In case you hadn’t heard, IdeaScale recently announced the winners of its open innovation awards contest. Our panel of judges selected five winners from an array of submissions that outlined great IdeaScale business practices and now we’ve had the chance to ask a few of our winners their thoughts on best practices. This interview features responses from James Kauth, Director of Innovation at the State of Minnesota:
IdeaScale: How long have you been utilizing IdeaScale?
Minnesota: We launched our first campaign in early June 2012.

IS: Why did you start utilizing innovation software?
MN: Our State CIO Carolyn Parnell’s vision is to leverage the cost savings through efficiencies from the State of Minnesota multi-year, enterprise-wide IT Consolidation effort to focus energy on effectiveness of government by launching an Innovation Program. This has the dual benefit during the consolidation of identifying new skills, roles and projects that align with new and presently unknown business verticals.
IS: Is this a practice you can see being valuable to other state organizations? Why?
MN: Definitely. E-democracy models call for interactive government, what better way than an online forum to directly share ideas and opportunities to engage in delivering tangible results that matter to constituencies. The McKinsey Global Institute released a report in October Open data: Unlocking innovation and performance with liquid information that details a $3-$5 trillion opportunity that exists in government data systems. Demand for government-business and government-citizen interaction is on the rise and with this incredible potential will establish innovation as a political priority.
IS: Why do you think your engagement strategy is so successful?
MN: #1 is the organization’s willingness and curiosity to engage. Without them, there would have been no further steps to pursue. There was a big risk of cultural collapse if the strategy wasn’t successful, which was a powerful motivator for the next sentence. #2 is hard work and research. Working with people and organizations that helped us leverage their experiences and avoid pitfalls from the past.
IS: What are you most proud of in your innovation program?
MN: The governor’s office learned of our event, and within an hour, determined to adjust their strategy to leverage our experience and tools to publicly launch The Unsession –State government’s first open ideation event for Minnesotans.
To learn more about State of Minnesota’s innovation program, visit IdeaScale’s resource page.