Collaborative Innovation

Collaborative Innovation – Startups in the Public Sector

While the topic has already arrived in the B2B sector, collaborative innovation is now establishing itself more and more in the public sector. But what is collaborative innovation anyway? We would like to answer this question in today’s article. In addition, we present the cooperation example of the startup Polyteia, which successfully cooperates with the city of Goslar in Lower Saxony. Afterwards, we will give an overview of an exciting toolkit developed by the German Society for International Cooperation to pave the way for collaborative innovation from the private to the public sector and to facilitate cooperation between startups and the administration there.

What is Collaborative Innovation?

Collaborative innovation is the process of developing new technologies and innovations together with one or more partners. Often the terms Co-Innovation, Open Innovation or Open Innovation are used synonymously. The normally closed innovation process is thus opened up and external parties are brought in to support with knowledge and ideas. B2B business has already recognized the benefits of startup innovation. As a result, more and more companies are working with them to jointly develop innovative and efficient technologies. This collaboration can take place in very different forms of cooperation. Here you can access a detailed article on the topic of co-innovation, in which we explain the various processes and forms of cooperation.

Even though the principle of collaborative innovation has so far been more widespread and applied in the B2B sector, it is gradually establishing itself more and more in the public sector as well. The public sector has now also recognized the added value of collaboration between startups and cities, municipalities and local authorities. In this context, GIZ has developed a toolkit to help bring collaborative innovation from the private to the public sector. We will present this toolkit in the following. First, however, we will focus on the case study of the startup Polyteia, which we would like to use to better illustrate collaborations between startups and the public sector.

Cooperation example of the startup Polyteia and the city of Goslar

Cities and municipalities often have some catching up to do when it comes to digitalization. According to Faruk Tuncer, co-founder and CEO of the startup Polyteia, this is due, among other things, to standardized interfaces and a lack of legal consolidation, as well as a lack of decision-making freedom in the federal system. One problem that is particularly common in public administration is inefficient data management. Data is often collected in individual systems, also not always digital, which do not interact and communicate with each other. This creates silos and large amounts of data that cannot be used efficiently.

This is where the founders of Polyteia come in and want to remedy the situation. The startup is already successfully cooperating with the public sector in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. Its customers include cities, municipalities and communities. Polyteia has developed a smart control platform to bundle information from different sources. Systems and data are brought together and silos can be avoided. With the startup’s innovative solution, a dashboard is available at the push of a button, which can display all data in a collected form. This means that decision-makers in public administration always have an overview and can use their data more efficiently.

The city of Goslar in Lower Saxony has also used the services of the startup to optimize its data management. It became aware of Polyteia through media reports and decided to approach the young founders. In the process of collaboration, the Polyteia team first went to Goslar, and presented its solution. This was then adapted according to the needs of the city. In the case of the city of Goslar, this was a module for managing personnel in public administration. Once the needs had been identified, the project was tackled together and a successful collaboration was able to take place smoothly. Added value for the city of Goslar resulted, among other things, from the fact that information about the current personnel situation, staffing plans or sick leave is now continuously available at the click of a mouse. This means that the administration is always up-to-date and can confidently derive its task allocation from the collected data.

The cooperation of the city of Goslar is a prime example of a well-implemented collaboration. Nevertheless, hurdles can sometimes arise in such a cooperation. Challenges in collaborations with cities and municipalities often lie in project management, reports Faruk Tuncer. In addition, employees are used to hierarchical structures. The work processes in the public sector are therefore very different from those of a startup. Through good and open communication, however, even such hurdles can be circumvented. Click here for the interview with Faruk Tuncer.

Toolkit of the GIZ

With its Collaborative Innovation Toolkit, GIZ has published a tool for startups and the public sector to help them collaborate. The goal of the toolkit is to pave the way for Collaborative Innovation from the private to the public sector. It includes concrete methods to make innovation happen. The toolkit is divided into two phases, which include different modules, which in turn are split into individual sessions. The first phase is the preparation phase. Here, users of the tool learn in two modules how to identify their own needs and how to best prepare for collaboration. This phase, together with modules one and two, lays the foundation for the actual collaboration.

source: GIZ Collaborative Innovators

The collaboration phase, on the other hand, is somewhat more extensive, with five modules. In the third module, the principles of collaborative innovation and digital tools for implementing them are presented in two sessions. In addition, the focus is on soft skills to help with interpersonal communication in a collaboration. The next module deals in three sessions with basic information about the public sector, how to implement solutions from startups in this area, and a collaboration canvas, which provides support at this point. While module five is dedicated to launching pilot projects, the last module offers the opportunity to evaluate collaboration.

source: GIZ Collaborative Innovators

In addition to the two main phases, the toolkit is supported by two add-on modules. Add-on module A includes an introduction to human-centered design, while add-on module B explains how user-centered solutions can be optimally developed in the public sector. Here you can download the GIZ toolkit for free.

Conclusion

Collaborative innovation thus offers advantages not only in B2B business. Also outside the private sector, in the public sector, collaborations with startups can generate added value from which cities and municipalities can benefit. Here, more and more opportunities exist that can help initiate partnerships and pilot projects with startups. In addition, as the public sector taps into this space, it can be helpful to enlist the help of an intermediary. In this framework, Ambivation offers needs assessment or startup scouting, for example.