors and strategies, capacity building, promotion of spaces, cooperation in talent and facilitation, amongst others. Collaboration and coordination have been possible through periodic face-to-face and virtual meetings to present the progress of its goals and the results generated, identify possible synergies and support, and discuss challenges and future vision of the model.

What we learned

One of the lessons learned in the development of the governance model is the importance of knowledge management and the measurement of progress. When working in a complex structure, it is essential to have clear indicators that allow us to monitor progress and make decisions based on reliable information. To this end, we created a digital tool that allows us to visualise and analyse the data collected effectively.

This tool is a dashboard that shows the percentage of goal fulfilment, resources executed, number of people benefited, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which we are contributing, flagship projects, and challenges faced by each team, amongst other data. The tool allows us to present the results of the governance model clearly and simply to make informed decisions and guide us toward continuous improvement.

What results have been achieved?

In terms of the results of the model presented in the dashboard, the following data stand out: 92% compliance with the goals; 23 goals met out of 25 reported goals; 88.9% of the reported goals are linked to the District Development Plan; most of the actors report more than 600 people benefited through their work. The main Sustainable Development Goals on which we are working are; Sustainable Cities and Communities, Gender Equality, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, and Partnerships to Achieve the Goals.

To conclude, the impact generated by this model can be summarised as follows:

• **Unification of efforts and clarity in the lines of action: **avoids duplication of tasks and efforts, to the extent that the lines of action and the roles of the actors involved are clear and unified around shared goals.
• Promotion of collaboration and teamwork: it fosters collaboration amongst the different stakeholders, allowing synergies to be generated, knowledge and resources to be shared, and complex problems to be identified and solved.
• **Increased transparency and accountability: **it establishes clear and measurable objectives, as well as roles and responsibilities, increasing transparency in resource management and accountability, contributing to increased trust and legitimacy.

In Bogota, we will continue iterating and learning from the iBO governance model for its replicability and scalability in other public innovation contexts around the world. Through the use of technology, data, and innovation, we contribute to the care and development of citizens and those who make up the District Innovation Ecosystem.

**References: **

Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.

National Planning Department (DNP). (2022). Index of Capacities for Public Innovation (ICIP). Bogotá.

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