A groundbreaking bid for a prestigious government contract, developed in open forum on the internet, has been shortlisted for interview next week by the Office of the Third Sector.
A group led by RNUK Ltd’s CEO, Simon Berry, developed their bid to run the £1.2 million Innovation Exchange for the Office of the Third Sector, in the open and online, so that everyone interested could contribute ideas and comment; even competitors could see the bid develop at www.innovationexchange.net More than 500 people read the different elements of the bid as it developed and around 90 contributions were made and incorporated into the final submission.
The approach has been praised by both contributors and observers alike, as an innovative, inclusive and open way to build a tender for an innovation project. The Office of the Third Sector has welcomed the resulting document as 'very impressive' and the process has been nominated for the New Statesman's Modernising Government Award.
Comments include:
“It was a brave step to take, and pleasing to see that it actually
arrived at a result, with an open-ness of process that was both
astonishing, rapid, and productive!”
“The Open Innovation Exchange bid process was really interesting to be involved in - and for me has already sparked off many new ideas and actions... hopefully it will have the chance to be put in place and to spark many more for many more...”
“…the approach is fantastic and is a great model for an entirely different way of approaching tenders and bids.”
and the process has also received praise from abroad:
"Congratulations on this venture! I see it as yet another sign that in more ways than one the UK is breaking new ground… Bravo!" Dr Miguel Mesquita da Cunha (independent consultant and Professor of European Affairs).
This three year Innovation Exchange Programme aims to support innovation in the delivery of public services by the Third Sector in partnership with Government.
Simon Berry said “Ours was one of 21 bids and now we are down to the last 4. What we have done is not a gimmick. It was and will be about quality, vision and co-delivery. We are really looking forward to our meeting with the Office of the Third Sector next week.”
The successful bidder will be announced week beginning 18th June.
The bid partners are: RNUK Ltd, Delib Ltd, nfp 2.0, Partnerships Online, UnLtd and Warwick Business School. Contributors included Policy Unplugged, Sheffield Hallam University, National Rural Exchange, Common Purpose, Work Empowerment Foundation, Unique Social Enterprise, Matrix Research & Consultancy, Switch On Shropshire, Local Level and others.
Links
The Open Innovation Exchange is at www.innovationexchange.net
Watch interview on YouTube
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