19K: Innovation in the municipal technical administration and public utilities - in interplay with private companies, knowledge institutions and trade networks

A systematic focus on improved solutions is a precondition for innovation in the public sector, which is not driven by market forces like the private sector. This is in particular the case for municipal technical administrations and public utilities responsible for large and resource consuming infrastructures, which experience increasing expectations and performance demands but typically lack possibilities for developing and assessing innovative solutions. Accepting that learning is the strongest incentive for innovation in the public sector, the project aims to initiate a cross-municipal staff-driven innovation process, which is expected to result in new solutions and products as well as identification of factors that may contribute to strengthening the public innovation culture. Employing experienced researchers and consultants to facilitate the process and product developers from leading companies to bridge to the market, focus is on the Danish water supply and urban sewerage infrastructures, which due to climate change, urban growth and increasing demands to water quality are under constant pressure and where conventional solutions – even with major resource injections – cannot match the challenges. The process is anchored at the management level and communicated via trade associations.