This article is written by Francisca Moya, Public Innovation Index Coordinator and Rodrigo Silva, Public Innovation Index Consultant at Chile’s Government Laboratory.

  • The problem: The persistence of closed innovation models in the Chilean State restricts the potential for innovation beyond organisational limits.
  • Why it matters: Open and collaborative innovation is essential to integrate a wide range of perspectives and knowledge, thus enabling a more agile and effective response to constantly evolving social demands.
  • The solution: Adopt an open innovation approach that encourages collaboration between the public sector, academia, the private sector and civil society, promoting the exchange of ideas and innovative solutions at all stages of the innovation process.

Embracing an open innovation approach isn't just a choice; it's a strategic imperative for the public sector, ensuring agility and adaptability in the face of our ever-changing society. It's not merely about breaking free from the confines of closed innovation; it's about forging powerful synergies between public and private entities, infusing the innovation journey with a vibrant mix of perspectives and solutions.

While we've made strides in openness and collaboration, there's a pressing need for intensified efforts to fully embed open innovation practices. This means tapping into a richly diverse innovation ecosystem, one that's brimming with possibilities waiting to be explored and harnessed. It's time to take our innovation game to the next level and unlock the full potential of collaborative, open-minded creativity.

Charting innovation via the Public Innovation Index

The innovation approach proposes, among its principles, the collaborative creation of solutions that generate public value with impact. To make this happen, we must advance towards generating institutional collaboration structures with non-state actors that are stable and robust. Part of this is evidenced in the results presented by Chile’s Public Innovation Index (Índice de Innovación Pública), one of the services of the Government Laboratory that measures innovation capacities in public services, focussing on how public institutions incorporate innovation into their processes and services.

Our call to action isn't just about collaboration; it's a rallying cry to cultivate a community of open-minded, collaborative and accountable innovators.

Within this index, the “collaboration and openness” dimension is critical, as it evaluates the degree of inclusion and participation of the innovation ecosystem in the development of new initiatives. Despite its criticality and weighted relevance in innovation measurement, it's the dimension most affected by variations in performance over the last four years. Another relevant input provided by the Index is that the highest performance was achieved when there were greater environmental pressures, such as in 2020, when institutions were forced to reformulate their service delivery due to the pandemic.

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With a performance of 34%, it is clear that there is a considerable space for improving the integration of collaboration and openness in the innovation processes of public institutions. When observing the capacities that compose this dimension, the best performance was obtained in user participation, at 37%. This is the institutional capacity to have mechanisms to involve these actors in co-creating innovation initiatives in their different phases, contributing to their relevance.

Inter-institutional coordination, including interoperability between public services at all levels (central, regional, local) and joint innovation initiatives (e.g., co-design, cross-testing, co-implementation) achieved a 36% rating. At the other end of the scale, environmental management scored the lowest at 25%, highlighting a limited capacity to engage diverse voices from civil society on relevant topics. These results emphasise the urgent need for more targeted strategies to foster genuine collaborative governance, making it not just an aspiration but a standard practice in policy and service development.

Open innovation in the public sector

Open innovation, pioneered by Chesbrough, resonates deeply in the public sector. Unlike the traditional closed approach to innovation within government, open innovation champions active co-creation, embracing diverse perspectives and skills. While historically, the public sector favoured closed methods with limited external involvement, the expanding literature on open innovation now underscores its potential benefits and challenges in this domain.1

Collaboration and openness in the public sector involve transcending institutional barriers, involving citizens, private companies, non-governmental organisations and other ecosystem actors in all stages of initiative development. This integration of multiple actors not only enriches design and prototyping but also plays a crucial role in adaptation, implementation and project evaluation. By adopting external collaboration and involving civil society, public sector organisations can improve transparency, inclusivity and synergy, potentially leading to cost and time savings.

A great example of open innovation in the public sector is seen in innovative public procurement, where government entities team up with private companies and other stakeholders to tackle specific challenges with fresh solutions. Chile recently made strides in this area by passing a law amendment in December 2023, incorporating special procedures like innovation contracts. This shift toward open innovation fosters more inclusive, relevant and effective solutions that meet the genuine needs of communities.

Networked government and collaborative governance

Networked government embodies this move towards open innovation, stressing the power of collaboration across sectors to enhance public services. This approach, involving governmental bodies, NGOs and the private sector, is spearheaded by public officials and political authorities who facilitate these collaborative networks. This method has proven highly effective in solving complex issues and delivering services that align better with citizen needs.

A standout example of this collaboration is the ‘Electronic Family Pocket’, simplifying electronic payments associated with BancoEstado's CuentaRut for over 1.4 million recipients since May. This project, driven by multisectoral public governance, showcases how collaboration among diverse actors leads to solutions finely tuned to society's demands.

Conclusion and call to action

Although there have been advances in collaboration and openness of public institutions regarding innovation, we are still far from achieving an open innovation model in the Chilean State. 57% of the 206 innovation initiatives carried out in 2022 by public services with active participation of other actors, including user participation, other public institutions and organisations outside the State ranging from universities and technological innovation companies to laboratories and guild associations, demonstrate a growing interest in collaboration. However, to achieve substantial change, greater integration and a deeper commitment of all these actors are required.

The shift to an open innovation model is pivotal, igniting a vibrant and unrestricted exchange of ideas that breaks through traditional limits. This approach highlights the necessity of unimpeded idea flow, information sharing and knowledge dissemination that transcends the confines of organisations, sectors and disciplines. It's a dynamic process that thrives on trust, a readiness to experiment and learn from missteps and a culture that encourages the cross-pollination of creative concepts.

Within this framework, social capital emerges as a vital factor, establishing a solid foundation of trust among all stakeholders. Our call to action isn't just about collaboration; it's a rallying cry to cultivate a community of open-minded, collaborative and accountable innovators indispensable for effectively tackling the public sector challenges in Chile.

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(Image credit: Unsplash)