Working at a regional level gives you a different perspective on productivity. At Cardiff Capital Region, we are not only concerned with how individual organisations perform, but with how productive the region itself is.
As the corporate joint committee representing the 10 local authorities in South East Wales, we are responsible for economic wellbeing, spatial planning and regional transport across an area that accounts for roughly half of Wales’ population and economic output. That scale brings complexity, but it also creates an opportunity to do things differently and to think more ambitiously about long-term growth.
Productivity, for us, is not something we define upfront. Innovation is the lens we use. Productivity is what follows when we invest in the skills, confidence and capacity of people and organisations to innovate effectively.
Like many public sector partners, our focus is firmly on outcomes. Sustainable growth, inclusive prosperity and improved life chances matter just as much as traditional economic indicators. We are, of course, measured on jobs created, GVA, private sector leverage and growth. But we are also interested in whether we are creating the right conditions for businesses, public services and communities to thrive across very different geographies within the region.
That is why our approach to productivity looks different to a narrow efficiency drive. We invest in innovation-led growth by backing people, culture and leadership. Since 2021, we have supported a range of programmes designed to help public services move from problem definition through to experimentation and implementation. These programmes are not branded as productivity initiatives, but productivity is very clearly one of the outcomes.
One example is our work through innovative future services and the Infuse programme, alongside a £10 million local wealth building challenge fund. These initiatives take real public sector challenges and create testbeds where private sector innovators, public bodies and other partners can work together. Procurement has historically been a barrier to innovation in public services, so approaches such as innovation partnerships have been particularly important.
In healthcare, for example, we were able to invest a relatively small amount of public funding to support innovation around endoscopy services. With tens of thousands of people on waiting lists, creating space for new thinking led to the development of a fully recyclable, single-use option that has the potential to change patient pathways across the region and beyond. That is productivity delivered through innovation, risk appetite and collaboration, rather than through pressure.
A key lesson for us has been that people across sectors need similar things to innovate well. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a private sector leader or a public servant, disciplined innovation tools matter. The ability to define problems clearly, test ideas, measure impact and learn from failure is not sector-specific.
We have now worked with hundreds of public servants through these programmes and continue to invest in them as an alumni network. Often, the real impact is not seen in the first experiment they run, but in the second or third time they apply those methods in their own organisations. That is where capability builds and where wider productivity gains start to compound.
Problem definition is critical. Too often, public services have been drawn into solution-led thinking, driven by pressure and urgency. By contrast, when time is taken to clarify the real problem, it becomes much easier to bring in expertise from across sectors. Through what we describe as “collision spaces”, we deliberately bring together public, private, third sector and academic partners to work on shared challenges. The learning flows in all directions, and the biggest gains often come from that clash of perspectives in the middle.
Progress in the public sector is rarely linear or dramatic. Innovation and productivity improvements are often incremental, particularly in environments shaped by tight budgets, rising demand and high expectations. But those same pressures also create the conditions for change, pushing organisations to work differently and to collaborate more openly.
Looking ahead, my ambition is that Wales continues to build a culture of empowerment for public servants. Productivity gains often come from those closest to the frontline, who understand how systems really work for citizens, patients and communities. Supporting those people with the right tools, leadership development and feedback loops is essential.
Prevention also has to play a bigger role, as does the safe and equitable use of digital and data technologies. From this year our focus through Infuse will include how artificial intelligence can support public service redesign. Not as an end in itself, but as a way to free up expertise, reduce friction and improve outcomes across systems.
Ultimately, productivity viewed through an innovation lens is about improving lives. By building long-term innovation capability, embracing collaboration and investing in people, we can support public services to work smarter and help deliver inclusive, innovation-led growth that genuinely changes life chances across our region.
Owen Wilce talks about this and more in the Unlocking Wales' Productivity Potential podcast episode Productivity in the Public Sector. Listen to the podcast here.
