Future of Public Service: Program Strategy Meeting

Familiar public services and institutions are in the early stage of radical renewal that may render them unrecognizable by 2050. New technologies and societal transformation are reconfiguring the interdependent world at unprecedented speed. New concepts and demands for more flexible and dynamic public service are emerging at all levels, from 'megapolitan' cities to supranational organizations.

Catalyzed by social media, vibrant transnational networks and shrinking public budgets, citizens and communities are increasingly questioning the organizing structures of societies. There is a widespread loss of trust in the ability of public officials, institutions and 'elites' to act collectively, rapidly and effectively, and growing concern within many public structures struggling to adapt to 21st century realities. Meanwhile, citizens have vastly expanded the ways they can influence change, blurring the lines between individuals and organizations. Accessibility of information has flipped expectations from top-down centralized delivery to bottom-up customized engagement. What does this mean for traditional approaches to a defined public sector i.e., government as distinct from business, civil society, social and religious communities? Are public services of the future trapped in a straitjacket?

Cities are already pointing the way to the public service revolution as they forge new networks and alliances with each other and with non-state actors. By mid-century, over two-thirds of the world's population will live in mega-cities with nearly 90 percent of that increase taking place across Asia and Africa. The sheer speed of formal and informal urbanization escalates demand for new infrastructure housing, education, jobs, social protection policies, public health and safe food and water which outstrips available public finance. The way cities and local governments innovate to meet these complex demands will determine the competitiveness, cohesion, and security not only of those jurisdictions but also of countries and transnational regions. Will this overturn the public service education and research's traditional concentration on national-level policy and administration? Can cities demonstrate practical strategies on fundamental problems that have eluded the nation state and multilateral organizations?

There is a compelling business case to target cities as a laboratory for innovation in government performance, paving the way for greater youth engagement and upscaling to strengthen national, regional, and global relationships. The Salzburg Global Forum on the Future of Public Service connected partner institutions seeking to lead transformation at scale with innovators across a network of visionary city hubs.