Archive
Reinvention Labs
The first thing we did to encourage a change of attitude at headquarters and to move more authority and
accountability to the front lines was to create "reinvention laboratories," where front-line workers and
managers could try out their ideas for a change. Now there are about 250 reinvention labs leading the
reinvention revolution. They have been called "islands of innovation in a sea of bureaucracy."
(13) The place
where Tommy Roland works, Miami International Airport, is a reinvention lab. Here are some other examples:
- The General Services Administration established the first electronic shopping mall for Federal
customers, which cut the cost of real estate sales by 50 percent while generating revenue of $73 million.
- The Air Force medical organization prototyped an automated system for maintaining patients' records.
The system will save millions of dollars and improve care as it spreads throughout the Defense Department.
- A joint effort between the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency cut the
government's and contractors' overhead expenses by substituting international quality control standards
for the government standard. Quality rose, and government costs have fallen by over $150 million so far.
- The Department of Justice's SENTRI project in southwest California uses state-of-the-art technology
to reduce the average waiting time to cross the border from 45 minutes to just three minutes for registered
travelers. Inspectors now can focus on non-registered, higher-risk travelers.
- A reinvention lab in Anchorage is combining seven separate libraries into a single one-stop shop for
information about natural resources. The Department of the Interior is joining forces with state agencies
and the University of Alaska to create a single natural resources library that will eliminate duplication,
save money, require less staff, and provide better service to customers.
