A Report, reflecting on and summarizing the sessions and insights that occured at this Summit, is now available for download.
There is no debating the digital future is here – and it’s impacting government. Citizens want public services 24/7, mobile, anticipatory, personalized, and simple – just like they get from other service organizations. They want their government to be as smart as their smartphone. They want their government in their pocket. They demand a government that’s ready and available when they are.
The central challenge for public sector leaders is this: Design government organizations for this new digital world or lose public support and legitimacy.
We’ve redesigned governments before in the face of such massive change. The last great redesign came at the beginning of the 20th century when we needed a design to address corruption and to scale services as the nation and economy grew. We needed a design that focused on accountability, transparency, equity, and fairness – and we successfully created it. Yet in today’s digital world, we also need the agility, speed, and flexibility that citizens demand.
Now, how we design governmental organizations is more important than ever. The public sector for the future will require a fresh look at organizational structures and systems, and the human resources and cultures that hinder or harness the ability to produce results. As government leaders look to design government for a digital world, questions arise such as:
To address these critical questions, Leadership for a Networked World and the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, in collaboration with Accenture, are convening the 2016 Public Sector for the Future Summit: Designing Public Services for a Digital World. This tenth annual Summit will not only help participants implement near-term innovations, but also guide their design of longer-term strategies that improve government effectiveness, efficiency, and outcomes.
The Summit’s agenda is developed in collaboration with senior-level public officials who have both policy and operational roles, and integrates insights from industry luminaries and Harvard researchers and faculty.
Join us on the Harvard University campus June 14 – 16, 2016, for this important event. Together, participants will enhance their leadership skills, share insights, and learn practical methods to design governmental organizations for measurable results.
Summit attendees are senior-level, public-sector executives (CEO, COO, CIO, Secretary, Executive Director, Minister, Commissioner, etc.), who aspire to improve performance in the near term and redesign public institutions for the long term. Regardless of title, all Summit attendees are “Chief Transformation Officers” in practice – leaders who work across traditional boundaries (organizational, jurisdictional, sectorial) to create public value.
The Summit is an invitation-only program for senior public sector and higher-education executives. Other applicants will be reviewed and accepted on a case-by-case basis, depending in part on available space. We typically receive more applications than we can accommodate, so apply for your seat as soon as possible. This event is supported by the hosting and collaborating organizations, so there is no tuition fee to attend. Travel and hotel expenses, however, are the responsibility of individual participants.*