Publications

Independent demonstration projects: A teaching case on
innovation
ABSTRACT
Independent Demonstration Projects is a strategy to innovate for
government without prior approval of officials. The innovator imple-
ments their idea as a minimum viable product, independent of the
government. Once the innovation is operating, it creates pressure on
officials to sustain and expand it with government resources. This case
illustrates the strategy with a factual example of innovating public
access to government records in Virginia. The narrative presents two
major decisions: (1) What strategy should the innovator use to get the
government to make data available to the public? and (2) Once the
innovator created a demonstration version, what else did he need to
do so the government would adopt his innovation? The narrative is
followed by teaching notes with suggested discussion questions. The
case can be useful for teaching government innovation, civic hacking
activism, administrative burden, and open government.
https://pubadmin.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/independent-demonstration-projects-a-teaching-case-on-innovation.pdfhttps://pubadmin.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/independent-demonstration-projects-a-teaching-case-on-innovation.pdf