The experience of the Brazilian government in open innovation

This article is written by Luís Guilherme Izycki, Advisor, National School of Public Administration of Brazil.

Innovation is a transversal theme in society in this century, being part of the contemporary strategy of states. Considering the triple helix concept of Henry Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, which describes the innovation model based on the tripod relationship between academia, business and government, the National School of Public Administration, through GNova, the School's Innovation Board, guided the resolution of the problem: How can we encourage the solution of public problems by society using open innovation?

For this purpose, the Desafios Platform was created for solutions to public challenges present in Brazilian public entities.

Aimed at promoting public debate, the platform allows the participation of citizens, public servants, companies and specialists in proposing solutions in the form of tenders, with cash prizes and/or accelerating solutions in order to optimise the delivery of value from the government and the market to society.

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The platform also brings a new dimension to the execution of public policies, providing new ways of stimulating people who inspire strategic segments for the government. One example was the holding of foreign trade challenges on the platform, providing incentives for selected solutions in challenges related to foreign trade.

Building the platform

The Desafios Platform was created by federal civil servants who are at the service of GNova, the Innovation Board of the National School of Public Administration. The Platform is currently in version 2.0 and has been used by various public entities such as the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Ministry of Agriculture, various regulatory agencies and city halls.

The success of open innovation initiatives requires society's adherence to the challenges proposed by the government. Participation can be seen by the more than 3,000 registered participants in the 37 public challenges held.

How to innovate

Innovation can occur internally or through external acquisitions. Open innovation involves collaboration with external actors. In the Brazilian public sector, there are barriers to acquiring and implementing innovative solutions due to the bidding logic. Open innovation proposes a process that broadens the vision of existing solutions, creates spaces for testing and brings legal security to public procurement. One strategy is to start the buying process with a competition based on the real problem, rather than defining the exact solution to be purchased. Participants propose solutions and test them in a real environment. An evaluator panel selects the winning solutions.

In recent years, we have witnessed the multiplication of awards and open innovation competitions in national and subnational governments in Brazil and the world. However, granting prizes for solving public problems is an old practice. More than 200 years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte launched a prize worth 12,000 francs with the aim of encouraging the development of technologies for preserving food. Fifteen years later, Nicolas François Appert was declared the winner by presenting a process that is still used today in the production of canned food.

Holding awards and competitions based on public challenges has been consolidating the young collaboration ecosystem between governments, companies, academia and citizens for the development and implementation of innovative solutions in the public sector. These calls for society's participation in solving public problems can happen at any stage of an innovation process, from diagnosis to the implementation of new products and services. The image below points out the different stages in which it is possible to take advantage of open innovation challenges to improve government deliveries.

Source: Rizardi, Santos (2022). OPEN INNOVATION IN PRACTICE How to design public challenges that generate creative solutions for government action

In view of this scenario, the servers of the National School of Public Administration designed the process and the online system that made possible the existence of the Desafios Platform, where Brazilian public entities have the option of creating public challenges with the aid of a toolkit, where the entire creation process is presented, including the bureaucratic steps.

Learning lessons

Open innovation in government teaches above all that cooperation and co-creation can generate incredible ideas and initiatives for society. By bringing public problems to the debate with civil society, offering the possibility of financial and methodological compensation for business acceleration, the government not only incorporates innovation in public services and processes, but also encourages entrepreneurship and creativity in society.

In addition to being a public policy to promote market innovation, through open innovation the government becomes more transparent and demonstrates to society that it is possible to act closely with civil society by offering an active role in building public solutions. In a scenario of questioning the democratic regime and the role of institutions, the nod promoted by open innovation to society is an encouragement in terms of reducing the distance between citizens and public managers.

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(Image Credit: Unsplash)