LIST OF PANELS

Much attention in governments in recent decades has been devoted to policy innovation in the public sector in recent years. This includes modernizing governments by developing effective and forward-thinking public service renewal strategies, developing an innovative, agile and resilient workforce, and adopting new digital, data and communications technology and techniques (Small and Jansen 2020; Clarke 2019; Longo 2022; Clarke and Dubois 2020). While some progress has been made to varying degrees in different countries, the overall progress has been relatively modest when measured by OECD surveys such as the OECD Digital Government Index, internal reports to governments such as the Report of the Clerk of the Privy Council or Budget officer reports, and academic studies (Roy 2017; Lindquist 2022). In some cases, attempts to innovate have led to major fiascos in implementation or serious problems with system replacement and integration (Cooper and Turgeon). The results have been mixed at best with a workforce that is divided or ambivalent or disaffected (particularly the new professionals (Migone, Brock and Howlett, 2023)) by the discrepancy between the promises and results.

This panel will comprise papers that examine the challenges posed by implementing policy innovation in government on three levels united by the following research questions:

1.       What are the most prevalent challenges to implementing policy innovation in governments in recent years, using policy labs, digitalization, big data techniques and artificial intelligence?

2.       What policy implementations tools are the most effective to date and why?

3.       Is the policy innovation implementation agenda as defined by government achieving the agile, effective workforce required in the current policy world to deal with new and transformative policy issues and crises (ex. COVID-19), or is it over-promising and under-delivering with the result of a disillusioned new professional cohort that is quiet quitting, disillusioned or resigned?

While this panel cannot provide full or complete answers to these questions, it can begin to explore some of the embedded difficulties in transforming the policy environment to ensure that effective policy techniques are being implemented in governments that equip the current and future generations of policy workers to deal with more complex and intransient policy problems. The analyses will make a direct contribution to the literature on policy innovation and implementation and policy worker recruitment and retention (Bason 2010; Bessant 2005; Brown and Toze 2017; Cristofoli et al. 2022; Ertas 2015; Howlett et al. 2018; Mergel 2016; Ng et al. 2016; Cox and Rigby 2013; Wu et al. 2017). 

FORMAT: Onsite

References:

Bason, Christian. 2010. Leading Public Sector Innovation: Co-Creating for a Better Society. 1st ed. Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qgnsd.

Bessant, John. 2005. “Enabling Continuous and Discontinuous Innovation: Learning from the Private Sector.” Public Money & Management 25 (1): 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9302.2005.00448.x.

Brown, David C. G., and Sandra Toze. 2017. “Information Governance in Digitized Public Administration.” Canadian Public Administration 60 (4): 581–604. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12227.

Clarke, Amanda. 2019. Opening the Government of Canada: The Federal Bureaucracy in the Digital Age. UBC Press.

Clarke, Amanda, and Elizabeth Dubois. 2020. “Digital Era Open Government and Democratic Governance: The Case of Government of Canada Wikipedia Editing.” Canadian Public Administration 63 (2): 177–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12356.

Cooper, Christopher A., and Luc Turgeon. 2021. “The Phoenix Pay System and Intention to Quit the Federal Public Service.” Canadian Public Administration 64 (3): 389–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12434.

Cristofoli, Daniela, Maria Cucciniello, Marta Micacchi, Benedetta Trivellato, Alex Turrini, and Giovanni Valotti. 2022. “‘One, None, and a Hundred Thousand’ Recipes for a Robust Response to Turbulence.” Public Administration, July, padm.12870. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12870.

Ertas, Nevbahar. 2015. “Turnover Intentions and Work Motivations of Millennial Employees in Federal Service:” Public Personnel Management, June. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026015588193.

Howlett, Michael, Giliberto Capano, and M. Ramesh. 2018. “Designing for Robustness: Surprise, Agility and Improvisation in Policy Design.” Policy and Society 37 (4): 405–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2018.1504488.

Lindquist, Evert A. 2022. “The Digital Era and Public Sector Reforms: Transformation or New Tools for Competing Values?” Canadian Public Administration n/a (n/a). https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12493.

Mergel, Ines. 2016. “Agile Innovation Management in Government: A Research Agenda.” Government Information Quarterly, Open and Smart Governments: Strategies, Tools, and Experiences, 33 (3): 516–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2016.07.004.

Migone, Andrea, Kathy Brock and Michael Howlett. 2023. “Deepening Digitization: Recruitment Challenges for Canadian Public Administration in the Areas of Digitalization and Modernization.” In Routledge handbook of Public Administration in the Digital Era. Edited by Sarah Giest, Ian Roberge and Thomas Klassen. Routledge: Forthcoming 2023.

Ng, Eddy S. W., Charles W. Gossett, and Richard Winter. 2016. “Millennials and Public Service Renewal: Introduction on Millennials and Public Service Motivation (Psm).” Public Administration Quarterly 40 (3): 412–28.

Roy, Jeffrey P. 2017. “Digital Government and Service Delivery: An Examination of Performance and Prospects.” Canadian Public Administration 60 (4): 538–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12231.

Small, Tamara A., and Harold J. Jansen. 2020. Digital Politics in Canada: Promises and Realities. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Thenint, Hugo, and Julie Basset. 2013. “Public Services.” In Innovation Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, edited by Deborah Cox and John Rigby. New York: Routledge.

Wu, Xun, M. Ramesh, Michael Howlett, and Scott A. Fritzen. 2017. The Public Policy Primer: Managing the Policy Process. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Much attention in governments in recent decades has been devoted to policy innovation in the public sector in recent years. This includes modernizing governments by developing effective and forward-thinking public service renewal strategies, developing an innovative, agile and resilient workforce, and adopting new digital, data and communications technology and techniques (Small and Jansen 2020; Clarke 2019; Longo 2022; Clarke and Dubois 2020). While some progress has been made to varying degrees in different countries, the overall progress has been relatively modest when measured by OECD surveys such as the OECD Digital Government Index, internal reports to governments such as the Report of the Clerk of the Privy Council or Budget officer reports, and academic studies (Roy 2017; Lindquist 2022). In some cases, attempts to innovate have led to major fiascos in implementation or serious problems with system replacement and integration (Cooper and Turgeon). The results have been mixed at best with a workforce that is divided or ambivalent or disaffected (particularly the new professionals (Migone, Brock and Howlett, 2022) by the discrepancy between the promises and results.

This panel calls for papers that examine the challenges posed by implementing policy innovation in government on three levels united by the following research questions:

1.       What are the most prevalent challenges to implementing policy innovation in governments in recent years, using policy labs, digitalization, big data techniques and artificial intelligence?

2.       What policy implementations tools are the most effective to date and why?

3.       Is the policy innovation implementation agenda as defined by government achieving the agile, effective workforce required in the current policy world to deal with new and transformative policy issues and crises (ex. COVID-19), or is it over-promising and under-delivering with the result of a disillusioned new professional cohort that is quiet quitting, disillusioned or resigned?

The panel is especially interested in case studies, survey research and empirical analysis of recent policy innovation implementation initiatives that have succeeded or faced challenges and the associated experiences of new professionals and policy leaders.