He says that the blessing is that the platform to make such a shift possible already exists. However, he warns that in many markets these "islands of innovation are operating within a sea of bureaucracy…."
The good news for this region, according to the framework of Good Governance produced by the United Nations Development Progra-mme (UNDP), is that often smaller and less established governments are more flexible, thus stronger and better able and willing to embrace change.
Some regional markets particularly look geared to reap the benefits of a 21st century government if they care to manoeuvre and embrace reforms for a strong economy, a clean environment, social equity and public engagement.
In fact, the past decade has seen countries, such as the UK, New Zealand and Australia look at shrinking the size of their public sectors thus shifting away from what has been termed 'a hollow state'.
The result is what is being termed 'New Public Management'. "This is where managers manage; innovators innovate and the teams are rewarded for their successes", says Osborne.
Some credit must also be given to the U.S., although it is said to be behind the more nimble UK and Asian systems. Through the Clinton administration the concept of Perform-ance-based Organisations (PBO) in government was introduced.
The idea is that 'new units' are liberated from red tape and geared to customer service, described as 'a shift from an uncoupled steering government driven by policies to a more liberated rowing structure'.
But customer service in the public sector; can this be a reality?
It was Osborne in his book 'Reinventing Government' (1992), which he co-authored with Ted Gaebler, who raised a few 'old school' eyebrows when the notion of defining the customer in the public sector was brought to the fore.
The Tory Government of the UK had already been testing the 'service-delivery' waters with the introduction of the Citizens Charter in 1991.
This is now known as 'Service First', its survival of more than a decade, a new millennium, a new government (Labour) and two elections giving proof to the theory that public administration-led reforms tend to withstand the test of time - and politics - better than their predecessors.
But it is not the entrepreneurial traits of strategic thinking and customer service alone that makes a government for tomorrow, according to Nabil Al Yousuf, a member of the Dubai Strategy Forum team.
Al Yousuf stresses that the new units must also be lean and skilled with focus on areas of service that the private sector would struggle to provide, such as town planning, health and education.
The leanness of the era of New Public Management or PBO agencies can, in turn, mean flexibility in management and accountability in result against measurable targets.
But are the new agencies producing?
"The focus of the public sector today should be on improving outputs while at the same time producing outcomes that meet with citizen demand, and this can be a challenge," suggests UNDP collateral.
Al Yousuf considers that, with customer service measurable against results at the fore, the public-government agency link can be strengthened through cyberspace. In the era of Information Technology, the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in cutting costs and speeding up service.
Oracle, an activity sponsor of the Dubai Strategy Forum, agrees.
Two years ago, they launched an E-government Leadership Ini-tiative geared to do for governments what the company claims it already does for the corporate world.
"Oracle isn't talking about tearing down statehouses and office buildings. E-government simply promotes better public services and improved political discourse," according to Jack Pellicci, vice-president of Oracle services industries.
Pellicci said: "Government can cut 10 per cent of its costs by being online."
Al Yousuf points out that the effective implementation of IT in governments not only reduces costs and creates better external relations, but it should also increase efficiency of communication and coordination among government departments: "The end result is better service delivery to the customer, which, in turn, should help the efficiency of his own life and business," he stressed.
However, there is a potential stumbling block, warns UNDP. The danger in the IT revolution in government lies in the potential collision of the yesteryear bureaucracies and the new-found challenges that the Information Age brings in its wake.
Quick off the starting block to show success is not the West but Asia. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand have been fast to embrace technology in governments where customer service improvements can be measured to quick result.
Smart Card technology where a personal health profile is stored on a microchip, is one active and successful example that has help the public while giving a supply opportunity to the business sector.
According to General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence: "One role of government is to manufacture opportunities for business."
If this can be achieved by splitting government departments into smaller, accountable units who are able to use creativity with systems for increased efficiency, then new business development can be lured.
Corporations, large and small, cannot afford to be strangled by bureaucracy in today's fast moving world and markets who make 'doing business, easy business' will have the upper hand.
If strategy needs to penetrate governments to result in improved lifestyle - business, economic and civil - the region embraced by the Dubai Strategy Forum could soon be leading the way.
Quelle: Gulf News
