As has been reported recently, President Obama has established
a new Office of Social Innovation (OSI) at the White House. While the goals,
structure and other details of this new entity are yet to be announced, the
very fact that such an office was created indicates the considerable importance
the new administration has assigned to social innovation.
Two questions are likely to arise
when one hears this news. First, should the Federal government play a role in social
innovation, and if so, what should that role be? Second, is there a danger that such a White House -based
government office would make social innovation initiatives more bureaucratic
(and, possibly less effective)?
I think these are two important, valid, and related questions
and the answers to these questions should help shape the agenda of this new
office.
I believe the federal government has a critical role to play
in promoting and facilitating social innovation, but not in directing social
innovation initiatives. More importantly, if the government plays the right role, then it
would also minimize the potential risks associated with introducing bureaucracy
into the social innovation process.
Social innovation has become more important now than at any
other time in the past as we face a host of complex social issues in areas
ranging from public school education and health care to disaster management,
energy, and environment. At the same time, it is also quite evident that the
solutions to most of these social issues are unlikely to come from the government (or
the nonprofits or the private sector) acting alone. Instead, organizations in
all three sectors would need to collaborate in identifying, evaluating, and
implementing potential solutions. And, the Federal government may have a key
role to play in promoting and facilitating such collaborative social
innovation.
My ongoing research in this area has revealed the importance of and the need for
establishing different types of platforms to facilitate collaborative social innovation. In an article
forthcoming in the Summer 2009 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review,
I describe three types of collaboration platforms for social innovation (more
on this in a future blog).
If the new Office of Social Innovation focuses on establishing
the right conditions (and the infrastructure) for public sector organizations,
private companies, and nonprofits to come together and pursue collaborative social innovation,
then it would be making a big step in the right direction. On the other hand,
if the OSI intrudes upon the collaborative innovation process and inhibits
nonprofits and private companies from deploying their own unique capabilities
and perspectives, then it is not likely to advance the cause of social
innovation.
We will need to wait and see as the agenda for this new Office of
Social Innovation unfolds over the coming months!
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