Ripple effect innovation - and doomsday Tuesday, 24 March 2009 The tide may be turning on innovation in local government. Or at least it may be about to turn. The launch of <a href="http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=9505863">NESTA/IDeA’s</a><i><a href="http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=9505863"> More Than Good Ideas: the power of innovation in local government</a></i> report on Monday was interesting, and the report contains some good new examples of innovation by, or facilitated by, local government. There’s a very consistent narrative now – dare I say a consensus? – on the barriers to real innovation, particularly the pressure for risk avoidance and compliance, rather than understanding and managing risk. And, though some of us will put different emphasis on different things, there’s little disagreement on the roles that local government can play in developing local service innovation and some of the techniques that can be employed. <a href="http://www.nestalab.org.uk/">NESTA’s new Public Services Innovation Lab</a> is also helpful in this respect.