In networks, we trust

In our team, we network a lot. We participate in different networks with different level of commitment and involvement. In this article, we want to reflect on this work.

OneTeamGov unconference (June 2019). Picture by Pia Laulainen

Which networks?

In these networks we participate as a team:

• Designers in the Finnish government (Julkis_muotoilijat)
• OneTeamGov
• In-house service designers
• International designers in government
• Apolitical
• Service Design Network
• Innovation network (innovaatioverkosto)

This means that we agree in our team that we want to take part and one of us is more active in following the activities. When there are big events all of us might attend.

In other professional networks we participate as individuals and we are not always reporting back to the team. This is the case of:

• Interaction Design Association (IxDA)- Helsinki and Buenos Aires chapters.
• MásMujeres UX in Argentina
• Women in public innovation LATAM (Latinoamerica)
• Service design women in Finland (Ompeluseuran palvelumuotoilijat)
• Media lab graduates
• Open Knowledge

What is our main contribution?

Resources are limited and we know we cannot have a leading role in many networks, therefore, we do not put the same effort in all of them. In the network of designers in the Finnish government and in OneTeam Gov we are active participants, proposing and organising events, activities and thinking together with others about the strategy and future of the network. In the other networks we are participants and take part in activities but we do not propose initiatives.

We will now describe the main mission of these two networks that are important for our work and personal development.

The network of designers in the Finnish government has the aim to support designers and design friendly civil servants working in municipal and state government in Finland and develop the role of design in government. Our mission is to promote design capacity of the public administration and strengthen the position of design in public administration. We make bold initiatives and support cross-administrative work. We celebrate the diversity of design; visual design, service design, strategic design and policy design.

With our colleagues in this network have co-organised an event together with academic researchers and other designers in the government as part of the Helsinki Design week 2018. In addition, we hosted two events for this group in our premises. First,we invited a designer working for the Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team and for the second event we brought together the director of the Client Experience Branch in the Inmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and a design Director from Hellon, a Finnish design agency, who has been working for the Prime Minister’s Office in Finland.

This week, we are co-organizing the visit of a group of public servants from the Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team. This is the Government Design Meet-Up at 2–4pm on 29 August 2019 at the Helsinki City Hall. The event is open to anyone who is interested in (service) design and public sector. Please register to attend the event.

OneTeamGov is a global movement of people working for the public sector. The idea is to open a space for discussion and exchange between stakeholders from public, public and third sectors. This movement has a set of principles that we agree with:

1. We work in the open and positively
2. We take practical action
3. We experiment and iterate
4. We are diverse and inclusive
5. We care about people
6. We work across borders
7. We embrace technology

The Finnish chapter of OneTeamGov organised the first unconference in Helsinki this June. We were part of the team of main organisers. The event was a blast, with very active participation, 130 people, and good energy. Topics discussed varied and participants engagement in the discussions was impressive. We will soon write about our experiences of the event.

Why do we participate?

One of the strategic goals of Inland is to set up new projects with other public agencies. Therefore, getting to know other public organisations and find out how can we collaborate is part of our work. There are two networks that are especially relevant for this work: the designers in the Finnish government and OneTeamGov.

These two networks are good to update our knowledge and skills and learn with peers. We exchange with other designers and in this way,better understand our own constraints and possibilities. There are other networks that might give us similar insight but we do not participate actively because we cannot influence how they are run.

What did we learn so far?

When we started to work in Inland, none of us have been working full time for the government before. Getting to know other civil servants with who to collaborate was key for our work and we rely heavily on the contacts that we could get in the network of designers in government. Two projects were done in collaboration with contacts coming from this network: Reusing TUPA and Qalendar.

Inland Design has special characteristics and it is the first one in its kind, as it is an in-house design team with the mandate to serve one organisation and its strategy. In the Finnish government, there are lots of designers working in public agencies. Most serve only one organisation and work alone and not in teams with other designers. It is only this year that Kela (The Social Insurance Institute of Finland) has been forming teams of designers to work in different areas of the organisation. We are looking forward to exchange with these teams in the near future because we acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses in comparison with others, and also this comparison serves us to better understand our opportunities for the future.

Authors: Mariana Salgado & Suse Miessner