"The task of the public sector innovation team is to make Estonia's public services more user-friendly and human-centered, in collaboration with ministries and subordinate agencies," states the website of the Government Office's unit, known as the innovation team.

However, the team's description becomes more cryptic as it continues.

"We implement this through a design-thinking-based innovation program, innosprints, nudgeathons, design sprint trials and innovation network events," the site explains.

According to the website, the nudgeathon organized by the innovation team is a hackathon-like format where methods from design thinking and behavioral sciences are combined to understand problems and find solutions. The goal is for participating teams to learn how to develop smart, cost-effective and target audience-specific approaches.

Participation is free, but not everyone can join a nudgeathon – public sector teams must apply, and the team leader must be the "problem owner," as defined on the website.

"The goal of the nudgeathon is for each team to leave with a range of solutions they can apply in their ongoing work. If any idea is deemed worthy of further testing, it can be brought to the design sprint trial organized by the innovation team in the spring of 2025," the site informs.

Applications for the next nudgeathon are already open, but to participate in the design sprint trial, teams will have to wait until the winter of 2025. This training session is for testing ideas that have already been approved by the institution's leadership. This year, 35 participants from 18 organizations took part in the design sprint trial.

The opportunities don't end there. The public sector innovation team also offers innosprints and sherpa workshops. The former is an event where, over the course of five days of intensive development work, teams progress from problem-solving to initial solutions.

Running alongside the innosprint, the sherpa training is a practical course for moderators. "It is based on design thinking, supporting team creativity and co-creation," the website explains. "During the training, participants gain foundational knowledge of design thinking and practical experience as a moderator in an innosprint."

Since 2020, the innovation team has conducted nine innosprints, with the next one starting this Wednesday.

The public sector innovation team, consisting of four employees, was established under the Government Office in 2018, with a budget of €247,000 for this year.

Helelyn Tammsaar, the head of the innovation team, told ERR that essentially, the team serves as an internal trainer for the public sector, and all their programs are free of charge for participants. To date, 34 percent of all ministry employees have participated in the team's programs, workshops and training sessions, along with many employees from subordinate agencies and local governments.

"We consult on a daily basis with innovation advisors and service designers from numerous institutions to facilitate workshops," she said.

Tammsaar addressed the somewhat quirky terminology on the innovation team's website by explaining that the team plays a significant role in promoting a user-centered approach within Estonia's public sector. Every team member conducts interviews and, whenever possible, fieldwork at the start of each project, with behavioral psychology forming the cornerstone of this human-centered approach.

As an example of their projects, Tammsaar highlighted the "cooling-off stop" initiative, which arose from the realization that social norms in traffic are much stronger than legal norms – people tend to adjust their speed based on the flow of traffic rather than speed limit signs. (In May 2021, the Riigikogu passed a law allowing drivers who exceed the speed limit by up to 20 km/h to be given a 45-minute cooling-off stop instead of a fine – ed.).

"In many of the projects led by the innovation team, fieldwork has been crucial in understanding why people behave in certain ways – how they justify the misuse of fiscally marked diesel fuel, why they don't bother sorting waste or why they ignore calls to reduce water usage during droughts in areas where drinking water is scarce," the team leader listed.

According to Tammsaar, this approach is unique globally, as such user research is usually outsourced, which saves money and helps uncover previously hidden needs.

Regarding the innosprint, Tammsaar noted that it is similar to the widely used Google Sprint format in the private sector, but adapted to fit Estonia's public sector. She added that at the innosprint starting on Wednesday, the innovation team will guide 23 teams, with 190 participants from 68 organizations. Ordering such a sprint from the private sector could cost €18,000 per team.

The innovation team refers to facilitators as sherpas, a term also used by the European Commission, according to Tammsaar.

"We like the metaphor – it resonates with the idea that a sprint, with its intense pace, can feel like conquering a mountain peak. The sherpa knows the way from start to finish, helps keep the pace and, if necessary, assists with recovery. The sherpa training provides participants with the skills to support creative thinking and guide co-creative processes. These are useful, universal methods they can apply in their everyday work," Tammsaar explained.

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