Innovative practices need not be invented anew in each place advances that are initiated and evaluated rigorously in other jurisdictions add to the evidence base of effective public health programs so that they can be scaled up and implemented more widely. 1 New ways of communicating, including harnessing innovations in social and other media and making a compelling case for a specific action, can strengthen partnerships and bring new partners to the table. Smallpox was eradicated through continuous introduction and implementation of innovations, including new organizational methods, new ways to find smallpox cases, new approaches to targeting which groups to vaccinate, new types of needles, and new ways to vaccinate different groups of people. Innovation can help improve program management to scale up, disseminate, and sustain high-impact interventions.

Innovations in program evaluation can further build the evidence base for interventions by better identifying those that are not working as expected and those that are effective and ripe for scale-up. Innovations in operations can facilitate refinement of and improvements in programs based on actual experience. Innovations in information systems, data collection, communication techniques, and issue framing can increase political commitment and also be essential for progress. Innovations need not be limited to science or medicine. New microbial genomic sequencing and bioinformatics technologies may enable us to identify outbreaks we cannot currently find and better prevent and stop the spread of infectious disease.

A new diagnostic technique, treatment, or vaccine can make a previously unattainable goal possible. Innovation is essential to all aspects of public health strategy and program development and is critical to developing the evidence base needed to establish and refine the technical elements of successful program implementation.

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