Abstract
Nigeria’s position as a top-five African country for businesses and entrepreneurs is challenged by a complex social and political environment, including insecurity, inflation, and public sector inefficiencies. The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) is tasked with improving Nigeria's business environment by addressing these bottlenecks through governmental reforms. However, they have encountered ‘reform fatigue’ amongst collaborating government organisations and are seeking alternative approaches to achieve their goals. This case study centres on the collaboration between PEBEC and MIT GOV/LAB from September 2022 to January 2023. During this time, an MIT GOV/LAB Designer-Researcher (DR) joined PEBEC to pilot an experimental approach to public sector innovation. The DR worked alongside PEBEC Reformers to develop citizen-centric innovations while collecting data on attitudes and behaviours toward public sector innovation. Partnering with the Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) Digital and Innovation Support Group, the team focussed on improving entrepreneurs’ experience with FIRS. The outcome was a re-engineered tax registration process that unifies Taxpayer Identification Numbers at federal and state levels, integrates other government agencies for personal and corporate ID validation, and reduces registration time and cost for entrepreneurs, potentially increasing government revenue. The article also discusses lessons learned from implementing a design-led approach to public sector innovation in Nigeria. Key insights include the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, adapting international best practices creatively, and adopting a more iterative model for reform development. These findings offer valuable guidance for PEBEC and similar organizations seeking to foster entrepreneurship and improve public sector efficiency.
Keywords
public sector innovation, design for policy, government reforms, Global South
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.318
Citation
Federico, V.(2023) Introducing design for public sector innovation in nigeria’s federal government, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.318
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
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Introducing design for public sector innovation in nigeria’s federal government
Nigeria’s position as a top-five African country for businesses and entrepreneurs is challenged by a complex social and political environment, including insecurity, inflation, and public sector inefficiencies. The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) is tasked with improving Nigeria's business environment by addressing these bottlenecks through governmental reforms. However, they have encountered ‘reform fatigue’ amongst collaborating government organisations and are seeking alternative approaches to achieve their goals. This case study centres on the collaboration between PEBEC and MIT GOV/LAB from September 2022 to January 2023. During this time, an MIT GOV/LAB Designer-Researcher (DR) joined PEBEC to pilot an experimental approach to public sector innovation. The DR worked alongside PEBEC Reformers to develop citizen-centric innovations while collecting data on attitudes and behaviours toward public sector innovation. Partnering with the Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) Digital and Innovation Support Group, the team focussed on improving entrepreneurs’ experience with FIRS. The outcome was a re-engineered tax registration process that unifies Taxpayer Identification Numbers at federal and state levels, integrates other government agencies for personal and corporate ID validation, and reduces registration time and cost for entrepreneurs, potentially increasing government revenue. The article also discusses lessons learned from implementing a design-led approach to public sector innovation in Nigeria. Key insights include the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, adapting international best practices creatively, and adopting a more iterative model for reform development. These findings offer valuable guidance for PEBEC and similar organizations seeking to foster entrepreneurship and improve public sector efficiency.