Reflections from the OECD Innovation Summit 2025
Key takeaways from presenting our innovation toolkit at the OECD Government Innovation Summit in Paris.
Last week I had the privilege of presenting our systemic innovation toolkit at the OECD Government Innovation Summit in Paris. The energy in the room was palpable — public sector innovators from over 30 countries gathering to share what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next.
Three things stood out to me:
1. The appetite for systems approaches is growing. Multiple sessions referenced systems thinking, complexity, and transition management. What was once a niche academic perspective is rapidly becoming mainstream in policy innovation circles.
2. Implementation remains the hard part. Many practitioners expressed frustration at the gap between understanding systemic challenges and having the tools and authority to address them systemically. Our toolkit resonated precisely because it bridges this gap.
3. International learning networks matter. The most impactful innovations I encountered were those that had been adapted across contexts — a participatory budgeting approach from Brazil refined in Portugal, a digital governance framework from Estonia applied in Latvia. These cross-pollinations require intentional infrastructure for learning and exchange.
I left Paris feeling both encouraged and humbled. The complexity of our shared challenges demands that we continue building bridges between research and practice, between countries, and between disciplines.