The State of Colorado is committed to continuously innovating to deliver results. The Governor’s Office of Operations is tasked with supporting three key areas: 1) performance management, 2) process improvement, and 3) professional development. The Office currently supports innovation by offering free training to all state employees in Lean, Agile, and Change Management, as well as a course in human-centered design.

Innovation is encouraged within state agencies as well. Examples of the innovations include:

• The Colorado Department of Transportation has an Office of Process Improvement that, among other activities, hosts a Lean Everyday Ideas program within the Department and tracks the impact of those projects.
• The Department of Public Health and Environment and the Department of Public Safety also have intranet sites for their employees on Lean and innovation projects with resources and active project tracking via an internal dashboard.
• In addition, several of our state agencies have hired innovation focused positions, including the Department of Higher Education and Department of Human Services.

To share best practices between state agencies, the IDEA Champions (p. 30) are a community of practice with at least one representative from most state agencies that meets quarterly to share innovative solutions. The group also develops resources for the Colorado Innovation Center website, which provides a database of process improvement resources, training videos, templates, and ongoing projects at state agencies.