OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

What OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation does

The OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) is a unit within the OECD Public Governance Directorate, established in 2011 and headquartered at 2 rue André Pascal, 75775 Paris CEDEX 16, France. It operates as a global knowledge-sharing platform that helps national, regional, and local governments and the public servants who staff them develop innovation capabilities. Its core offering is a portfolio of free resources: the Toolkit Navigator (a compendium of toolkits), the Case Study Library (hundreds of cross-jurisdictional case studies), the Digital OECD Innovation Playbook (launched October 2024, a structured three-step methodology to operationalize the OECD Declaration on Public Sector Innovation), the Portfolio Exploration Tool (a self-assessment instrument built on OPSI's Innovation Facets Model), the BI Knowledge Hub, the Anticipatory Innovation Resource (AIR), the COVID-19 Response Tracker, and the Gov2Gov Innovation Incubator. Underlying methodology centers on the Innovation Facets Model for portfolio-based innovation assessment and related foresight frameworks; OPSI also maintains a dedicated work area on Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector and Emerging Tech for Civic Participation.

OPSI's business model is non-commercial. All publications, toolkits, case studies, and resources are freely accessible, and the unit is funded through OECD member-country assessed contributions and strategic co-funding from the European Commission (notably through the Horizon 2020 programme,). The go-to-market is community-led, relying on publications, blog content, events (workshops, learning events, community gatherings), newsletter distribution, and social media to reach public-sector audiences. Named engagements span Finland (EDUFI's Experimentation Lab), the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (developer of the Scenario Exploration System, used by 2,000–3,000 people globally), Japan's Digital Agency (co-creation platform with 10,000+ users), Brazil's SEGES (TransformaGov.BR, 23 states, 950+ units), and Italy's INPS (LLM-driven text simplification serving 45 million citizens). Customer segments are entirely governmental — vertical segmentation across ministries, agencies, and sub-national bodies, with persona-level segmentation across civil servants and policy makers.

Name

OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

Legal name

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Website

https://oecd-opsi.org

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

OPSI is a unit of the OECD Public Governance Directorate that helps governments and public servants develop innovation capabilities through free toolkits, case studies, frameworks, communities of practice, and country-specific innovation programming, funded by OECD member contributions and EC co-funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Innovation Services

NAICS

International Affairs (928120), Executive and Legislative Offices, Combined (921140)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Trade, Industry & Economic Development Administration (BPAIAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD), Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking (BPAHALAB)

Keywords

• Public sector innovation
• Government innovation resources
• Innovation policy frameworks
• Behavioral insights research
• Anticipatory innovation methodologies

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OPSI equips governments and public servants with insights, knowledge, tools, and connections to explore new possibilities for public sector innovation. Core offerings include the Toolkit Navigator (a compendium of innovation toolkits), the Case Study Library (hundreds of curated public sector case studies), the Digital OECD Innovation Playbook, the BI Knowledge Hub, and the Portfolio Exploration Tool for self-assessment of innovation capability.

Product overview

OPSI offers a portfolio of resources, tools, and programs to help governments explore innovation. The core offerings include the Toolkit Navigator (a compendium of toolkits), the Case Study Library (hundreds of public sector case studies), and the Digital OECD Innovation Playbook. Supporting tools include the Portfolio Exploration Tool (PET) for self-assessment, the BI Knowledge Hub for Behavioural Insights projects, and the Anticipatory Innovation Resource (AIR). OPSI also runs the Gov2Gov Innovation Incubator and maintains a COVID-19 Response Tracker.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Toolkit Navigator A compendium of toolkits for public sector innovation and transformation, providing governments and public servants with practical resources to put innovation theory into practice.
• Case Study Library A library of hundreds of public sector case studies from around the world and all levels of government, enabling peer learning and best-practice discovery.
• Digital OECD Innovation Playbook A structured 3-step journey designed to help governments operationalise the OECD Declaration on Public Sector Innovation.
• BI Knowledge Hub A directory of Behavioural Insights (BI) projects and units from around the globe, allowing users to add or pre-register their unit or project and uncover insights into what works.
• Portfolio Exploration Tool (PET) A free self-assessment tool that helps teams or organisations determine their capability to innovate, based on OPSI's Innovation Facets Model.
• Anticipatory Innovation Resource (AIR) A resource for governments to anticipate future changes and develop new approaches with and for partners.
• COVID-19 Response Tracker A tracker that monitors government responses to COVID-19 across jurisdictions.
• Gov2Gov Innovation Incubator An incubator program connecting governments for peer-to-peer innovation collaboration.
• Portfolio Exploration Workshop A workshop offering that helps governments develop a portfolio approach to innovation using OPSI's Innovation Facets Model.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30-40% monthly active user rate on the Digital Transformation Co-Creation Platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• European CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPSI works in partnership with the European Commission, including through its Horizon 2020 programme, to achieve priorities in leading public sector innovation. The EU logo appears on the website indicating co-funding, and the collaboration focuses on work areas including anticipatory innovation and emerging technologies for civic participation.
• Demos HelsinkiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA Nordic think tank with prior experience in using experiments to inform national governance. Built the model for the Finnish Experimentation Lab together with OPSI.
• VTT Technical Research Centre of FinlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped a multiperspective approach to evaluate experiments as part of the Finnish Experimentation Lab, working with Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and Inforglobe.
• Finnish Institute of Occupational HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with VTT Technical Research Centre to develop a multiperspective, human-centred approach to evaluate experiments in the Finnish education sector.
• LatviacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPSI is working on building innovative capacity in Latvia through dedicated work areas and publications supporting the country's public sector innovation efforts.
• Ireland Department of Public Expenditure and ReformminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner organisation working with OPSI on public sector innovation initiatives.
• NorwayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner through EEA Grants supporting public sector innovation collaboration.
• Sweden's VinnovaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish government innovation agency listed as a partner supporting OPSI's mission.
• UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government InnovationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partner for cross-border government innovation initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC): EC's science and knowledge service that co-developed the Scenario Exploration System with OPSI. Directly comparable as a public-sector foresight and policy-research partner operating at the intersection of research, innovation and government advisory.
• GovTech (World Bank): World Bank-led initiative supporting digital and innovation procurement in government. Comparable to OPSI in advancing public sector innovation capacity and case study dissemination, with an explicit procurement/innovation focus.
• NESTA (the innovation foundation): UK-based innovation foundation producing research, methods, and experiments on public sector and social innovation. Closely comparable to OPSI in developing and disseminating innovation frameworks, tools, and case studies to governments.
• OECD Public Governance Directorate: The parent directorate of OPSI within the OECD. Direct peer because it is the immediate organizational umbrella that defines OPSI's mission, governance, and resourcing, and produces adjacent policy research on public governance.

Broad incumbents

• World Bank Governance Global Practice: Provides policy advice, technical assistance and lending for public sector reform in developing countries. Comparable to OPSI in providing cross-country governance guidance, but operates at greater scale with a development-financing mandate.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): UN agency supporting governance, institutional strengthening and innovation in public administration across 170+ countries. Comparable to OPSI in its global public sector advisory role, but with a development mandate and significantly larger footprint.
• McKinsey Public Sector Practice: Global management consultancy advising governments on public sector performance, innovation and digital transformation. Comparable in advising governments on innovation strategy, but as a commercial incumbent with proprietary consulting engagements.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Public Sector Practice: Global consultancy advising public agencies on transformation, innovation and digital strategy. Comparable in serving government clients on innovation topics, but as a broad commercial advisory incumbent.

Regional players

• UAE Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation: UAE government body that partners with OPSI and runs its own public sector innovation programs. Comparable as a peer public sector innovation body, but with a regional/MENA mandate rather than a global one.

Emerging players

• Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: Provides policy and delivery advice to governments on modernization and innovation. Comparable to OPSI in serving public sector clients with innovation advisory, but commercial and project-funded rather than membership-funded.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OPSIgov
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/OECDObservatoryofPublicSectorInnovation
• Facebookfacebook.com/theOECD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/opsi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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