Agile government – Responding to citizens’ changing needs (PwC)

Summary

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Public Policy Forum in Canada worked with senior Canadian government administrators to explore agility and what it means for the Government into the future.

Key Points

• The following key elements are identified in the report which define agility:
  • Adaptability – the ability to adjust and meet changing requirements
  • Innovation – the ability to generate and use new ideas, methodologies and technologies
  • Collaboration – the ability to leverage internal and external knowledge and resources to enhance the mission
  • Visibility – the ability to create and maintain transparency to enhance fact-based decision-making
  • Velocity – the ability to recognize and respond with the requisite tempo to new circumstances and events
• The paper explore partnerships, including agility won’t be fully realized until governments are more open and engage meaningfully with potential partners
• Strong leadership is a key enabler of agility. Agility can’t be expected without investing in the required leadership skills
• Surveyed Canadian leaders agreed in the report that government agility overwhelmingly hinges on the capabilities of public servants.
• Investment in IT is unavoidable if the public service is going to be agile and keep pace with the digital revolution.
• The report sighted that barriers exist in moving towards agile ways of working in Canada, including existing funding models and zero-tolerance for risk taking.
• It concludes with time to act is now. With the follow strategies:
  • partnering with private sector and civil society stakeholders to leverage innovation and respond to citizen expectations and delivering services in new ways
  • rethinking the civil service career model and required competencies to achieve agility through strong leadership
  • providing staff with more capacity to take risks and support them when ideas don’t succeed
  • recognizing that younger professionals may have different expectations about their career paths
  • redesigning business rules and in some cases, a complete reconsideration of governments’ regulatory role

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