Capacity Development Workshop
"Public Administration and New Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities”
A capacity-development workshop jointly organised by the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee).
Context
Amid a pandemic and growing geopolitical tensions, the second decade of the 21st Century is characterized by a high degree of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity accentuated by the rapid expansion of new technologies that influence all aspects of life.
The pandemic has actually shown that, at critical moments, citizens turn to the government as they expect adequate and timely responses to emerging challenges, including an uninterrupted delivery of high quality public services. Digital technologies proved to be instrumental in advancing public administration, especially when it comes to the delivery of public services in response to the citizens’ demands.
Widespread internet access and the existence of social networks helped to develop a "digital mind” in citizens, as they expanded their networks and became conscious about their rights and privileges. This, in turn, has further increased citizens’ expectations and demands of the quality and timely delivery of public services.
To overcome the new and emerging challenges of the 21st century, public administration needs to adapt to the new reality. As demonstrated by the health pandemic, on-going climate change, and an increasingly volatile political situation in the world, contemporary public administration needs to further strengthen its capacity to remain effective, efficient and redeemable. It needs to acquire the appropriate levels of dexterity to sustain national development aspirations in the implementation of SDGs and to successfully meet growing expectations of citizens.
Undoubtedly, modern technologies and deployment and utilization of various on-line platforms, for example those that are based on blockchain or cloud technology, help ensure the smooth functioning of government agencies and the prompt and seamless delivery of digital public services. However, it is equally important that, during the process of technological modernisation, public administration remains the guarantor of human rights, maintains high levels of institutional transparency and accountability, upholds performance standards and values, but also promotes innovations and effective partnerships as important ingredients of success.
These all are critical aspects that affect the very nature of government-citizen relations and increase citizens trust as a precondition for the achievement of SDGs.
Objective of the Workshop
Against this background, the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH) has taken the initiative to collaborate with the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Eastern and Central Europe (NISPAcee) to organise a capacity development workshop to explore the effects of emerging technologies on the functioning and operation of public administration, to highlight the current challenges, and identify the opportunities that public administration must snatch to overcome the problems inherent to the new reality.
This workshop aims at exchanging knowledge and experience on the subject matter and strengthen the collaboration and partnerships between public administration training schools and government institutions in the region and beyond, as well as with the academic community concerned with the pursuit of research on policy issues and approaches that are conducive to strengthening the resilience of public administration to cope with the new reality.
Discussion Themes
What follows is an indicative list of topics that the workshop could focus on:
· The challenges public administrations face vis-a-vis the use of new technologies in their operations, public service delivery, interaction with citizens including citizen participation in policy decision making, policy formulation and implementation, etc.
· How can public administration be able to best serve citizens, while it is undergoing digital transformation.
· How can public administration maintain a responsible corporate culture and uphold ethical standards and values in the digital age.
· What are the issues that may prevent incorporation of digital technologies in the public sector and what are the potential ways to facilitate their deployment.
· What educational and training programmes can be developed to enhance the digital competencies of public servants.
· What is Transformational leadership and why it is critical in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
· Culture of innovation as an enabler of the effective and equitable delivery of public services.
Participants
The direct beneficiaries of the workshop are senior managers of public administration training schools and management institutes and researchers in the field of public administration, as well as public sector leaders and servants, including those who are in charge of design and implementation of innovation and digital government solutions. It is expected that the deliberations of this workshop will provide them with enhanced knowledge to aid their efforts in utilising emerging technologies in their work and to devise effective strategies and approaches to confront the challenges ahead.
Participants will be drawn from the ACSH participating countries, with a geographical range stretching from Eastern and Central Europe to Caucasus and Central Asia.
Substantive backstopping to the meeting will be provided by several experts and human resource managers chosen from countries that have demonstrated successful transformation trajectories in incorporating emerging technologies into public administration operations and functioning and in delivering public services.
Co-organisers
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UNDESA, based at the UN Headquarters in New York, holds up the development pillar of the UN Secretariat. Its Divisions and Offices work together towards a common goal to promote the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. UNDESA collaborates closely with its partners at regional and country levels in helping countries to translate policies into formulation and implementation of national sustainable development strategies and preparation of roadmaps for national implementation.
UN DESA’s mission, to promote development for all, underscores the need for all stakeholders – governments, UN and other international organisations, civil society and the private sector – to do their part to improve economic and social well-being and prevent environmental degradation and leave no one behind.
The Astana Civil Service Hub
The ACSH is a multilateral platform for continuous exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of public service and public administration reform. Its global outreach is reinforced through its 43 participating countries and more than 80 institutional partners from different parts of the world, which are rich in applied knowledge and expertise in public service development.
The ACSH’s mission promotes civil service effectiveness by supporting the efforts of governments of the region and beyond in building institutional and human resource capacity. It provides technical assistance and advisory services to the governments of the participating countries on civil service issues.
The Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration
in Central and Eastern Europe
NISPAcee is a non-governmental, non-profit international membership organisation established in 1995 with headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia. Activities of the organisation follow its mission focusing on promotion and strengthening the emergence of effective and democratic governance and the modernisation of public administration and policy throughout the NISPAcee regions (this includes New Member States of the EU, Western Balkan countries, Eastern European countries which include the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, the Caucasus countries, Central Asia countries and Turkey).