The Finalists Are In

The finalists for the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards have been unveiled -- and few of them, it turns out, are from the federal government.

The 15 finalists were announced Tuesday by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School. They include state, local, and tribal programs ranging from a fresh food financing initiative in Pennsylvania to a teacher residency program in the Boston Public School District.

But only two of the finalists came from federal agencies:

• The Global Maritime Domain Awareness program at the Department of Transportation, a low-cost, rapidly deployable, vessel traffic monitoring system.
• The Intelligence Community Civilian Joint Duty Program, requiring intelligence professionals to complete assignments outside their agency to achieve executive rank.

The finalists, selected from a pool of almost 1,000 applicants, will make a case for themselves before an awards selection committee on June 12. Eventually, six winners will get $100,000 each to spread the word about their achievements.