Illinois Government Innovation Academy
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
The Illinois Government Innovation Academy is an in-house leadership development program focused on rethinking the role of government in a digital world. We are looking to create a network of co-innovators and "intrapreneurs" within DoIT to design new approaches for connecting and engaging with citizens as well as make government more efficient and responsive.
If you are a Springfield based DoIT Employee and interested in attending this program, please complete a DoIT Request for Training form and route it through the appropriate channels for approval. Please note, participants will be selected based on seniority subject to supervisory approval and operational need. Graduates of the 15-hour program are expected to be ambassadors of innovation across the department and the State of Illinois.
Note: Springfield is the location for this pilot project. Future locations are TBD.
Here is what to expect for the required sequence of sessions:
- Idea Generation
- User-Observations
- Behavioral Insights
- Ideas → Implementation
- Storytelling
When:
Tuesday, Sept 25 through Tuesday, Oct 23 (one session per week)
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (Lunch is not provided, but employees are welcome to bring a snack/lunch as needed)
Note: All sessions are in-person, and will require employees to commit to all five weekly sessions
This training is voluntary and employee attendance will be compensated through normal pay rates (no authorized overtime). Leave requests for "State Sponsored Training" are required to be submitted in eTime.
Please contact Dixie.Sloman@illinois.gov with questions.
Innovation Academy Sessions
Session 1: Idea Generation
How might we facilitate brainstorming to come up
with new ideas to solve some of the problem areas we face in government? We
will explore the process of developing and communicating ideas which are
abstract, concrete, or visual.
Session 2: User-Observations
How might we observe users interacting with a
product in order to understand the usability of a service and the overall user
experience? We will explore techniques for user-shadowing and creating distinct
personas in designing a better user-experience.
Session 3: Behavioral Insights
How might we leverage behavioral science
techniques to build better outcomes and experiences with our communications,
policy, and programs? We will explore the designing, testing, and scalability
of low-cost, high-return solutions.
Session 4: Ideas > Implementation
How might we approach transitioning from a great
idea to achieving the necessary buy-in and support for a successful
implementation? We will explore coalition-building approaches, including
timing, identifying influencers, and idea selection.
Session 5: Storytelling
How might we better use storytelling to unearth
the wonderful work being done and the populations impacted? We will explore
examples of how to not only strategically communicate internally and
externally, but also how to spotlight the achievements of our colleagues.
