The Innovations in American Government Awards Program has
announced semi-finalists demonstrating “creative, forward
thinking and results driven” approaches meriting one of
six $100,000 awards, as well as prestigious recognition
and new content for the winners’ resumes.
Fifty public sector programs were nominated in all, out
of a pool of 1,000 applicants based on “novelty and
uniqueness, effectiveness in addressing important
problems, significance, and the potential for replication
by other government entities,” according to the project’s
website.
Now in its 18th year, the awards program is part of the
Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at
Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and is
administered with the Council for Excellence in Government.
The federal nominees are the Department of Veterans
Affairs’ Managing Violence in High-Risk Medical Patients
program, the Department of Justice’s Global Justice Data
Model and its Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory
program, the Agency for International Development’s Global
Development Alliance, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s HOME Investment Partnership program, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Laboratory
Response Network, the Office of Management and Budget’s
Program Assessment Ratings Tool, and two websites, the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Regulations.gov, and
the Department of Health and Human Services’ Grants.gov.
Eighteen finalists will be chosen in April by a committee
chaired by David R. Gergen of the Center for Public
Leadership at Harvard, and including former Maryland Lt.
Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former San Diego Mayor
Susan Golding, and former Congressman William Clinger,
followed by an announcement of the six winners in July.
For the complete list of semifinalists and information
about the programs, visit: www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu.
