Innovation labs are based on the idea that the competencies and mindsets needed for systematic innovation are not the same as those required for stable, daily operations and service delivery at the front line. Innovation labs seek to provide approaches, skills, models and tools beyond what most trained civil servants usually possess. This may call for the creation of dedicated ‘safe’ spaces and opportunities for collaboration on new processes, programs or policies across units, departments and sectors to assist the exploration phase of innovation. Labs typically involve key stakeholders, including end users such as citizens and businesses, in a process of co-creation. For governments this means crafting new solutions with people and not just for them.With innovation labs, the hope is that the establishment of dedicated, cross-cutting organizational structures can strike a blow at vested interests, power plays, and organizational infighting. Labs do so by being permanent structures with a mission to temporarily unfreeze organizational embedded practices.