Across the world, we observe efforts to promote radical innovations in the public realm being followed by the creation of different types of “authorizing environments” that foster these experiments. We call them Public Innovation Places. By this we mean experimental sites, agencies, or labs created to develop innovative solutions to pressing social problems, and dedicated to the creation of networks and partnerships by launching new projects, events, and platforms.
In this first map we pay particular attention to the rise of Government Innovation Labs, a range of organizations characterized by a direct connection with the public sector and developed to challenge complex public issues that more traditional governmental structures seek to resolve.