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Top 25 innovations in government announced
In recognition of exemplary government initiatives, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University announced the Top 25 programs in the Innovations in American Government Award competition today.
The winning programs represent efforts of city, state, federal, and tribal governments to address policy issues including crime prevention, economic development, environmental and community revitalization, employment, education, and health care.
The winners are:
Alternative Sentencing Social Worker Program of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which pursues alternatives to incarceration.
Challege.gov, the federal government’s online crowdsourcing portal
Office of Financial Empowerment of New York, N.Y., which gives cash-strapped New Yorkers access to social service programs.
Children First Network Expansion; New York City Public Schools, N.Y.
Citizen Archivist Initiative; National Archives and Records Administration.
Consular Team India; the Department of State.
Department of Arts and History for Boise, Idaho. Boise created the Department of Arts and History, endorsing the field as essential for decision making, community engagement and awareness.
Healthy Incentives of King County, Washington
King County moderated healthcare costs with a benefit plan that rewards employees with lower out-of-pocket expenses.
Homebase of New York, N.Y., serves families who are at imminent risk of homelessness.
IdeaHub; Department of Transportation
LAUNCH; National Aeronautics and Space Administration
LAUNCH is a public-private partnership focused on identifying and accelerating high-impact ideas or technologies for such global sustainability challenges as clean water, health, energy, and education.
Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston, Mass.
Metropolitan College; Louisville Metro Government, Ky.
National Coordination of Health IT; Department of Health and Human Services
Native Science and Engineering Program of Alaska, which is creating a systemic change in hiring patterns of Indigenous Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by increasing the number of individuals on career paths to leadership in these fields.
Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative; Department of Housing and Urban Development
Opportunity Probation with Enforcement of Hawaii
Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) delivers jail consequences for each probation violation.
Re-Powering America’s Land Initiative; Environmental Protection Agency
Rocketship Education of Santa Clara County, Calif., is a network of high-performing charter schools dedicated to a mission of eliminating the nationwide achievement gap.
SFpark of San Francisco (city and county) is a parking-based approach to congestion management that uses demand-responsive pricing and real-time information about parking availability to achieve transportation benefits.
Smart Roadside Inspection System of New Mexico
The Smart Roadside Inspection System identifies high-risk trucks without interfering with the flow of commerce by integrating specialized roadside imaging systems with multiple back-end data networks that instantaneously synthesize disparate pools of data into valuable information.
Smarter Sustainable Dubuque of Dubuque, Iowa, is a partnership designed to help people save money, conserve resources, and improve the economy and environment.
Sustainable Communities Initiative; Department of Housing and Urban Development
Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers is a mentoring program of Westchester County Public Schools, N.Y.
Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council; Yukon River Tribes and Nations
While each program was unique, the Center found some common threads among winners including the incorporation of online collaboration and crowdsourcing, environmental revitalization projects, and programs for the economically disadvantaged and senior citizens.
Selected by a cohort of policy experts, researchers, and practitioners, four finalists and one winner of the Innovations in American Government Award will be announced in the fall.
To view the full report and list of winners, click here
