This might be a new product or service, an updated process, a suggested policy or it can involve approaching a challenge in a new way, or stopping a practice that isn’t working anymore (such as outdated or unnecessary functions). Effective government sector innovation is based on the principle of continuous development, which takes into consideration the government services from the stakeholders’ point of view and it relies on the partnerships between the government and the citizens to come up with appropriate solutions to improve government services.

The challenge is to integrate these new ideas into other existing systems and processes, and monitor the results in the long term to find out what works. Innovation also involves people, resources and systems and is a practice that must be encouraged at all government levels, as everyone has the ability to be innovative.