United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Until the early 2000s, the public administrations in Turkey were considered as ineffective, inefficient and insufficient in performing their tasks and delivering their services. The 8th Development Plan of Turkey (covering period 2001-2005) states that public services could not meet the needs and expectations of citizens, and inefficiency and waste in the public administrations shakes the confidence in the public sector. It is also highlighted that the complexity and abundance of administrative procedures and processes not only prevent effective operation of public bodies but also make it difficult for the private sector and citizens to benefit from public services. Partly as a response to these problems, the “Law no. 5018 on Public Financial Management and Control” was issued in 2003. The law aims to develop a flexible and effective public sector with public administrations adopting strategic management concepts and performance-based operating principles. Both this law and the effect of globalization, as well as the Turkey’s integration with the European Union, triggered a transformation process for the public sector. As the leading organization in the implementation of the new public management approach, the Strategy Development Department of the Ministry of Finance (SGB) has recognized that, in order for that transformation process was successfully managed and led to higher economic, social and cultural benefits, the public administrations should see innovation as a core activity to respond needs and expectations of customers, minimize costs, improve performance, increase public value and refine strategies in all areas. Therefore, there was a crucial need for the public administrations to develop a culture of innovation, and create space and system for innovation to happen. The SGB started to implement “ad-hoc innovation initiatives”; however felt the urgent need for innovating in a systematic fashion. In search of the methods and approaches on managing innovation, the SGB has seen that there did not exist a disciplined, systematic approach to innovation management in the public sector, and the tools and techniques developed and used for innovation worldwide were mainly focus on the private sector. For this reason, the SGB started an initiative (so-called ‘Establishing Innovation Management System in Public Administrations’, KamIn) to build innovation culture in the public sector and adopt the tools and techniques for strategic and systematic management of innovation. Implementation of KamIn has first been started at the SGB, and at the same time, a high level committee has been formed by the representatives from the Ministries and key public organizations (so-called the ‘Platform for Public Sector Innovation Leaders’) to obtain their feedback during the course of the implementation at SGB and to facilitate the dissemination of the results.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The innovation initiatives of the SGB have led to a cultural change first in its organization and then in other public administrations. The change has been observed in different forms in different target groups. For instance, the SGB employees started to look critically and differently, and feel encouraged to change; their motivation level has increased. The internal control environment has improved, and has become better and more effective. Awareness and commitment to innovate among the private sector has started to increase as they observe the efforts by the public sector. Cooperation and communication both at the organizational level and between public organizations (local and international) has increased which has a direct positive impact on building capacities, improvement in delivery of services, and increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Various tools were used to measure achievements from different perspectives: For example, customer satisfaction has been measured towards various target groups through surveys and interviews. Innovation in the public sector in comparison with the private sector have been assessed via questionnaire surveys. Awards win by the SGB has also been proofs of the achievements of the innovation efforts. At the organizational level, innovation metrics were identified for the SGB in a way that they can be adapted by other public administrations and are used to measure progress and outputs of innovation activities. Performance indicators are set for each innovation project before it has been initiated and are measured at defined intervals. In addition, the performance indicators set for employees and the performance contracts were revised to include innovation-related measures.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The innovation initiative has been led by Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Kesik, the President of the SGB, who believed in the need and importance of systematic innovation in public sector. In the design and implementation of the KamIn, he and his team were supported by Technopolis Group Turkey. The whole process has been implemented by the managers and employees of the SGB with active participation of various private sector organizations, NGOs, academics and public administrations at different stages. Committees established at two levels (the ‘Platform for Public Sector Innovation Leaders’ formed by the key Ministries and Public Bodies, and the ‘Pioneers of Change’ formed by the employees of SGB from different units) largely contributed to the implementation of KamIn. The key members of the ‘Platform for Public Sector Innovation Leaders’ include the Presidents of Strategy Development Departments of the Prime Ministry, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior Affairs and the State Planning Organization.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objective of the initiative has been defined by the SGB as to increase the innovation activities and innovation performance of the public sector in Turkey through a systematic and strategic approach to achieve development goals; to ensure sustainable economic growth and social welfare, and to increase quality of life of citizens. In order to achieve this objective, it was aimed to create awareness on public sector innovation throughout the country; develop a system as well as tools and techniques for systematic and strategic management of innovation in public administrations; adopt open innovation approach to make sure that the broadest range of stakeholders are involved and committed; showcase the benefits by implementing them at SGB; exchange knowledge and experience, and learn from international experience; and disseminate the knowledge and results to other public bodies. Objectives and strategies were established under the leadership of SGB through the participation of all stakeholders.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
In the period of 2006-07, the SGB implemented ad-hoc innovation activities in order to increase its efficiency and effectiveness as well as to create higher benefits and value through its products and services. The most important project implemented in this context was an e-government application (so-called ‘Maliye SGB.net’), a portal for the Ministry and Finance to deliver its services in an effective, efficient, transparent and accountable manner, and to successfully manage information and knowledge internally (between its headquarter and branches all over the country). Other incremental innovations were also implemented in the 2006-07 period, such as the improvement of the publications issued by the SGB, improvement of the decision-making processes by the management, changing the designs of and increased use of ICT in offices and meeting facilities, etc. Starting from the second half of 2007, the KamIn initiative for systematic management of innovation has been implemented. The main activities designed and carried out under the initiative have been as follows: (a) literature survey on innovation in public sector and on innovation management, (b) definition of innovation process in public organizations, (c) design of the system to support this process, (d) development of the tools and techniques for effective functioning of the system, (e) determination of innovation metrics for public organizations, (f) development of tools to assess innovation management performance in the public sector, (g) implementation of the system, tools and techniques at the SGB, and harmonization of its internal control environment and system with the innovation environment and system, (h) conducting two general surveys on innovation performance and innovation climate at public and private sectors in Turkey to compare results and draw lessons, (i) implementation of a wide range of activities to create awareness on innovation among the public sector; interaction with public administrations in other countries, and dissemination of results. From July 2007 to June 2008, the items (a) to (g) listed above were realized and implementation at the SGB started. Capacity building and activities for the development of human resources at the SGB have been carried out since 2006. The surveys covering the public and private sectors to assess their innovation performance and climate were completed in August 2008. Item (i) has been implemented on a continuous basis.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The main obstacles encountered have been related to the human factor, culture and climate in public organizations. People have been skeptical, reluctant and conservative to change. There has been a strong inclination to maintain status quo. There has been a common belief that innovation in public sector was impossible to achieve due to cultural, institutional and regulatory barriers. Instinctive motivation of employees has been low and this has created problems in keeping the momentum high throughout the process. These obstacles have largely been overcome through firm leadership, open debate on and impartial analysis of the issues and options, and creating role models.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The resources used have had two aspects: one being related to the KamIn initiative itself, the other for the implementation of individual innovation projects developed under the initiative. Technical resources were mainly related with the ICT and were mobilized through the procurement of required hardware and software. Customized software was largely developed by the IT team at the SGB. The financial and human resources for the design and implementation of the KamIn itself have been partly mobilized by the SGB and partly through the sponsorships of the private sector as well as voluntary support of academics. Resources for individual innovation projects were mainly mobilized from the SGB’s budget. International funds were identified and mobilized for the activities carried out to exchange of knowledge and experience in the field.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative is being sustained by placing innovation at heart of the strategies and processes of the SGB and continuously investing in capacity development. The ‘Platform for Public Sector Innovation Leaders’ serves as an important vehicle for the sustainability and replication of the initiative. For instance, the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Organization of the Ministry of Industry and Trade started to adopt and implement the initiative in order to improve its services and the ways they have been delivered to the SMEs. There are attempts by various other ministries and university administrations to replicate the initiative. The initiative is also replicable in public service at the international level and can be transferred through joint actions like twinning projects.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The KamIn initiative is one of the few attempts in the world (and as far as we see, the only one in the developing countries) for developing and implementing a strategic and systematic approach for public sector innovation. As noted in above section on the achievements, we observe positive results both at the organizational and sectoral levels. The most important impact is that the initiative causes a positive change in the mindsets of all stakeholders. Individual innovation projects results in higher effectiveness and efficiency in operations, and increased quality in delivering services. Finally, it should be noted that KamIn’s impact has been larger: it has increased awareness, debate and actions on innovation not only in the public sector but also in the private sector and NGOs in Turkey.


Institution Name:		Ministry of Finance-Strategy Development Department
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Ahmet Kesik
Title:		President of Strategy Development Department
Telephone/ Fax:		+903124151217
Institution's / Project's Website:		+90312 425 09 73
E-mail:		ahmet.kesik@sgb.gov.tr
Address:		Maliye Bakanligi, Dikmen Caddesi
Postal Code:		06100
City:		Ankara
State/Province:
Country:		Turkey

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information