Innovation in Government: An Oxymoron?

Much of the current journal, magazine and newspaper writing about social innovation seems to stem from the premise that the government sector is incapable of being the main driver of innovation.

But is this a valid premise or a faulty one?

Nonprofit-organization consultant Neil Edgington, the president of the firm Social Velocity, recently weighed in on this question with an interesting blog post.

Edgington waxes nostalgically about the heyday of our country’s space program, when many of the best and the brightest went to work for NASA. Landing a man on the moon? That’s some serious innovation. It’s worth noting the obvious: The federal government did it, not a business or a nonprofit or something in-between.

Looking at the contemporary scene, Edgington sees a hopeful sign in NASA’s successful landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars, which was actually quite an amazing display of innovation.

But is NASA an exceptional exception? What about innovation in a regulatory agency?

Edgington argues that what’s happening at the newly created federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau constitutes real innovation. The Bureau’s culture resembles what you’d expect to find at a tech start-up and its work to use technology to create greater transparency in the financial sector is truly innovative.

Instead of resigning ourselves to a government that is bureaucratic and inert, we should expect more agencies at all levels to adopt a spirit of innovation.

Am I dreaming or are NASA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau destined to be rare exceptions to the rule?