Georgetown University Press Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector (Public Management and Change)

Public sector innovation is important because the pressures of growing expectations from citizens, budget crunches, and a surge of complex governance problems cannot be solved by standard government solutions or increased funding.  In order to innovate, government increasingly needs to collaborate with networks of partners across agency boundaries and especially with the nonprofit and private sectors to find new solutions.  This interaction within a network can enhance creative and effective governance solutions.  In this book, Jacob Torfing closely examines the link between network-based collaborative governance and innovation, proposes a framework for the study of collaborative innovation, and discusses this approach in light of theoretical insights from other disciplines and from examples of public innovation drawn from the United States, Europe, and Australia.  This book will move scholars closer to being able to develop a theory of collaborative innovation.   About the Author Jacob Torfing is a professor at Roskilde University and director of the Roskilde School of Governance. He is also a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Nordland and has been a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the coauthor of Theories of Democratic Network Governance and Democratic Network Governance in Europe. Review Has a noble and vital purpose, and it succeeds very well in accomplishing its goal. . . . Anyone who is genuinely interested in positive or even palliative change will do well to read this authentically pioneering work. . . . A remarkable achievement.--The Innovation Journal Review Makes an important and comprehensive contribution . . . [and] a major impact on the literature of public administration. --CHOICE Review In this path-breaking book, Torfing shows how collaborative innovation is an important component of new public governance and an essential approach to dealing with wicked societal problems that inescapably cross organizational boundaries. His work will be of abiding interest to both scholars and practitioners--Sandford Borins, Professor of Public Management, University of Toronto; Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Review Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector is a highly-recommended resource for researchers and informed practitioners interested in public sector governance networks. The book explores theories and research on how governance networks can and do produce innovations. Most importantly, readers learn how collaboration, activated throughout all phases of the innovation process, can increase the potential for innovation in governance networks to occur. The book's propositions set the agenda for the next generation of research on collaboration and innovation in governance networks.--Nancy Roberts, Professor Emerita, Department of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School