Bright ideas and finding ways to unlock innovation early are key to creating a better future. Governments are faced with
increasingly complex problems. They need a process to put citizens at the centre of problem-solving to ensure solutions
implemented address the core need of citizens. Creative HQ has championed innovation in the public sector for the past
seven years, helping public sector employees to build their innovation capability to effectively solve problems and
promote positive change.
“Innovation and creative thinking is not just something that we should leave to the private sector. Our public sector
must innovate in order to address the challenges we face today. This 12 week programme is about enabling that to happen
inside government. “Jonnie Haddon, Head of GovTech
For the third year in a row, Creative HQ has hosted the NZ GovTech Accelerator, a globally unique government innovation
programme. In 2020, eight teams from local and central government have joined the programme.
“By bringing Government staff out of their business as usual and into the Creative HQ space, they are able to learn
these new ways of working and to bring these new tools back to their agency.” Sally Hett, GovTech Programme Manager
After 12-weeks of problem discovery, ideation and prototyping, the teams have shared their solutions publicly in a final
Demo Day event at the Beehive, on 3rd December.
This year’s GovTech entrepreneurs have explored ways to improve the way we manage our water, how to build stronger
communities, how we can measure innovation in the public sector just to name a few.
“This programme gives agencies the opportunity to take some of those big meaty problems that they[re dealing with and
supercharges the focus of solving them. “ Tammy Downer, Spark NZ