This week FutureGov launched http://simpl.co, a social innovation marketplace where people with ideas for delivering public services in new ways can meet people from organisations who can offer the opportunities to make them happen.  It could be a great break for businesses looking to work with government and public bodies. The service is aimed at helping non-profits, charities and businesses of all sizes looking for government organisations open to innovative ideas.

At VentureNavigator we’ve been doing some work with Futuregov around our Local Business Communities service for Local Authorities. They are full of great ideas and this innovation network is a result of their realisation that people in local government often don’t get to hear about the social innovations happening across the globe or even their backyard.

The service is bit like Ebay for ideas, the site lets users post and bid on innovative solutions, but the focus is on in-kind resources rather than money.  In these cash-strapped times some non-financial support can go a long way in getting ideas off the ground and innovators are crying out to work with forward-thinking organisations to prototype and develop their ideas.  

Check Simpl out here: http://simpl.co and read more about what they are up to on their blog.