Innovation in Australian publicly operated public–private partnerships

Abstract

It is challenging to identify or evaluate innovation in public–private partnership (PPP) projects. This paper offers insights on how PPP process encourages the private and public sectors to be innovative and defines innovation from a PPP perspective through literature review and interviews with key stakeholders from an Australian social PPP, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC). Thematic content analysis of interview data revealed factors influencing the public and private sector’s ability to provide innovation. Factors identified for private sector include quality of project briefing documents, experience of project teams, allocation of risk, contract flexibility and physical site constraints. Factors identified for the public sector are experience, available sites, market competition, procurement policies and protocols, stakeholder interface and end-user engagement. Factors pertaining to both innovation and project performance include project management, asset utilisation and stakeholder management. These factors are examined, and their role in promoting innovation in both economic and social PPP projects is discussed. The chief innovative feature identified in the VCCC project was the iconic design that provided flexibility for future expansion, lower operational cost and efficient integration of publicly and privately operated services. A need to document innovation and its impact on service outcomes is also highlighted.