In 2019, Missouri launched The Show Me Challenge, which encourages state employees to pitch innovative ways to better serve the state’s residents and improve the effectiveness of government. The state held three cycles in 2019, one cycle in 2020, and one cycle in 2021. In December 2019, the state announced the winners of the first three cycles of this innovation challenge, and the next cycle will occur in spring 2022. Pitches and plans are publicly available, including the research that supports their innovative ideas.
In 2020, Missouri’s Department of Economic Development created a PPE Marketplace to connect public and private buyers and vendors of personal protective equipment (PPE). The marketplace data has been leveraged by policymakers to calculate the state’s overall PPE burn rate, which has allowed the state to invest over $100 million in a PPE reserve for managing COVID-19 during the winter cold and flu season and protecting the state from supply chain shortages.