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This week: drones deliver HIV tests in Malawi; Ontario experiments with providing basic income; and deadline extended for the $100,000 Innovations in American Government Awards
 Government Innovators Network
 
April 21, 2016
In This Issue

Feature: Deadline Extended for Innovations in American Government Awards

What's New

In the News

Data-Smart City Solutions

Better, Faster, Cheaper

Innovations in American Government seal

Deadline Extended for Innovations in American Government Awards

Apply by April 29!

Do you know of a creative and effective government initiative that could present a compelling application for the $100,000 Innovations in American Government Award? We encourage you to submit a nomination. Offered by Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the Innovations Award is the nation’s premier award for the public sector. Apply now>>

WHAT'S NEW


Cusco, Peru

A Pay-for-Success Mechanism Made in Peru

Innovators Insights Blog

In our latest blog post, Peruvian economist Zoila Llempen examines how Peru aligned interests in a decentralized political environment to improve service delivery through incentive-based budgeting. Read more>>

Hands with medical gloves on holding elderly hands

Health Care Delivery Innovation Competition

MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab

J-PAL North America has launched a new Health Care Delivery Innovation Competition that will support US federal, state, and local health agencies and other health care organizations in developing compelling and reliable evidence of the impact of innovative programs. Learn more and apply by June 17>>

IN THE NEWS


Drones Are Being Trialed to Speed-Up HIV Diagnosis in Africa

To help speed the delivery of blood samples from rural clinics in Malawi to testing facilities, UNICEF is experimenting with whether those deliveries can be delivered by drone. Typically, blood samples and other medical items are transported by motorbikes along little more than dirt tracks; crashes, repairs, fuel costs, and other issues can slow these deliveries down, delaying procedures and lab results. The test flights are currently being conducted on a 10 km route between a community health center and a hospital laboratory. If the pilot is successful, up to 250 tests could be delivered in one flight.

Canada Is About to Start Giving Away Free Money

As part of a series of anti-poverty measures, the province of Ontario has announced a basic income pilot program to assure that its citizens can pay for daily essentials. Under the pilot, eligible residents will receive monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilities — no strings attached. The goal is to see whether just the right amount of income will spur most people to still pursue employment while providing the minimum amount of support to those who cannot work, as well as to determine whether reliable financial support will create the space for motivated persons to invest in education and entrepreneurialism. Finland and the Netherlands are also in the midst of piloting similar programs.

City Schools to Offer Free Feminine Hygiene Products

To help empower young women, some New York City public schools in the city’s most impoverished areas will now provide free feminine hygiene products in girls’ restrooms. Lack of dependable access to sanitary products for girls can force them to miss some or all of a school day, impeding educational progress, causing embarrassment, and affecting their health. Since the project launched, officials have observed that attendance at schools has increased and fewer girls are asking to be excused from their classes throughout the day.

Why So Many Jails Are Embracing Aquaponics

To prepare soon to be released inmates for the modern economy, several California prisons have joined a growing list of facilities nationwide that are training inmates on how to work in the emerging field of aquaponics. Aquaponics symbiotically combines into one environment conventional aquaculture (fish farming) with hydroponics (plant cultivation in water environments). Recruits for the growing aquaponics industry, which uses less water, no pesticides, and grows food faster, are in high demand, providing potential job opportunities to interested participants upon their release. Other facilities in Washington, Colorado, Texas, and Florida have launched similar programs in recent years.

Cultural Mapping Initiative Seeks to Strengthen City’s Identity

This spring, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is embarking on a cultural mapping and assessment process to identify and activate the cultural assets of the community that attract visitors and residents, increasing the quality of life for all. The process of creating the cultural roadmap will include public engagement and citywide conversations at the neighborhood level as well as cross-sector convenings. The resulting framework will include an interactive map of cultural assets, a needs assessment, benchmarking of comparable cities, and recommendations. A feasibility study of a potential cultural office will also be included. Other cities, such as Savannah, Georgia, and San Antonio are among those that have adopted cultural master plans or done cultural mapping.

Frederick County Students Can Apprentice with Employers in New Pilot Program

The Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and the Maryland Department of Commerce are piloting Apprenticeship Maryland in the Frederick County and Washington County school systems. Under the program, local businesses in STEM and manufacturing fields will take on around 60 juniors and seniors in apprentice positions in order for the students to gain knowledge and skills about many and varied jobs and careers while working for the business. Unlike a traditional internship, the two-year apprenticeship will complement coursework that students take in parallel, with the student spending up to half of their school day with the employer and the employer paying the student as if they were an employee. Local businesses will also benefit by getting connected to motivated, potential future employees.

DATA-SMART CITY SOLUTIONS


How D.C. Grew a Data-Driven Tree Strategy

Washington, DC's Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) set an example for cities everywhere about how applying new technologies to government problems can reveal even more possibilities for tech-driven innovation. What started as a simple query to use data to count trees has transformed the UFA into a smarter, more innovative, and more efficient agency.

BETTER, FASTER, CHEAPER


Engaging Entrepreneurs to Solve Urban Problems

Procurement-reform projects in government are seldom without challenges, but with persistence success is possible. A project in Philadelphia used a streamlined approach to procurement to get quick results.

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER


Innovators Insights is the news digest from the Government Innovators Network on the latest in government innovations. This digest is sent out every two weeks and is compiled and written by the editorial staff of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. In each issue, the editorial team identifies top policy and programmatic news that is related to government innovations so that you can stay informed about creative government at its best.

Editor: Jessica Engelman
Researcher & Writer: Brendan St. Amant
Note: The stories in this newsletter link to source articles on other websites and may not be available after a certain length of time.



ABOUT THE ASH CENTER


The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.

 
 
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