GovTech Accelerator
Serving Wellington and Aotearoa by delivering better outcomes
We help local, central and international government agencies tackle some of the most urgent challenges and create a positive impact for their communities.
How? We do this by introducing you to proven innovation principles and processes through the GovTech Accelerator.
The programme creates valuable projects in 13 weeks, reducing costs and de-risking innovation in the public sector.
This is our sixth year of the GovTech Accelerator. So far we’ve been part of 52 project teams and joined by 210 participants who delivered innovative solutions across the public service.
Interested in GovTech?
We want to hear from you.
2024 Projects
Project #1: Department of Conservation (DOC): SWAT (Smart Weed Alert Tool) Detecting new weeds before they become widespread.
NZ spends $50 million per year controlling weeds that impact our native ecosystems. These costs are only going to increase as new weeds emerge and current weeds spread. Around 400 species are already classified as environmental weeds, and an additional 25,000+ exotic plant species are present in NZ. Many of these will become environmental weeds and will not be detected until they become widespread and tricky (and expensive) to control.
Kate McAlpine and Nigel Charman are developing a Smart Weed Alert Tool (SWAT) to address this problem. Kate is a weed ecologist at DOC, and Nigel has an IT background and a passion for weed management. SWAT will work by automatically analysing new exotic plant observations posted to iNaturalist (and other platforms), combining information about the species and the site to determine if the observation is significant. SWAT will be a game changer for national weed surveillance and will significantly improve our chances of detecting (and controlling) new weed incursions early. To find out more, you can contact Kate kmcalpine@doc.govt.nz.
Project #2: Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission (HQSC): Measures Library
Ever wondered about how to measure healthcare quality in Aotearoa? You wouldn’t be the first. Various measures and definitions of quality have been developed and dispersed throughout the health system, but there is no central repository for this information. This makes it difficult for our various health entities to find and use consistent, evidence-based measures for monitoring and improvement. The team at Te Tāhū Hauora aim to solve this through the Govtech Accelerator by developing a tool called the Measures Library.
Alongside the team at Creative HQ, Tui Smith (Senior Advisor, Measures Library), Emily Mountier (Data Analyst), and Nivy Gurram (Senior Advisor, Variations Programme) make up the core project team. They have already developed a working prototype. Now, they are looking to scale up their work by improving their technology systems and partnering with providers across the system to build a national repository of health quality measures. To find out more, you can contact the team at measureslibrary@hqsc.govt.nz
SINCE 2018 WE’VE WORKED WITH
52
Projects
29
Local and central government bodies
27
NGOs and businesses
210
Participants
“GovTech encourages cross-agency collaboration, innovation, and creativity. It’s the recognition that if we’re going to tackle these challenges, we need to think differently.”
Dr. Ganesh Nana
Chair of the Productivity Commission
“Thank you to Creative HQ, who have led four years of government innovation through the GovTech Accelerator.”
Hon. Nanaia Mahuta
Minister for Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Associate Minister for Māori Development
“It’s inspiring to see the work that comes out of these programmes that create real meaningful change for government organisations and also the people they serve. It’s the kind of approach that we need in a modern, adaptive public service.”
Hon. David Clark
Minister of the Digital Economy and Communications
2023 Impact Report
Through a focus on collaborative innovation, impact measurement and upskilling opportunities, GovTech is empowering public sector organisations and departments to stay ahead of the curve and meet the needs of citizens in a rapidly changing world.
With 52 projects through our programme over the past five years and over 60% still active, take a look at the report and find out more about their journey with the GovTech Accelerator.
Some of the agencies that took part in the accelerator:
2022 projects
Government agencies, NGOs and startups came together in the fifth GovTech Accelerator.
In 2022 we had 14 government projects, NGOs and Startups joining us – all focusing on social and environmental challenges that are facing Aotearoa.
Want to learn more about GovTech?
Here are five reasons to get you started:
- Solve the root-cause problems and build the right solution to meet citizens’ needs.
- Work with experienced facilitators in an environment that fosters collaboration across agencies.
- Build innovation capability in your government staff through immersive learning by doing.
- Enable co-design and collaboration with citizens and the public and private sectors.
- Rapidly test new solutions using a safe and user-centric process.
How it works
The GovTech Accelerator is a proven model that fast-tracks projects and creates long-term solutions. The process can broadly be broken down into four steps.
1. Pick a project and get a team together
What’s top of mind? Pick an issue you’d like to prioritise. We’ll guide you to get the right team composition and we’ll help you source external team members to fill your skill gaps.
2. Put an advisory board together
You’ll have visibility all the way. The most successful teams have a strong buy-in and an advisory board ready to support them throughout their journey.
3. Innovation by method
Time to get to work. We’ll guide the teams through 13 weeks of intensive work to get them where they need to be. We’ll start with an in-depth problem discovery phase to get to the core of the problem. We’ll then move on to co-designing with the communities you are targeting.
4. See the results
By the end of the programme, your team will have validated or invalidated the initial idea. They’ll have a viable business case and/or a validated prototype. They will pitch their progress at the final Demo Day, in front of an audience of government peers, ministers and media.
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