We're creating a more innovative state for the people of New Jersey. The Office of Innovation works collaboratively with government, academic, non-profit, and private sector institutions to drive innovation in the Garden State's economy and improve the design and delivery of policies and services to the state's residents, businesses, and institutions. We deploy cross-functional teams with data, design, engineering, policy, product, and strategy expertise to solve pressing public interest challenges. By leveraging human-centered design, agile methodologies, iterative policymaking, and data-driven practices, we place the user at the center of our work and rapidly create solutions that we can test and iterate upon. Since our creation, we have engaged in a variety of projects, including: Responding to emerging and urgent needs, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, by deploying modern digital services and expanding the use and availability of data Improving the delivery of benefits and services, including Unemployment Insurance and SNAP Creating tools to enable the public to participate in open policy making Making modern career services and digital tools available to support job seekers in identifying, preparing for, and obtaining family-sustaining jobs Improving the way entrepreneurs and business owners start, operate, and grow their businesses in the state Exploring policy innovations on issue areas such as economic development, technology governance, open data, open governance, autonomous vehicles, broadband, workforce development and more Interested in improving the lives of New Jerseyans by designing and delivering modern policies and services? View our current job openings: innovation.nj.gov/join/
External link for New Jersey State Office of Innovation
Newark, NJ, US
New Jersey State Office of Innovation reposted this
Our agile team working on Business.NJ.gov is distributed, but we’ve begun making an effort to get together physically to conduct program increment (PI) planning… not just for the planning part, but to build better connections in person. These awesome collaborators got together last month to scheme for the upcoming quarter.
We crossed a major milestone in our work to rebuild NJ's unemployment insurance system, thanks to dozens of dedicated public servants at the state and federal levels and our vendor partners. And there's more to come. Here's a summary from Sophie Nieto-Munoz at NJ Monitor: https://lnkd.in/dFFWueqM "New Jersey’s unemployment application process has received a major upgrade, four years after millions of claims filed during the pandemic stressed the archaic system. Among the improvements to the application: - The ability to save and return to it later without losing progress. - Changes to questions, with 77% reworded or removed from the application. - Revised wording on complex questions to make it easier to understand and accurately answer. - A Spanish-language application made with feedback from native Spanish speakers. - A mobile-friendly format. - A new, personalized home page that addresses a claimant’s current situation and recommends next steps. Officials on Tuesday said they have met with dozens of applicants over the last few years in coffee shops, libraries, and community centers to locate places in the application process where people got stuck, like poorly worded questions or trouble accessing the unemployment application on mobile devices."
ICYMI: Governor Phil Murphy established an Artificial Intelligence Task Force charged with studying emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The Task Force will be responsible for analyzing the potential impacts of AI on society as well as preparing recommendations to identify government actions encouraging the ethical use of #AI technologies. With the potential for AI to be transformative across public and private sectors, the Task Force will work to ensure that the State’s use of AI is fair, accessible, and beneficial to all New Jerseyans. https://lnkd.in/exTetDbh?
At the Office of Innovation, our mission is to improve the lives of the people of New Jersey. We do this by solving public problems differently – designing, developing, and deploying an array of products and services using human-centered, data-driven, and agile processes. Interested in joining our team? We have several open positions across product, data, policy, software engineering, and talent and operations disciplines, and are looking for diverse and experienced team members to fill them. Head here to apply, and learn more about our team, our work, and the impact we’re making for people across the state. https://lnkd.in/eyUeZcjT
Making the right changes, even small ones, can lead to an outsized impact. That is just one of the themes explored in this comprehensive analysis of New Jersey’s Unemployment Insurance modernization successes. In this Heldrich Center for Workforce Development report, author Michele Evermore provides insights into the key decisions and strategies deployed by New Jersey stakeholders and how they tangibly impacted residents’ lives. Read: https://lnkd.in/esMQd8FZ
Read: Stop playing it safe and pitch your ideas In this Partnership for Public Service blog post, author Virginia Hill discusses the importance of change agents in government and provides practical guidance for current and aspiring changemakers. https://lnkd.in/eruj2Fqy
Read (then listen): 10 podcasts for public sector professionals The team at Apolitical has put together a collection of podcasts that touch on public policy, civic tech, geopolitics, and more. The list focuses on content creators at the center of the types of decisions, insights, and stories relevant to public sector professionals everywhere. https://lnkd.in/ekY6BdC9
States can now quickly build emails that make it easier for people to access unemployment insurance. That’s thanks to a template kit created by the New Jersey State Office of Innovation and New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Check out their collection of styles, components, and building blocks to get started: https://hubs.ly/Q01ZRdFJ0 #GovWinoftheWeek