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Familiar public services and institutions are in the early stage of radical renewal that may render them unrecognizable by 2050. New technologies and societal transformation are reconfiguring the interdependent world at unprecedented speed. New concepts and demands for more flexible and dynamic public service are emerging at all levels, from 'megapolitan' cities to supranational organizations.
Catalyzed by social media, vibrant transnational networks and shrinking public budgets, citizens and communities are increasingly questioning the organizing structures of societies. There is a widespread loss of trust in the ability of public officials, institutions and 'elites' to act collectively, rapidly and effectively, and growing concern within many public structures struggling to adapt to 21st century realities. Meanwhile, citizens have vastly expanded the ways they can influence change, blurring the lines between individuals and organizations. Accessibility of information has flipped expectations from top-down centralized delivery to bottom-up customized engagement. What does this mean for traditional approaches to a defined public sector i.e., government as distinct from business, civil society, social and religious communities? Are public services of the future trapped in a straitjacket?
Cities are already pointing the way to the public service revolution as they forge new networks and alliances with each other and with non-state actors. By mid-century, over two-thirds of the world's population will live in mega-cities with nearly 90 percent of that increase taking place across Asia and Africa. The sheer speed of formal and informal urbanization escalates demand for new infrastructure housing, education, jobs, social protection policies, public health and safe food and water which outstrips available public finance. The way cities and local governments innovate to meet these complex demands will determine the competitiveness, cohesion, and security not only of those jurisdictions but also of countries and transnational regions. Will this overturn the public service education and research's traditional concentration on national-level policy and administration? Can cities demonstrate practical strategies on fundamental problems that have eluded the nation state and multilateral organizations?
There is a compelling business case to target cities as a laboratory for innovation in government performance, paving the way for greater youth engagement and upscaling to strengthen national, regional, and global relationships. The Salzburg Global Forum on the Future of Public Service connected partner institutions seeking to lead transformation at scale with innovators across a network of visionary city hubs.
Salzburg Global Forum on the Future Of Public Service
Rather than adapting public service to the incremental changes emerging daily, this multi-year Forum will unite leading institutional change-makers from six continents - from the public, private and civil society sectors and at local, national, and multilateral levels - to leap ahead and imagine backwards to create the public service of the future today.
Through modeling scenarios and role playing, combined with focused and coordinated implementation of pilot projects in 10-12 visionary hub cities across the globe, the Forum will prioritize systems challenges for innovative connection across sectors, scales, and geographies.
Partnerships with public service and other training institutions will support new curricula and practical collaborations, shaping professional education to meet future needs and motivating a new generation committed to public service innovation.
The Salzburg Global Forum on the Future of Public Service aims to create a leadership and action platform to:
The 10-12 hubs are specially-selected cities that commit to engage with the Forum over ten years. Each hub city will send a new group of public service innovators to the Forum each year, building a talented cohort that bridges public, private, and civil society sectors. Over the Forum’s duration, they will provide an exceptional cross-sector resource for others in their home cities, their countries, and in trans-national networks.
These participants will become the catalysts for sustained implementation of projects defined for each hub, closely coordinated with local governments and relevant public service training institutions. From there, new ideas can radiate from each hub to wider audiences, gaining support to roadtest pilot innovations. Self-organized peer mentoring, workshops, and public events can demonstrate the multiplier benefits of the networking and learning generated in Salzburg.
This city hub approach, frequently utilized by Salzburg Global Seminar, draws on the talent and experience in the Salzburg Global Fellowship, which numbers over 30,000 members in nearly 170 countries. Several on-going multi-year programs are implemented through a distributed network of city hubs to build a pipeline of motivated human capital and enhance sustainability of program results. The Fellowship also provides cross-cutting leadership to maintain momentum and expand opportunities for cross-border and cross-sector exchange and learning on equal terms.
In October 2016, Salzburg Global convened experts who share this vision to shape the Forum's design, operations, and priorities. Participants included governmental and multilateral bodies, development organizations, technology and communications specialists, public administration training institutes, private sector partners and entrepreneurs. High-ranking officials from the Forum's initial hub cities will play a pivotal role to ensure relevance and compatibility. Through plenary and group work sessions, the 2016 meeting seeked to:
You can download the session brochure here.
The Forum’s focused and coordinated activities will allow for monitoring, immediate and on-going impact assessment, and improved results on the ground as measured through public engagement and public satisfaction assessments.
Further benefits to partners can be found in the Partnership Overview, which you can download here.
For more detailed information please contact the Forum Director, Charles Ehrlich (cehrlich@salzburgglobal.org).
