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Nominate drivers of public service innovation

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 20 Sept 2019

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is calling on the public to submit their nominations for the 2019 Public Sector Innovation Awards.

This after the department decided to extend the closing date for nominations to 30 September.

The Public Sector Innovation Awards recognise service delivery improvements and innovation. They are facilitated by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI), which is an entity in the portfolio of the DPSA minister.

In a statement, the DPSA says innovation sought by CPSI involves the application of new ideas, which results in benefits through cost-savings, efficiency improvements and new products or services, using technology and other solutions which may involve process adjustments, culture change, institutional change or management development.

The CPSI awards do not award projects that have been achieved through the application of standard procedures and approaches, it states.

“We seek to celebrate the successes of individuals, teams and entire institutions, in the quest for a more effective and accountable government. We are looking for the creative initiatives, projects that reflect ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking and individuals who have been prepared to take risks and go against the tide to a certain extent, with the overall aim of improving services that are delivered to the public,” says DPSA minister Senzo Mchunu.

According to the department, the newly-reviewed awards categories are aligned to the seven government priorities announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa in February, and seek to respond to the imperatives of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

Entries are invited for the following categories:

  • Innovative solutions reducing the cost of delivering services, which rewards those that are able to demonstrate how innovation contributes to alleviation of budgetary constraints.
  • The call for public sector innovation ambassadors, champions and trailblazers category identifies innovation ambassadors who are actively entrenching the culture of innovation in the public sector.
  • The citizen-focused innovations award celebrates the innovative use of ICT and non-ICT solutions to improve service delivery.
  • The innovations harnessing 4IR solutions category includes the use of technologies such as blockchain, robotics and artificial intelligence, and leveraging big data to improve service delivery.

For further information, contact Mmabatho.Mashaba@cpsi.co.za or cpsiawards@cpsi.co.za.

To submit online entries, click here.  

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