Fresh thinking is urgently needed. We can’t continue to tinker at the edges, particularly in the face of an economic downturn. Without bold new approaches, our public services will be over-stretched by the shortterm demands of the recession and overwhelmed by the long-term challenges of the future. What alternatives do we have to radical innovation?

Page 29 of The Innovation Imperative the NESTA Lab policy paper.

Thoughts? What more can you say, really? They UK Govt. really wants to re-examine how business is done, and NESTA is one of the vehicles that can help with that. Good luck to ‘em.

If it was me, I’d start by analyzing which programs can simply be closed without affecting people all that badly. Hand in hand with innovation must come pruning the dead wood and closing down programs which draw money – and more importantly, attention and focus – away from the work that needs to be done. Part of innovation is objectively assessing success and failure, and defunding the failures so you can invest in the successes.