Creative governance need not have to depend on original ideas. It can improve on an existing successful model.
Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh pioneered the concept of microfinance through his Grameen Bank. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2006.
Matt and Jessica Flannery who heard Mohammed Yunus’s talk at their university were so inspired that they decided to do something. They started a community site called Kiva to match individual would-be lenders with poor entrepreneurs via the Internet. Lenders visit the Kiva website, read about the businesspeople asking for support, and then loan as little as $25 to anyone they choose. Like the Grameen Bank , Kiva helps people out of poverty but on an expanded global scale , leveraging on the enormous reach of the internet.
Kiva (the word is Swahili for "unity"), in San Francisco, deals with potential borrowers through its network non-governmental organizations who disburse it to the entrepreneurs. Those same NGOs screen the various applicants before their requests are posted on Kiva. They have the responsibility of identifying responsible entrepreneurs, disbursing the loan, collecting repayments and giving lenders periodic updates on how the business is going.
The money is eventually paid back to the NGOs, sent back to Kiva and returned to the lender. The lender can choose to withdraw the money or lend it to someone else.
The Kiva concept was given a tremendous boost when it was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, and readers of former US President Bill Clinton's book Giving. This created a unique situation in charity where there was a shortage of businesses in need of loans!
Kiva's founders say their success is due in part to strategic partnerships with corporations like Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Starbucks, and PayPal and also to the dedication of its staff and volunteers.. They help reduce Kiva's cost of operations and help direct Internet users to the Kiva website.
Details of Kiva can be found in www.kiva.org.
Comments
For every success like Kiva, there must be hundreds of others which died a natural death due to lack of resources. The founders of Kiva were fortunate in that their friend and neighbor, Premal Shah, who was then an executive at the on-line payment company PayPal decided to join them.
It’s time for governments to practice Creative Governance by setting up a mechanism of support and funding to increase the chances of people like the Flannerys to succeed in their altruistic ambitions.
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email me at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite me to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Creative Governance through Social Sector Investment
I found US presidential candidate Barrack Obama’s call for social sector investment as a good example of Creative Public Governance.
According to Obama, while the federal government invests $7 billion in research and development for the private sector, there is no similar effort to support non-profit innovation. He promised that as President, he will launch a new Social Investment Fund Network. This Network will get the grass roots, the foundations, the private sector and the government at the table. It will invest in ideas that work; leverage private sector dollars to encourage innovation; and expand successful programs to scale. Obama will also launch a new Social Entrepreneur Agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that the government gives to small businesses.
Among the specific projects that he has in mind are:
• Classroom Corps : College students, recent graduates and retirees mentor young people; engineers and scientists will help make sure the next generation of innovators is educated in America.
• Energy Corps : To free ourselves from energy dependence and to confront climate change, to work on renewable energy projects, to teach folks about conservation, to help clean up polluted areas and to send talented American engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote low-carbon energy development.
• Peace Corps : Double the size by its 50th anniversary in 2011 to reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.
• USA Freedom Corps : Aan online network where Americans can browse opportunities to volunteer. You’ll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you’ll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.
• Social service for students: A goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students who perform 100 hours of service a year will be entitled ton annual American Opportunity Tax Credit of $4,000 to make tuition affordable.
In most developed and developing countries, there is a phenomenal growth in the non-profit sector. Many of them have pioneered social innovations that benefited the society immensely. More often than not the next great social innovation won’t be generated by the government but more likely by the non-profit sector. Investment in the non-profit social sector will create new opportunities for all its people to serve, and to direct that service to the most pressing national challenges.
To quote Obama: “We will create new opportunities for all Americans to serve, and to direct that service to our most pressing national challenges. … because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer.”
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email me at Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite me to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
According to Obama, while the federal government invests $7 billion in research and development for the private sector, there is no similar effort to support non-profit innovation. He promised that as President, he will launch a new Social Investment Fund Network. This Network will get the grass roots, the foundations, the private sector and the government at the table. It will invest in ideas that work; leverage private sector dollars to encourage innovation; and expand successful programs to scale. Obama will also launch a new Social Entrepreneur Agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that the government gives to small businesses.
Among the specific projects that he has in mind are:
• Classroom Corps : College students, recent graduates and retirees mentor young people; engineers and scientists will help make sure the next generation of innovators is educated in America.
• Energy Corps : To free ourselves from energy dependence and to confront climate change, to work on renewable energy projects, to teach folks about conservation, to help clean up polluted areas and to send talented American engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote low-carbon energy development.
• Peace Corps : Double the size by its 50th anniversary in 2011 to reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.
• USA Freedom Corps : Aan online network where Americans can browse opportunities to volunteer. You’ll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you’ll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.
• Social service for students: A goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students who perform 100 hours of service a year will be entitled ton annual American Opportunity Tax Credit of $4,000 to make tuition affordable.
In most developed and developing countries, there is a phenomenal growth in the non-profit sector. Many of them have pioneered social innovations that benefited the society immensely. More often than not the next great social innovation won’t be generated by the government but more likely by the non-profit sector. Investment in the non-profit social sector will create new opportunities for all its people to serve, and to direct that service to the most pressing national challenges.
To quote Obama: “We will create new opportunities for all Americans to serve, and to direct that service to our most pressing national challenges. … because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer.”
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email me at Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite me to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Creative Governance through eGovernment
Introduction
One of the most effective ways for Creative Public Governance with the widest reach and possibly with the greatest impact is through eGovernment.
It is a priority in the European Union which defines it as the use of information and communication technology in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies. The potential of eGovernment goes far beyond the early achievements of online public services.
The European Union Approach
The EU has even established a website on Breaking Barriers to eGovernment (Ref:www.egovbarriers.org/). The Barriers to eGovernment project team has identified seven key categories of barriers that can block or constrain progress on eGovernment: leadership failures; financial inhibitors; digital divides; poor coordination; workplace and organizational inflexibility; lack of trust; and poor technical design. The project aims to collect further information about barriers relating to eGovernment from stakeholders.
The approaches for overcoming these barriers seek tto stimulate innovation at least four key categories:
1. Legislative solutions, where legislation at member state or EU level has been or can be developed to overcome barriers to eGovernment, such as, harmonisation or co-ordination problems, identified as a key obstacle to eGovernment progression.
2. Technological solutions that build on innovative designs and uses of new communication and information technologies and applications in Europe or around the world. Potential solutions include the use of social networking and community sites, for example, broadly defined as Web 2.0. Can such applications be harnessed by government in creative and useful ways?
3. Citizen-centric solutions are those focused on empowering the users of eGovernment, creating real incentives for the public to use eGovernment applications, for example by more effective segmentation of the public that enables strategies to be tailored for specific groups, or by innovative ways of interacting with intermediaries standing between citizens and governments.
4. Organizational solutions are changes that can be made within the culture or structure of organizations to facilitate eGovernment, for example, understanding and addressing resistance of those who have considerable organizational learning invested in off-line channels.
The Korean Government Approach
The Korean eGovernment initiatives have won a number of awards. They include:
• United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) for 2007 to Korea's Ministry of Justice for its immigration clearance service KISS (Korea Immigration Smart Service)
• e-Asia Award for its online Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) system at the 25th Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) held in Aug. 2007. PPS is the nation's largest online shopping mall for public organizations.
The success of the Korean model has attracted the interest of the China Government. China's State Council Information Office and the Korea's Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding in the e-government sector in Feb. 2007 to explore the possibility of adopting the Korean model.
e-Government National Awards
The UK Government through its Cabinet Office created the world-wide e-Government National Awards 2007 (Ref: www.e-governmentawards.co.uk/ )with sponsorships from the private sector. The Awards recognise and praise the best in public sector ICT & e-Government - across local & central government, non-departmental public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other deliverers of e-government services.
Comment
The internet is playing an increasingly important role for the Government in the delivery of its services , interacting with the public and getting valuable feedback. It’s time that all Governments take and active interest in this and share their successful models to bring about a better world for their citizens.
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite him to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
One of the most effective ways for Creative Public Governance with the widest reach and possibly with the greatest impact is through eGovernment.
It is a priority in the European Union which defines it as the use of information and communication technology in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies. The potential of eGovernment goes far beyond the early achievements of online public services.
The European Union Approach
The EU has even established a website on Breaking Barriers to eGovernment (Ref:www.egovbarriers.org/). The Barriers to eGovernment project team has identified seven key categories of barriers that can block or constrain progress on eGovernment: leadership failures; financial inhibitors; digital divides; poor coordination; workplace and organizational inflexibility; lack of trust; and poor technical design. The project aims to collect further information about barriers relating to eGovernment from stakeholders.
The approaches for overcoming these barriers seek tto stimulate innovation at least four key categories:
1. Legislative solutions, where legislation at member state or EU level has been or can be developed to overcome barriers to eGovernment, such as, harmonisation or co-ordination problems, identified as a key obstacle to eGovernment progression.
2. Technological solutions that build on innovative designs and uses of new communication and information technologies and applications in Europe or around the world. Potential solutions include the use of social networking and community sites, for example, broadly defined as Web 2.0. Can such applications be harnessed by government in creative and useful ways?
3. Citizen-centric solutions are those focused on empowering the users of eGovernment, creating real incentives for the public to use eGovernment applications, for example by more effective segmentation of the public that enables strategies to be tailored for specific groups, or by innovative ways of interacting with intermediaries standing between citizens and governments.
4. Organizational solutions are changes that can be made within the culture or structure of organizations to facilitate eGovernment, for example, understanding and addressing resistance of those who have considerable organizational learning invested in off-line channels.
The Korean Government Approach
The Korean eGovernment initiatives have won a number of awards. They include:
• United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) for 2007 to Korea's Ministry of Justice for its immigration clearance service KISS (Korea Immigration Smart Service)
• e-Asia Award for its online Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) system at the 25th Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) held in Aug. 2007. PPS is the nation's largest online shopping mall for public organizations.
The success of the Korean model has attracted the interest of the China Government. China's State Council Information Office and the Korea's Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding in the e-government sector in Feb. 2007 to explore the possibility of adopting the Korean model.
e-Government National Awards
The UK Government through its Cabinet Office created the world-wide e-Government National Awards 2007 (Ref: www.e-governmentawards.co.uk/ )with sponsorships from the private sector. The Awards recognise and praise the best in public sector ICT & e-Government - across local & central government, non-departmental public bodies, non-governmental organisations and other deliverers of e-government services.
Comment
The internet is playing an increasingly important role for the Government in the delivery of its services , interacting with the public and getting valuable feedback. It’s time that all Governments take and active interest in this and share their successful models to bring about a better world for their citizens.
Talk on Creative Governance
Please email Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net if you want to invite him to present an illuminating one hour Talk on Creative Governance and thereafter to facilitate a session to help solve a prevailing public and social problem in the spirit of Creative Governance.
I would appreciate if you could share Creative Governance stories with me so that they could be featured here. Please forward your response and contributions to DrYKK@mindbloom.net
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