Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in the Public Works ...

From the overall study, three generalizations can be drawn:
1. Public works officials believe that they can obtain permission for anything that they
believe in.
2. Public works officials do not want to be first, they want to see process
demonstrated.
3. Public works officials do not want black boxes, they want evaluation by peers and full
information.
In 1983, the APWA Research Foundation conducted a workshop for U.S. EPA on the role
of the private sector in conducting environmental research and development for meeting local
agency needs. Proceedings were published as Demonstration Projects and The Development of
Environmental Technologies. The public and private sector participants concluded that government
must assume the primary role of environmental R&D sponsorship. Fragmentation of the market
and constantly revised federal standards were concluded to be major impediment to the private
sector assuming a larger role.
Finally, in 1988, the APWA Research Foundation conducted another workshop for the U.S.
EPA on the role of demonstration projects in acceptance of new technology by public works
officials. Proceedings were published as Defining the Role of Federal and Private Sector Activities
in Solving Municipal Environmental Problems.
Table 4, Findings, lists the seven major findings from the workshop. It was concluded
that before adoption of new technology, the innovation must be demonstrated. The test protocol
for demonstration projects by local agencies must be established in a manner which will allow for
testing over a variety of conditions in order that the demonstration need not be endlessly replicated.
The local agency must have adequate resources to conduct the test and to prepare a comprehensive
evaluation which will be of value to other agencies.
SUMMARY
Extensive research has been conducted to determine the influence which will impact the
decision of local public works officials when adoption of new technology is being considered.
Twenty examples of the adoption of new technology have been described in APWA Special Report
No. 54, Good Practices in Public Works.
As we proceed to meet the needs to rehabilitate our existing infrastructure and meet the new
requirements which are being mandated by Federal and State regulations, we must develop
innovative methods to replace the present costly and sometimes inadequate techniques which have
been in use. Adoption of innovations can be expected when the influences outlined in this paper
are understood by those who would act as "change agents."
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