Really, it is not. I was heartened to see that it doesn’t even make the oxymoron list, which does however include “government worker,” “congressional ethics,” and the rather hackneyed “military intelligence.” In fact, governments are innovating all over the place, particularly with the help of new technologies and a growing constituency of civic-minded developers.

One of my colleagues here at Forrester asked me today if I was planning to write a Playbook on smart cities. While we don’t have a government playbook currently in the works, we have a number of reports that share market trends and industry best practices. So I thought I’d pull together a list. 

Here are a few examples of Forrester reports that illustrate government innovation. My series on smart cities includes:

And, a few by my colleagues:

My keynote speech at the upcoming Forrester Forum in Washington DC is entitled “Changing the Business of Government.” I look forward to further demonstrating government innovation and sharing lessons in better serving “customers,” improving the operational efficiency, and empowering employees (yes, those “government workers” . . . who in many cases are truly miracle workers – no quotes).