New policy to be developed:
Will boost innovation in the public sector
The Research Council of Norway’s new policy for innovation in the public sector is scheduled to be launched in spring 2012. The public sector employs 30 per cent of Norway’s labour force and represents a very large segment of the national economy.
“Renewal of the public sector will be achieved through innovation, not least within the health and care services sector,” says Jesper Simonsen, Executive Director of the Division for Society and Health at the Research Council.
The Research Council’s general innovation strategy, which was approved earlier this year, focuses in particular on innovation in the public sector and on the Council’s role in meeting key challenges there.
Knowledge needs and instruments
The policy for innovation in the public sector will identify knowledge needs, lay the foundation for the design of new instruments by the Research Council, and set out priorities in various sub-areas. In autumn 2012 the Council will be establishing new programme activities to boost innovation in the public sector.
Jesper Simonsen (Photo: Sverre Chr. Jarild)
Mr Simonsen confirms that the Research Council is seeking to expand its strategic function in promoting innovation in the public sector.
“We will achieve this by encouraging knowledge-building communities and allocating funding to innovation projects that involve and target the public sector,” he says.
Innovation to meet the challenges posed by an aging population
At a recent meeting of the Research Council’s forum for research and management, participants discussed various aspects of innovation in the public sector. The rapidly rising number of elderly in the Norwegian population was one topic of discussion.
If people continue to retire at the age they do today, the number of old-age pensioners per employed persons will nearly double in the next 50 years. Phrases such as “pending care crisis” are frequently bandied about in this context.
Steinar Barstad, Specialist Director at the Ministry of Health and Care Services, points out that it is not the growing number of elderly that is the cause of the care crisis, but rather the notion that care services cannot be provided in other ways than they are today. Stimulating innovation in the public sector will trigger new solutions for how to improve the use of public resources.
Relevant research
According to Trude Andresen, Director of the Department for Innovation and Development at the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), multidisciplinarity and cooperation among professions and between municipalities, their inhabitants, trade and industry, non-governmental organisations and academia are crucial to tackling challenges.
“Research activity in and of itself will not necessarily lead to innovation. It is essential that the research conducted is relevant to the inhabitants of the municipalities and to the professions in question. Among other things, there is a tremendous need for research that incorporates evaluation of new products and solutions for the health and care services sector,” Ms Andresen states.
Espen Aspnes, Senior Adviser at the SINTEF Group (the largest independent research organisation in the Nordic countries), concurs. “Products and services will gradually evolve, ultimately resulting in increased efficiency and improved quality in the public sector. These changes,” he emphasises, “should be based on research to an increasing extent.”
- Published:
- 20.12.2011
- Last updated:
- 20.12.2011
