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Collaborate, Public World and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) co-host an event on the future of public services.

On the 18th May, Collaborate director Henry Kippin spoke at a discussion hosted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on the future of public service delivery. 

He believed that there should be an operational shift from public services to ‘services to the public’, recognising the ways in which actors across the spectrum need to work together to support the public. He argued that government is increasingly being seen as a platform for service delivery, not the provider, and innovation can come from unconventional sources. In the UK, for example, he found that policymakers are increasingly recognising that leading edge practice is coming from Latin American, Sub-Saharan African and Asian countries which are creating new relationships within tight financial constraints. 

Referring to Collaborate’s newly published report with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Collaborative Capacity in Public Service Delivery, Henry proposed that future services to the public must find a better balance between collaboration and competition, and argued that building readiness for a different way of working should be a priority for governments at a national and local level.  The extent to which these governments can engage the ‘collaborative citizen’ to re-shape demand will define the sustainability of future services. 

Click here to read about the views shared by the participants. You can also seephotographs from the event.