The impact of policy on online innovation

The growing acceptance of economic models and increased marketisation has led to a reduction in the role of government and in turn, an increase in the role of private providers in the provision of services within the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. The changing role of the government has led to a growing propensity for increased collaboration between state and private providers, the former focusing on developing and implementing the policy and the latter focusing on providing greater competition in the delivery of training to the customer. Simultaneously, the introduction of, and widespread implementation of managerialism has forced government institutions to focus less on inputs, and more on outcomes. In turn the adoption of accountability mechanisms aimed at delivering cost-effective goods and services has led to the necessity for greater collaboration between state and federal government departments as a means of achieving efficiency gains with reduced fiscal outlays. The emerging perception of the VET sector is one of a consortium of public entities collaborating to provide the leadership and policy infrastructure, from which a consortium (sometimes working together, more often in competition with one another) of public and private organisations operate according to the basic blueprint provided by the policy-makers to provide specific goods and services.