Challenge Schemes for the Public Sector to Foster Social Innovation

Paul Carttar’s article in Forbes titled “Why We Aren’t Getting the Full Benefit of Social Innovation – and What the Government Should do About It” was at the crux of this week’s list of required reading.  The Federal Government and public sector have the power to create frameworks in which social innovation thrives, but they can also create burdensome regulation and legal mazes that stunt innovation, make markets less efficient, and make all of society poorer.

Carttar outlines 3 ways in which government can foster the environment necessary for social innovation including expanding and accelerating efforts to drive federal funding toward proven innovation problems, ensure evidence based critiques of existing programs, and taking proactive steps to maximizing “positive ripple effect” for the nonprofit and public sectors.

I have first-hand experience of a government program which promotes nonprofit and private sector innovation and solutions to problems.  During one semester during my undergraduate years, I interned in Washington DC for the U.S. General Services Administration.  The GSA hosts a federal government site called Challenge.gov which posts challenges, problems, and competitions for the public to solve for cash prizes.  This program has been successful at encouraging private sector innovation and creativity in a public sector.  Challenge.gov hosts competitions for every government agency, from DHS and DOL to NASA. 

Furthermore, Tina Rosenberg's NYTimes Op Ed titled, "Prizes With an Eye Toward the Future" further illustrate ways in which public policy can be oriented to promote challenge and competitions to encourage social innovation and projects.  

I believe a similar program can be introduced to promote social innovation projects, such as the ones Carttar discusses and similar projects discussed so far throughout the course.  Frameworks such as Challenge.gov already exist and have many successes.  Such programs can be expanded to encourage citizen engagement in social innovation.