I’m new to to innovation, where do I get started?

Welcome—we’re excited for you to join the federal innovation community. To get started, we recommend that you read these resources which explore innovation in government:

• Risk & Reward: A Framework for Federal Innovation
• 13 Key Ways for Federal Agencies to Innovate
• AFWERX Innovation Ecosystem Development Playbook

To connect with innovators across government and participate in events, join the Federal Innovators Network.

How can I be innovative within acquisitions?

Acquisition is often identified as a barrier to innovation, but there is great work happening across government to innovate within acquisitions.

Organizations like the Procurement Innovation Lab at the Department of Homeland Security are providing training and support for innovation within the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Check out their work here.

The Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovation is a government-wide innovation knowledge management tool to identify innovations across the federal acquisition environment. You can view the periodic table here.

Where can I learn more about customer experience approaches?

Designing products and services around the needs of customers and end-users is a critical piece of a responsive and effective government.

If you’re looking to learn more about approaches your organization can take to improve customer experience, use this “CX Cookbook” published by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Partnership has extensive resources on customer experience and profiles for each of the high-impact service providers here.

I need to acquire talent, where can I get started?

An organization’s employees are its greatest asset and resource for change.

Fellowships are a great source of talent for innovative, entrepreneurial and technical experts. You can find a list of federal fellowships here. The Partnership also hosted an event to discuss which talent acquisition tools could be used to address pressing needs amid COVID-19 response. You can view the resource developed from that event here.

I’m having trouble getting my idea approved by my organization’s legal counsel, how can I change my approach?

Building a strong relationship with legal counsel in your organization can enable innovation. The Federal Innovation Council, with input from lawyers across government, created a guide for building relationships between lawyers and clients that will help facilitate innovation.

Where can I find out more information about public-private partnerships?

By establishing strong cross-sector partnerships, government organizations can accelerate and expand their impact. In summer 2020, the Partnership and the Federal Innovation Council hosted a virtual event showcasing successful public-private partnerships across government and what agency leaders should do to set up new partnerships. For a recap of the event and actionable next steps, read this blog.

I’m starting a software development project, what resources are out there to guide me?

Despite recent progress, government continues to struggle in fully leveraging new technology. 18-F recently released a de-risking guide to help federal employees address some of the outdated practices associated with software development.

Agile has become a buzzword when talking about all types of technology and it is often difficult to know if an organization is truly using agile development approaches. The Defense Innovation Board developed a guide to help and GAO put together a video series explaining agile in plain terms.