By Dr Shawn Cunningham

Much is said about innovation in private enterprises. That the public sector must also innovate is rarely discussed in our media. While innovations in the private sector benefit enterprises and their customers, innovations in the public sector benefit all of society.

 The Belgian Agency SPF BOSA launched the Federal Innovation Awards, which includes the “First Penguin Award”, in 2023. The objective is to recognise public officials transforming the Belgian government by taking risks and making concrete changes. The organisers argue that innovating in government requires courageous officials ready to be the first to jump in and do things differently. The first penguin to jump into the sea takes the risk of being attacked by predators. But other penguins leap into the water once the first penguin is safe.

The judges assess competing proposals against the following criteria:

• The degree of innovation: Does it show novelty?
• The observed impact and the results obtained: What lessons have been learned?
• Stakeholder involvement: To what extent is the initiative supported?
• Relevance: Is there a clear added value for the organisation and the user?
• Longevity: Does the initiative have a long-term impact?
• Transferability: Can it also be useful in another context or situation?

Take a look at the Federal Innovation Award 2026 website

Other prizes are awarded for “Curiosity” and “Virtual Reality Experience”.

Seeing this recognition of risk-taking made me wonder how we recognise and encourage our first penguins here in South Africa. Are our problem-solvers, risk-takers and budget-stretchers encouraged to make changes with the limited resources at their disposal? How can we encourage more people to try something different, something fresh, something never tried before?

There is a National Geographic documentary and several articles that explore the courage of these penguins. It is both inspirational and worth reading. In addition, a photo of a penguin diving into the water from a 50-foot ice cliff was recognised as the National Geographic picture of the year in 2024. For copyright reasons, we did not include this photo here, but you can click the link below to see it on the National Geographic website.

Read more at Why are these emperor penguin chicks jumping from a 50-foot cliff? The National Geographic picture of the year for 2024 was filmed by National Geographic Explorer Bertie Gregory for the series Secrets of the Penguins.

The images used for this blog were generated using Canva AI with the following prompt: “A dramatic, wide-angle photograph captures a solitary penguin launching itself from the precipice of a towering, sheer ice cliff. At the top of the ice cliff, a huddled group of penguins stares downwards, their expressions a mix of astonishment and disbelief. Several of these onlookers have instinctively shut their eyes, their wings drawn up in a gesture of startled apprehension, against a backdrop of a stark, frozen arctic landscape under a muted, overcast sky. The diving penguin is on its trajectory towards the cold seawater below.”