Top 25 Innovations in Government Announced
Cambridge, Mass., – May 1,
2013 – Today the
Ash Center for Democratic
Governance and Innovation at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government,
Harvard University announced the Top 25 programs in this
year’s
Innovations
in American Government Award competition. These government initiatives
represent the dedicated efforts of city, state, federal, and tribal governments
and address a host of policy issues including crime prevention, economic
development, environmental and community revitalization, employment, education,
and health care. Selected by a cohort of policy experts, researchers, and
practitioners, four finalists and one winner of the Innovations in American
Government Award will be announced in the fall. A full list of the Top 25
programs is available
here.
“These Top 25 innovations in government offer real, tangible
ways to protect our most disadvantaged citizens, educate the next-generation
workforce, and utilize data analytics to enhance government performance,” said
Stephen
Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in Government program at the Ash
Center. “Despite diminishing resources, these government programs have developed
model innovations that other struggling agencies should be inspired to replicate
and adapt to their own communities.”
A Culture of InnovationA number of this year’s
Top 25 programs foster a new culture of innovation through online collaboration
and crowdsourcing. Signaling a new trend in government, these programs encourage
the generation of smart solutions to existing and seemingly intractable public
policy problems.
LAUNCH—a partnership among NASA, USAID, the
State Department, and NIKE—identifies and scales up promising global
sustainability innovations created by individual citizens and organizations. The
General Services Administration’s
Challenge.gov uses crowdsourcing contests to
solve government issues: government agencies post challenges, and the broader
American public is awarded for submitting winning ideas. The Department of
Transportation’s
IdeaHub also uses an online platform to
encourage its employees to communicate new ideas for making the department more
adaptable and enterprising.
Helping Troubled NeighborhoodsHelping our nation’s
most disadvantaged citizens and residents was also a common characteristic among
this year’s Top 25. New York City’s
Office of Financial
Empowerment connects low-income New Yorkers with financial education
counseling and asset-building services. Also in New York City,
Homebase
offers families at imminent risk of homelessness with customized services and
support, so that they avoid losing their homes. The Department of Housing and
Urban Development follows a similar model to Homebase; its targeted
interventions through the
Sustainable
Communities Initiative are making a notable impact on crime, failing
schools, poor infrastructure, and other interconnected causes of poverty.
Environmental Revitalization
Often hand-in-hand with struggling communities is the
distressed land on which they reside. As a collaboration among the Yukon River
Tribes and Nations—made up of 70 sovereign indigenous governments primarily
based in Alaska—its
Watershed Council follows an international
governance model to protect the Yukon River and ensure its water is drinkable
for generations to come. The Environmental Protection Agency’s
Re-Powering America’s
Land Initiative revitalizes degraded land, preserves existing green spaces,
and encourages the development of environmentally-friendly, energy solutions.
The Next Generation WorkforceSeveral
government initiatives tackle challenges to our education system and prepare
students for employment opportunities.
Metropolitan College in Louisville,
Kentucky, collaborates with the private sector to equip students with the
education skills and training necessary to become attractive workforce
candidates upon graduation. Also targeting America’s next generation workforce,
Alaska’s
Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP)
trains Indigenous Americans for future careers in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics. Much like ANSEP,
Rocketship
Education of Santa Clara County, California, and
Today’s Students
Tomorrow’s Teachers of New York’s Westchester County Public Schools leverage
mentors, tutors, and special training programs to reduce the achievement gap in
underperforming schools and improve career opportunities.
The Innovations in American Government Awards was created by
the Ford Foundation in 1985 to shine a light on effective government programs.
Since its inception, over 400 government innovations across all jurisdiction
levels have been recognized and have collectively received more than $22 million
in grants to support dissemination efforts. Such models of good governance also
inform research and academic study.
The Center also recently announced 13
programs as
Bright
Ideas, an initiative of the broader Innovations in American Government
Awards program.
About the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and
Innovation
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for
Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence and innovation in
governance and public policy through research, education, and public discussion.
Three major programs support our mission: the Program on Democratic Governance;
the Innovations in Government Program; and the Rajawali Foundation Institute for
Asia. For more information, visit
www.ash.harvard.edu.
昨(4月30)日暖陽高照，氣溫在華氏44度到60度之間，天氣很好，但麻州聯邦參議員特別選舉的初選投票率，顯然不高。截至下午5點左右，華埠一帶的3個投票站，投票數都只在400到560之間。
3個投票站門外，冷清到連一張候選人的宣傳標語也沒，反倒是華盛頓街上天主教高中的第3小選區，第7號投票站，掛著一張馬丁華殊(Martin Walsh)競選波市市長，吳弭(Michelle Wu)競選波市不分區市議員的競選牌。
