There is a growing body of literature that examines the role and opportunities of innovation in the local government sector. ACELG itself has contributed to this movement with two commissioned papers: Innovation, Ingenuity and Initiative: The Adoption and Application of New Ideas in Australian Local Government, which analyses a number of examples of innovation in the Australian context; and Innovation in Local Government: Defining the Challenge, Making the Change, a better practice guide relating to the application of innovation and change

For those with an interest in building the innovative capacity of local government, a number of other helpful resources are listed below:

• The Australian Department of Industry Innovation Report: "The Innovation Policy Report is compiled by the Department, and aims to highlight departmental, national and international developments in the innovation Policy area. It also includes summaries of relevant innovation documents and events."
   
• Government Innovation Around the World by Elaine Kamarck: This report from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University looks at the history, causes, examples, and outcomes of government innovation in a variety of national contexts – even Australia gets a mention (p. 24).
   
• Local government as a facilitator of systemic social innovation by Sharon Zivkovic: This paper from the recent ACELG Local Government Research Forum argues that innovation is not something that is best achieved piecemeal through application of derivative solutions to singular problems, but rather requires a systemic and adapted approach that is influenced by individual communities. This is an important read given the existing paradigm of project-level innovations prescribed by best practice in other councils.
   
• The Harvard Kennedy School Government Innovators Network: This is a great repository of resources relating to various aspects of government innovation. It advertises itself as a "marketplace of ideas and examples", and includes news, publications and examples of best practice.
   
• Innovation in the Public Sector: Enabling Better Performance, Driving New Directions published by the Australian National Audit Office: This better practice guide "provide[s] a framework for understanding the processes that underpin innovation in the public sector and to provide practical insights and a resource for practitioners. In this way the Guide is designed to further encourage and facilitate an innovative culture in the Australian Public Service and the public sector more generally."
   
• Innovation in Public Services: Literature Review published by IDeA Knowledge: A 2009 literature review of public sector innovation. It reviews the importance, key concepts, trends, mechanisms and challenges of innovation in the public sector in an international context.
   
• Innovation in Public Sector Organisations published by Nesta: This report presents the findings of a pilot survey for measuring innovation in the public sector. The report and sample survey provide some interesting insights into the anatomy and scope of innovation in a public organisation.
   

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