Supporting Public Sector Innovation in Georgia

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as the principal development arm of the UN system, has been assisting member states to employ innovative, non-traditional approaches to deliver public services and achieve sustainable development. Over the course of spring semester, a team of 7 SIPA students teamed up with UNDP Georgia to develop a methodology for capturing the results and measuring the impact of these non-traditional approaches. Using innovative methodologies, such as design thinking exercises, social media outreach and a horizon scan, the team created a playbook of actionable tools meant to help practitioners and policymakers capture and assess the value of their innovative interventions. The playbook is a dynamic and multidimensional framework that can be used in several ways, depending on the objective and the phase of a given project or intervention. The team’s vision is to see the playbook become a part of the toolkit used by innovation hubs in Georgia and across the globe, as policymakers continue to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030.