UK unveils 'One Big Thing' to inspire civil service innovation

The UK Government has announced the launch of the "One Big Thing" initiative, a programme designed to inspire innovation among 470,000 civil servants across various departments.

The initiative, which runs from 14 October 2024 to 14 February 2025, aims to equip civil servants with the necessary tools, skills, and motivation to foster new ideas and collaborate more effectively. In collaboration with Wazoku, a company providing an innovation platform, the programme encourages civil servants to share innovations across departments.

Joe Torjussen, Head of Innovation at the Civil Service Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office, emphasised the programme's purpose, saying, "One Big Thing 2024 is about using our combined creativity to improve how we work and how we serve the public. Focusing on small, actionable changes creates a safe environment where civil servants can experiment, learn, and grow, and we create a more innovative and ambitious Civil Service as a result."

A 2023 survey showed that only 42.6% of civil servants felt confident in their ability to convert ideas into impactful actions. The initiative seeks to address this by using Wazoku's platform, which integrates AI functionality to capture and celebrate all ideas as learning opportunities.

The programme is structured around three key stages designed to facilitate learning, collaboration, and action. Initially, civil servants will complete the Innovation Masterclass, an online course providing practical ideation and innovation steps. This is followed by team sessions to discuss and implement a "small change," with the platform supporting these interactions and tracking progress.

As the final step, teams will experiment with the chosen change, evaluate its impact, and document the outcomes. Wazoku's platform enables teams to submit case studies and share their experiences across different departments.

According to Torjussen, "One Big Thing is about building and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the entire Civil Service, and empowering civil servants to be bold and creative is at the heart of how we improve service and operational delivery. Using a platform like Wazoku will help with that. Being innovative is not limited to certain fields or roles, and we all need to creatively respond to the challenges we face in our teams, functions or departments and as a Civil Service."

This marks the second year of One Big Thing. The previous year's programme facilitated over half a million hours of data learning for 212,000 civil servants, with this year's initiative aiming for broader involvement.

Wazoku's Innovation Ecosystem Platform supports the One Big Thing programme, aligning with its Total Innovation framework to democratise innovation within organisations. Wazoku collaborates with various government entities such as the Ministry of Defence and HM Revenue & Customs, alongside private sector clients including Sanofi and Asda.

Simon Hill, CEO of Wazoku, commented, "Governments know the value of innovation and One Big Thing is one of the biggest innovation programmes any government has undertaken. By harnessing the collective knowledge of the Civil Service in this way, the government can drive positive change and scale the best ideas to transform departments."