Innovation With Purpose: Deploying Digital Technologies to Improve Outcomes in Human Services

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6 in 10 citizens
view the private sector
as more innovative than
government
3 in 4 citizens
want government
technology leaders to
innovate more
56% of citizens
believe Human Services
agencies should use
advanced analytics
to provide more
individualized and relevant
services
56% of citizens
trust Human Services
agencies to keep their
personal data secure
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved.
An Accenture survey of more than
6,000 citizens in six countries revealed:
CITIZENS WANT MORE
INNOVATION IN HUMAN SERVICES
Source: Accenture Public Service Global Omnibus Citizen Survey (December 2017)

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90% of
employees
see innovation as an
important part of their
day-to-day jobs
90% of
executives
see innovation as an
important part of their
day-to-day jobs and
leadership
responsibilities
Accenture surveyed
185 employment and social
services professionals
across 10 countries.
We found that almost
everyone recognizes what
citizens are asking of them:
HUMAN SERVICES AGENCIES AGREE:
INNOVATION IS GOOD FOR
PEOPLE AND FOR AGENCIES

Accenture measured Human Services agencies’ performance
against our Innovation Framework—Strategy, Ideation,
Absorption, Execution, Impact and Benefits
IDENTIFYING
INNOVATION LEADERS
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 4*See Appendix for description of the five pillars of the Accenture Innovation Framework.
Strategy Ideation Absorption Execution Impact & Benefits
• Does the Human Services
agency recognize the
importance of innovation?
• Is there a process in
place to develop ideas
that support innovation
and change both
internally and externally?
• Is innovation absorbed
throughout the culture and
are most promising ideas
chosen for execution?
• Is the Human Services
agency able to execute
on innovative ideas
using both internal and
external capabilities?
• What is the impact
of innovation?
Accenture designed the new study around our Innovation Framework
From this work we identified the leading
characteristics of innovative Human
Services agencies among those surveyed

To deliver citizen outcomes and to reduce operational expenses
for their organizations. They achieve those results at a higher rate.
INNOVATION LEADERS ARE CLEAR ON THE
PURPOSE OF INNOVATION:
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 5
Innovation leaders embed innovation within their organizations
59%
73%
67%
41%
42%
42%
Reach different citizen groups/demographics
Discontinue services or programs that are not
performing well or meeting outcomes
Reduce human errors by
customers or employees
Human Services Innovation Leaders Other Human Services Agencies

The survey uncovered
differences in how
Human Services innovation
leaders approach key aspects
of innovation.
WHAT
DISTINGUISHES
HUMAN SERVICES
INNOVATION
LEADERS?

INNOVATION IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF
LEADERSHIP & CULTURE
63%
67%
70%
59%
37%
48%
44%
38%
Encourage innovation to a great extent to better
meet and fulfil the agency’s mission
Manage the innovation process through an
internal R&D/innovation team or lab
Task different people with overseeing different
parts of the innovation process
Include innovation as part of
day-to-day discussions

INNOVATION IS NURTURED THROUGH
59%
63%
67%
42%
44%
35%
Give employees the freedom and flexibility to
engage in innovation-related tasks
Incentivize innovation by offering honorary
placements/fellowships inside the agency
Incentivize innovation by offering honorary
placements/fellowships outside the agency

INNOVATION IS ENABLED THROUGH
Innovation leaders take
a systematic approach
82%
93%
50%
63%
Use detailed, objective criteria to
rank and select projects, aligned
to strategic objectives
Create a business case for
each innovation project,
including risks and
potential issues
Innovation leaders help
remove fear of failure
67%
93%
47%
78%
Regard risk-takers highly,
independent of the success
or failure of their innovation
projects
Have mechanisms to
manage risk created by
innovation initiatives

INNOVATION IS NURTURED THROUGH
ECOSYSTEMS
59%
82%
63%
38%
52%
45%
Target their collaboration with third parties based
on the innovation type
Collaborate with third parties and are more likely
to participate in innovation—and ideation
Actively pursue and encourage development
of ideas for innovation from outside the organization

INNOVATION IS PACED THROUGH
TECHNOLOGIES
Innovation leaders use creative techniques such
as prototyping and user research
59%
63%
30%
34%
Invest in and implement
user research and testing
of prototypes
Maintain physical space
for ideation, prototyping and
other innovation work
Human Service innovation leaders are
ahead of the cloud curve
64%
39%
Use a cloud platform for
innovation (to enable reduced
costs, data collaboration and
speed of implementation)

USING DATA TO
UNLEASH INNOVATION
Prior Accenture research* has shown that Human
Services agencies have these data-related challenges:
• Measuring and understanding performance
• Ensuring data privacy
• Building technology and data skills
In addition, Human Services agencies have
begun to pilot and implement innovation by:
• Creating collaborative data warehouses
• Developing analytics platforms
• Using unstructured and big data
* https://www.accenture.com/t20170224T040950Z__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-
36/Accenture-Public-Service-Emerging-Technologies-Slideshare.pdf v
Practicing open data principles, publishing ‘open data’ for
general public consumption and regularly engaging with
developers to explore new services
78%
60%

INNOVATION LEADERS EMBRACE EMERGING
TECHNOLOGIES
56%
52%
59%
56%
35%
35%
39%
29%
Blockchain
Internet of Things
Video analytics
Biometrics/identity analytics

INNOVATION IS DRIVEN BY
KEY ENABLERS
13%
74%
89%
22%
3%
41%
63%
8%
Finance: Allocate more than 10% of their
administrative budget toward innovation
Skills: Find it relatively easy to find people
internally and externally with the skills needed to
introduce or execute on innovations
Impact measurement: Have a framework to evaluate return on
innovation investments and other potential public impact of
innovation cases following implementation
Ability to scale: More likely to move from initial
prototype or pilot to full implementation of
an innovative service in less than six months

LEADERS RECOGNIZE BARRIERS TO
EFFECTIVE INNOVATION
63%
56%
56%
44%
34%
37%
33%
27%
Lack of qualified personnel to support
the innovation process
Lack of an overall ‘innovation architecture’
Prohibitive legal and regulatory environment
Inability to scale and implement long-
term innovation after pilots

Is your Agency ready to embrace innovation and progress towards the Era of Empowerment?
Follow the leaders
• Align innovation
initiatives to strategic goals
• Empower your people with
a culture that encourages
innovation and isn’t afraid of failure
• More is better when it comes
to partnerships and collaborations
• Embrace open data
and emerging technologies
INNOVATION WITH
PURPOSE
IS ABOUT
LEADERSHIP
AND CULTURE,
ECOSYSTEMS AND
TECHNOLOGY

When it comes to innovation skills, our research
revealed two paradoxical findings about innovation
leaders: they are more likely to identify skills as a
barrier to innovation, yet nearly three-quarters find it
‘relatively easy’ to find people internally and externally
with the right skills.
A CLOSER
LOOK AT
THE SKILLS
PARADOX
17
How is this possible?
Our research points to three characteristics
of Human Services innovation leaders:
They do not deny the challenge. Self-awareness
of lack of skills and processes is a critical first step.
They create the right conditions. While it may
never be possible to hire talent with all the right skills,
leaders are adept at building targeted skills and
establishing key processes for attracting and retaining
top talent.
They are not afraid to look outside. Leaders are
keenly aware that partners can help fill internal skills
gaps. They excel at selecting appropriate partners based
on the type of innovation and skills required.

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• South Africa
• United Kingdom
• United States
METHODOLOGY AND
DEMOGRAPHICS
Employment and social services respondents
represented the following levels of government:
National/
Federal
State/Regional/
Provincial
Local
12% 41% 47%
Employment and social services respondents have the following job titles:
EVP
Functional Head
(Non IT)
Line of Business
Head (Non IT)
CIO Other C-suite
27% 27% 12% 7% 27%
In October 2017, Accenture surveyed
185 employment and social services
respondents from 10 countries:
operate in agencies with these budget ranges:
Large
($20 billion or more)
Medium
($2 billion to $19.9 billion)
Small
($250 million to $1.9 billion)
Very small
(less than $250 million)
26% 31% 20% 23%
represent agencies with the following headcount ranges:
More than
50,000
25,000 to 50,000 10,000 to 25,000 5,000 to 10,000 2,500 to 5,000 Less than 2,500
6% 9% 17% 24% 14% 30%
We identified innovation leaders by looking at the mean innovation score for the
sector. From there, we identified innovators that were at least one standard
deviation higher than the mean. Each of the 10 countries surveyed had at least
one agency that emerged as an innovation leader.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital,
technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions
– underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients
improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 449,000 people serving clients in more than 120
countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at accenture.com.
Gaurav Diwan
Managing Director
Accenture North America Health
and Human Services
gaurav.diwan@accenture.com
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INCREASING INNOVATION AND DEPLOYING
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES IN HUMAN SERVICES
CONTACT US
Molly Tierney
Child Welfare Industry Strategy
Lead, Accenture North America
Public Sector
molly.tierney@accenture.com
Gaurav Gujral
Managing Director
Global Consulting Lead
Accenture Social Services
g.gujral@accenture.com
Valerie Armbrust
Managing Director, Accenture North
America Child Services
valerie.c.armbrust@accenture.com
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