DISPA Network, Stockholm 22 – 23rd October
Expectations ahead of the DISPA meeting
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Latest news and developments within the participating institutions
Inspiration from success
Networking
Increase common knowledge, strengthen solidarity and corporation between participating
institutions and sharing of best practice as well as new ideas, methods and tools.
What measures shall be taken by the DISPA network to promote competence improvement
within public administration despite the ongoing economic crisis?
An presentation of how the Swedish government assignment regarding developing ethos
within Swedish public administration. How will Krus reach all managers and how will the
appropriate measures be implemented within the public administration?
Presentation from Ramboll Management
The theme of the presentation was that public administration needs to be well prepared for unknown future challenges. The only thing that we as public officials can be sure of is that there are
going to be changes in the environment where public officials are active.
Even though it is impossible to predict the future it is possible to identify broad trends that will surely
have an impact on the way that public administration in Europe will operate.
A few of the broad trends that can be
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Public administration must rise to the challenge and become a serious contender with the
private sector in the competition to attract the best and the brightest people.
The need to clearly define the different roles of public officials and politicians
A focus on defining the assignment and clearly communicate to the public what measures
are being taken and why they are necessary.
Assure that all employees within the organization share the same vision
E-government is becoming a reality. There is an ever increasing demand from the public that
public administration shall be accessible 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Increased coordination between government agencies as well as between different levels of
government. Studies conducted in Sweden indicate that there are substantial differences in
the ability to communicate and corporate between agencies. The ability to effectively
perform multi-level governance will become increasingly more important.
Studies indicate that young people look for interesting tasks, a friendly work environment
and ways to further develop personal skills and competences rather than high salaries when
making career choices.
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Political reforms – short term or long term change?
Will public administration be able to recruit the right people?
Voices from the discussion
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Increasing competition in the search for talented people from the private sector
The problem is not simply how to attract young talented people, but how to make them
choose the public administration for their entire career
In a number of countries are faced with the challenge of competing with the EU when it
comes to offering career opportunities to young academics
One of the main challenges in working in a politically steered organization is that it
frequently is hard to develop long term strategic plans due to the short term priorities of
politicians.
There are challenges regarding the coordination ability between local and central
government.
Presentation of the Swedish international ethos outlook & presentation of the task assigned to
Krus by the Swedish government.
State secretary Dan Ericsson
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The task of developing ethos within public administration is a priority for the Swedish
government.
There is a need to develop a common understanding and definition of what the core values
of public administration consist of.
The focus of the task assigned to Krus by the government will be to reach the 15.000
managers in Swedish public administration
The implementation of the measures will be done by the individual agencies the selves. Krus
will be responsible for providing the necessary tools and training for successful
implementation
Voices from the subsequent discussion
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Introduction programs where goals and necessity is clearly defined
Providing training on issues related to ethics has proven to be difficult
Training should be adapted so that
Combination of theory and practice
A clear definition of what ethos within public administration actually consists of
Involve senior management
Involve politicians
The Commission Ethics-training programme, Norman Jardine
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Officials are required to make ethical decisions, thus it is essential to have an ongoing
discussion around issues related to ethics as well as developing a common understanding
within the organization regarding what the ethical core values consists off. These are crucial
elements in establishing a common ethics “culture” within the organization.
Success in creating a common understanding regarding ethics can prove to be a challenge in
a multicultural environment like the European Commission.
The European Commission offers training in ethics to all newly recruited officials. Ethics
training is compulsory for all managers as well as officials dealing with issues related to
procurement and accounting.
To be successful it is important that the staff fells true ownership (rather than being forced
to comply with rules created above their heads) when shaping the common ethical
framework.
Case studies and discussions with all involved are key to successes full implementation.
The European Commission offered to share their case studies with the DISPA network
The Strasbourg Manifesto, Valeria Termini
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It is important that the DISPA network share experiences and ideas with organizations
outside the EU
Article 176 b in the Lisbon Treaty encourages cooperation between institutions in matters
regarding public administration. This should be a indication that the DISPA network shall
increase the corporation between participating institutions.
ERT – Webinars
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The ERT network will be launching a series a audio conferences, so called webinars, during
2010. These webinars are the result of the collaboration between five institutions from the
DISPA network.
The ERT will continue to offer study visits on location in member states. One key ingredient
in these study visits are the counterpart meetings that enable the exchange of experiences as
well as network building.
Wiki – David Walker
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Create database containing tools (e.g. examples of ethical dilemmas) that can be used by all.
Links to all the participating institutions/schools English homepage
Common area where the participating institutions/schools seminars and educational
programs can be advertised to all network participants
Personal presentations and contact information of key figures at the participating
institutions/schools
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Ability to share knowledge, ideas and information
News
Possibility to collectively work on documents
Calendar
Collection of links
DISPA-directory
Post information regarding future conferences
Two or three key people from each institution/school should have access to the Wiki
Erasmus for Public Officials and Managers for Europe were discussed