Idea lock for stustainable community development

Important results from the project

The project has provided a good basis for the development of innovation activities in both Piteå and Skellefteå. Important knowledge of the culture of innovation, key features of the innovation structure and the main incentives for employees to be innovative has been identified. An innovation process based on residents´ needs shall work to support the development of efficient services. This also serves as the basic specification of an IT-based innovation support. A process based on citizen participation for the development of digital services has been developed.

Expected long term effects

The importance and the need for innovation have been anchored at both management and operational level. This has contributed to an openness where it is both appreciated to experiment and allowed to fail. A prototype of an internal network of idea coaches has been put together, and received tools for the development of ideas. Through field visits and external monitoring the project has contributed to networks in the field of innovation. Processes and procedures for managing the digitization and the introduction of digital services have been strengthened.

Approach and implementation

Learning has been a central part in the project, in order to understand the conditions and opportunities of an active innovation. This has been done in many ways, partly through surveys of innovation culture and what motivates employees to think innovatively, in part through process mapping and through education and study visits. The level of knowledge has been raised at all levels of the agency´s involved in the project but also among municipal leaders and management executives who been following the project, which provides a good basis for future innovation.