Charles Leadbeater's visit to Sydney - June 2011

ASIXadmin's picture
Submitted by ASIXadmin on 18 May 2011 - 5:34pm

We're excited to announce that Charles Leadbeater, world expert on collaboration and innovation, and author of We-think, is touring Australia for the Social Innovator Dialogues 2011.

 This tour tackles the idea of Dancing with Disruption: Social Innovation in government and the public sector.

Tickets are now on sale for the events in Sydney (June 16), Adelaide (Saturday, June 18), and Melbourne (June 21). Tickets are priced at $300 or $200 for Not for Profit organisations.

 The Adelaide and Melbourne events are Seminars. These events invite thinkers, policy makers and practitioners to hear a lecture from Charles and to explore in a workshop environment this increasingly important “dance with disruption” that has the potential to dramatically impact government and the public sector.

The Sydney event will bring Charles Leadbeater together with a panel of special guests including Tom Bentley, Deputy Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Julia Gillard (policy and institutional innovation), Matthew Landauer, Co-founder, OpenAustralia (open data; transparency; crowd sourcing service innovation/hacking) and Chris Quigley, CEO of UK-based digital democracy company Delib (crowd sourcing; citizen consultation; digital platforms).

Dancing with Disruption: Social Innovation in government and the public sector

There is an interesting and growing discussion happening about the role and impact of social innovation in government and across the public sector. The points of interaction are growing.

 Some deal with issues of citizen engagement, debate and the crowdsourcing of ideas. Some focus on new approaches to designing and delivering public services, often harnessing the growing stocks of public sector information now being made available so people can create new services from value-adding and often unexpected combinations. Others again are exploring innovative ways to improve transparency and accountability by making the work of government, the quality of our democracy and the business of the public sector more visible and collaborative.

But however they interact, the world of social innovation and the world of government and the public sector are increasingly engaged in new relationships as the search becomes more urgent for fresh thinking, more responsive services and better solutions to complex public policy challenges.

 How to book:

Tickets are being sold through Eventbrite - so visit the event page for your city:

Sydney (June 16)

Adelaide (Saturday, June 18)

Melbourne (June 21). 

Please note that after you purchase your ticket online, you will be emailed a PDF which is both your receipt for tax purposes, and your ticket to enter the event. So please print out and keep a copy if needed for tax, and bring a printout of the ticket to enter the event.

The Social Innovation Dialogues are jointly presented by TACSI, ASIX and the Centre for Social Impact.

Blog entry re-posted from TACSI's website

Comments

Vern's picture

Re: Charles Leadbeater's visit to Sydney - June 2011

by Vern - 9 Jun 2011 - 11:20am

What on earth is "social innovation in government"? Either social innovation is social, and originates in society for the benefit of society, or it is something else. Public sector innovation is a more accurate description of what is intended here.

Charlie Leadbeater's work is usually quite precise on what social innovation is and what it is not. Its' relationship with government and the public sector is an important, nuanced relationship, but the relationship is not served by dissolving each component into the other.

The text in this flier for Dancing with Disruption series reveals the deep conceptual confusion in the field about what social innovation is. For instance:

Some deal with issues of citizen engagement, debate and the crowdsourcing of ideas. - No, citizen engagement is a government-centric process intended to engage government with citizens. It is not social innovation.

Some focus on new approaches to designing and delivering public services, often harnessing the growing stocks of public sector information now being made available  - No, designing and delivering public services is public sector activity - it is social innovation only if it is done in society, outside government, with government consequently transformed in the process.

Others again are exploring innovative ways to improve transparency and accountability by making the work of government, the quality of our democracy and the business of the public sector more visible and collaborative. - No, these processes are about enhanced transparency and accountability in the public sector by public sector actors. Different thing.

Vern Hughes