Innovation Portfolios Archives - Observatory of Public Sector Innovation https://oecd-opsi.org/global/innovation-portfolios/ Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:03:16 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 Evolving innovation for humanitarian responses with a portfolio approach: insights from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/evolving-innovation-for-humanitarian-responses/ https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/evolving-innovation-for-humanitarian-responses/#respond Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:18:34 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=45063 This is the third blog of a series on innovation portfolio management for international development organisations. The first blog outlined our approach to designing tailored innovation portfolio management approaches for development funders. The second blog shared insights from our collaboration on innovation portfolio management with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Iceland. This third blog summarises key takeaways from our collaboration with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on mapping and advancing the humanitarian research and...

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]]> https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/evolving-innovation-for-humanitarian-responses/feed/ 0 One Big Thing: A UK innovation initiative to upskill, change culture and experiment https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/one-big-thing-a-uk-innovation-initiative-to-upskill-change-culture-and-experiment/ https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/one-big-thing-a-uk-innovation-initiative-to-upskill-change-culture-and-experiment/#respond Tue, 01 Apr 2025 10:56:43 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=44697 This blog post is part of a series on public sector innovation skills and applied capabilities, focusing on the conceptualisation of public sector innovation skills and applied capabilities, the practical pathways for development within the constraints of public administrations, and the connection between innovation skills and meaningful public sector transformation and impact on strategic goals and policy priorities.  Innovation is fundamental to our role as civil servants in the UK. Whether it’s delivering high-quality public...

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]]> https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/one-big-thing-a-uk-innovation-initiative-to-upskill-change-culture-and-experiment/feed/ 0 Missions & Transitions: Insights from the Netherlands https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/missions-transitions-insights-from-the-netherlands/ https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/missions-transitions-insights-from-the-netherlands/#respond Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:55:10 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=44452 Systemic challenges like climate change, sustainable agriculture, and a future-proof and digital economy require governments to go beyond traditional approaches. At RVO, the Netherlands Entreprise Agency, we’ve embraced transition management and mission portfolio management to guide our role in these dynamic transitions. Our journey in operationalising these approaches has shown us that addressing complex societal challenges requires more than predefined frameworks or traditional approaches. By combining adaptive structures, continuous learning processes, and collaborative engagement, we...

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]]> https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/missions-transitions-insights-from-the-netherlands/feed/ 0 Innovation labs through the looking glass: Experiences across the globe https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-labs-through-the-looking-glass/ Mon, 18 Dec 2023 14:19:01 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=39559 Governments are constantly searching for enablers to help them to keep up with changing times, move beyond the constraints of traditional approaches, and leverage innovation to improve public policies and services. Public innovation labs belong to this stream of change. They aim to boost the ability of governments to navigate emergent threats and opportunities and provide sustained, inclusive and proactive responses to people’s needs and expectations. The last 20 years have seen a surge on...

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]]> OECD Gov2Gov Innovation Incubator: Submit your innovation challenge https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/gov2gov-innovation-incubator-challenge/ Mon, 11 Dec 2023 09:17:17 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=38926 Years of experience of working with governments on harnessing innovation in the public sector have shown that innovation challenges are often common across governments. By the same coin, many governments have experiences of successfully overcoming a comparative challenge. They can act as beacons, shedding light and expediting innovation learnings and solutions. To bring a collaborative and transformative leap in overcoming innovation obstacles, the OECD is launching a Government-to-Government (Gov2Gov) Innovation Incubator from October 2024 to...

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]]> Innovation Portfolio Management in the Public, Non-profit Sector https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-portfolio-management-public-non-profit-sector/ https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-portfolio-management-public-non-profit-sector/#respond Thu, 07 Sep 2023 08:33:42 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=38145 A matter of methods, mindsets, and mechanisms. Why innovation portfolio management? Innovation Portfolio Management has long been used by the private sector to improve returns on investments. The potential of using the same approach to improve social returns is huge. A growing number of OECD Member countries and organisations in the international development sector are exploring innovation portfolio management. Follow, for example, the exciting work of OECD-OPSI, OECD INDEF, CGIAR, UNDP, UNICEF and others. Based...

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]]> https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-portfolio-management-public-non-profit-sector/feed/ 0 From scattered to strategic: Iceland’s evolving innovation portfolio for international development – Part 2 https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/iceland-innovation-portfolio/ Thu, 01 Jun 2023 11:15:43 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=37414 This is the second post of a series on innovation portfolio management for international development organisation. In the first article we laid out our approach to designing tailored innovation portfolio management models and approaches for development funders. In this post, we share insights from our collaboration on innovation portfolio management with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Iceland. Iceland: A small but energetic player For most development organisations and funders, innovation remains a sprawling collection of...

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]]> Innovation Portfolio Management for International Development Organisations – Part 1  https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-portfolio-for-development-part1/ Tue, 28 Mar 2023 08:12:06 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=36867 Innovation portfolio management enables not only commercial actors but also public sector organisations to systematically manage and prioritise innovation activities according to concurrent and diverse purposes and priorities. It is a core component of a comprehensive approach to innovation management and a condition to assess the social return of investment across an entire portfolio. The OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has worked in this space for a number of years. By gathering the...

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]]> The Innovation Barometer: Measuring innovation in Finland https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-barometer-finland/ https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-barometer-finland/#respond Mon, 16 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?p=35852 Finland conducted its first public sector innovation barometer in the Central Government. The results are in and once again reaffirm that Finland gets many things right. 93% of organisations innovated during 2020-21. Innovation activities are motivated in particular by the needs of citizens and clients, productivity and new technologies. Drivers of innovation activities are also reflected in individual innovations and their effects. Innovation Barometer: what and why? The Innovation Barometer is the world’s first official...

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]]> https://oecd-opsi.org/blog/innovation-barometer-finland/feed/ 0 Tackling Policy Challenges Through Public Sector Innovation: A strategic portfolio approach https://oecd-opsi.org/publications/tackling-policy-challenges/ Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:38:55 +0000 https://oecd-opsi.org/?post_type=publication&p=35501 This report discusses how steering innovation investment in public sector organisations through a portfolio approach can help governments respond to the multi-faceted challenges they face. Portfolio management is a well-known device in the financial sector, allowing for dynamic decision-making processes involving regular reviews of activity and ensuring a coherent distribution of resources among strategic options. The report illustrates how this approach can be applied by public sector organisations to reap a variety of benefits, including avoiding innovation fragmentation and single-point solutionism; tackling risk aversion and learning at the portfolio level; identifying synergies among projects and activities; building value chains among projects and programmes; and layering activities connected to complex reforms. The report also discusses the type of innovation investments or facets a portfolio can help to steer and what these look like in practice.

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