Harvard honors government’s best and brightest

Ten federal programs were among the 50 best and brightest government projects named today as semifinalists for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government awards for innovation.<br><@SM>

Ten federal programs were among the 50 best and brightest government projects named today as semifinalists for Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s awards for innovation.Programs run by state, local, tribal and federal governments are competing for the Innovations in American Government Awards, five grants of $100,000 each, for being the most creative, forward-thinking and results-driven. The school’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation sponsors the awards. Harvard will announce the winners July 28. Judges chose the from a pool of nearly 1,000 applicants based on novelty, effectiveness in addressing important problems, significance and the potential for replication by other government entities.Among the semifinalists:




50 semifinalists (PDF download)



  • ClinicalTrials.gov, the Health and Human Services Department’s effort to provide access to public- and private-sector clinical trials for a variety of diseases and conditions

  • Contractor Performance System, an HHS program to track federal contractors' performance, to help with future award decisions


  • FedBizOpps
    , the General Services Administration’s government online point of entry for contracts with access to procurement information

  • Strategic Management of Human Capital, a project of the Defense Department’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to align human resources plans, policies, and services with its strategy and core values, at www.nga.mil

  • NEXT STORY: OMB eyes architecture practices