‘disruptive innovations’: those cases in which the whole system is entirely re-invented and re-designed.

 

‘greenfield innovations’: those cases in which a new proposal is designed from zero.

 

‘innovation’:  a concept made of two key activities, namely doing something new and shaping, improving and scaling this ‘new’ to make it suitable for a specific context. Innovation happens only when an invention is implemented until its adoption in an organization, in the market or society.

 

 

‘public ownership’: the structure on which the whole public sector is built. It can be shaped in different ways, including direct governance, public companies (also called ‘state-owned enterprises’) or out-tasking  (also called ‘partial outsourcing’).

 

‘public procurement’: Namely, public procurements are the way governments and state-owned companies buy goods, services and works (OECD, 2017). Due to the fact that public money and citizens’ taxes sustain this system, procurements are expected to be efficient in order to ensure the best services’ delivery to the community. Their main aim is to provide an additional level of transparency in the governments’ affairs, also giving a real proof of the use of public money to avoid corruption.

 

 

 

‘public sector’: that portion of an economic system controlled by a national, provincial or local government which is in charge of providing various public and government services and managing public enterprises. It usually includes such services as infrastructures, healthcare, education, transportation, communication and policy-making together with the ones directly embedded in government - as elected officials, politician and organizational departments.

 

‘seven key values’: are those important actions and approaches that must be followed within the public organization. Namely: responsiveness, integrity, impartiality, accountability, respect, leadership, human rights.

 

‘sustaining innovations’: those case in which a running system is enhanced through a series of small or large modifications.