The Global GovJam is an event which will apply the concept and energy of the Global Service Jam and Global Sustainability Jam into the world of government and the public sector. People gather in cities around the world for 48 hours to design and prototype a service or product inspired by a secret global theme. Work teams learn, practice, and apply innovative tools and methods to create novel solutions that address challenges faced by the public sector. At the end of the two days, teams upload their results on the GovJam website and publish them for the world.
The Global GovJam is open to everybody who is interested in the public sector. Both individuals and organizations can join. Participants do not need government experience, only a positive outlook, a collaborative spirit, and the desire to contribute to their community. Participants learn how to address community issues through service design:
GovJams are especially relevant to government and public sector professionals and will give them the opportunity to grow collaborations - exchanging techniques, insights, and ideas with colleagues near and far, while working on concrete projects addressing key issues inspired by the common theme.
The joint goals of the event are for it to be meaningful, and to be fun.
The results of the Jam is twofold:
- Concrete output might be in the form of policy documents in an actionable or decidable form; change suggestions supported by research and plans of action: service designs: initiatives or platforms; and things we have not thought of yet.
- Equally valuable intangible outcomes will be in experiencing diverse ideas and new working methods, building real connections to people in the same team or on the other side of the world, and in seeing how a structured innovation process can produce robust, concrete and human-centered results even in just 48 hours. We will also have a great time while getting a lot of work done.
Jamming offers a high-energy, massively diverse environment which focusses firmly on doing, not talking. By moving through a common innovation process, participants move away from well-trodden paths, building on each other’s ideas to take practical, constructive steps towards novel solutions.
The pilot GovJam in 2012 was initiated by The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research, and Tertiary Education; by Protopartners; and by WorkPlayExperience - the people behind the Global Service Jam. The Global GovJam is organized by WorkPlayExperience.
Visit the Global GovJam website for more information about the event.