Call for Innovative Government Solutions to COVID-19

Facing the Crisis Together

The COVID-19 crisis has kick-started a need for rapid public sector innovation: a global flurry to find solutions for an unexpected crisis. Few governments has been fully prepared to deal with a crisis of this nature, and many are working hard to rally resources and unify experts from across the public, private and non-profit sectors toward a common goal.  In this context, the sharing of ideas and best practices is critical: pandemics do not stay within boundaries, borders and silos, and neither should the global response.

In this context, the OPSI is issuing a call out to all levels of government, civil society, international organisations and the private sector to gather innovative solutions and inspiration on how individuals and organisations across the globe are responding to the crisis. We invite you to submit your ideas using this Google Form.

Innovative responses could include:

• Patient care – such as 3D printing of ventilators, new ways of testing people for COVID-19, or use of non-traditional spaces to expand capacity to treat patients
• Health and safety of responders – such as creation of new practices to reduce exposure of staff to COVID-19 while conducting their essential operations
• Information and practice sharing, with the public or internally – such as the use of social media channels to share trusted information or the use of knowledge sharing platforms for call center staff to have the most up to date information about COVID-19
• Resource management or mobilisation – such as transitioning staff into critically needed roles, or new partnerships to address shortages of resources or people
• Governance responses – such as emergency regulation, budgeting, procurement or other central government functions that enable an expedited or better response to the crisis or its secondary effects
• Real-time data collection, sharing, and analysis – such as opening data for COVID-19 information and responses or new modelling or analysis that creates actionable insights
• Public service delivery under new circumstances – such as transitions to virtual classrooms, delivery of prescription drugs to avoid social contact at pharmacies, delays of deadlines or rapid digitalisation of in-person public services (i.e. licenses, etc.)
• Crowdsourcing solutions – such as hackathons or challenge prizes and funds
• Other – if your response does not fit any of these, such as systemic approaches to welfare, employment systems, or types of responses we did not yet consider

All responses will be immediately available for public view, download, and comment here.