Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 30th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Panel: Policy Development and Coordination Author(s) Eka Akobia Caucasus University Tbilisi Georgia Dr. Eka Akobia – Professor, Caucasus School of Governance, Caucasus University Title Centralization of Policy Development and Coordination Systems – The Case of the Government of Georgia File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Abstract Georgia has been implementing comprehensive public administration reform since 2015. One of the pillars of the reform is Policy Planning and Coordination aiming at the development of a policy making process by improving the policy planning system, strengthening the link between policy planning and budgeting, and building strong mechanisms for monitoring, evaluating, and accountability. The paper aims to review this case in the background of Digital-Era Governance (DEG) - a new theoretical paradigm of public administration. Three key themes of the DEG have been used for the analysis - Reintegration, Needs-based holism and Digitalization. In particular, the paper will test to what degree the key assumption under each theme is applicable to the case – whether the system envisages processes of joined-up governance (JUG), re-governmentalization, reinstating central processes, needs-based reorganization, data warehousing, etc. The paper has also considered the aspects of mindset change in public administration that affects the proper introduction of the innovation in the public sector. Finally, the paper has also reflected on how a crisis, such as a pandemic, impacts on Policy Development and Coordination systems in the public sector.
