The
theme of the 2001-2002 CAPAM
International Innovations Awards Programme is "Innovations in
Governance." For the
purpose of this Awards Programme:
"Governance
is about how an organisation steers itself and the processes and
structures that are used to achieve its goals. Governance is also crucially concerned with how organisations
relate to each other, how they relate to citizens, and the ways in which
citizens are given a voice." -Meredith Edwards; 2000.
Thus,
the CAPAM International Innovations Awards Programme will be seeking
submissions which demonstrate innovative practice in governance that respond
to the significant challenges extant in the current environment.
In
particular, the CAPAM International Innovation Awards Programme Jury will be
looking for innovations that address governance challenges such as:
-
partnering:
the
increasing involvement of the private and non-governmental (or voluntary or not-for-profit sectors) in the both
the development of policy and the delivery of service
-
accountability:
in
the face of the blurring of roles and responsibilities of the public,
private and non-governmental sectors and the delegation of authority, means
by which accountability is maintained through the citizen to Parliament
-
communication and information revolutions:
the
extent to which information has become more accessible, more diverse, more
voluminous, and communications technology has thus eliminated the government's
monopoly on information
-
demands for citizen engagement:
responses
to the increasingly well-informed and well-educated citizens' demands for
involvement in decision-making around the policy development, service
delivery, and the use of public resources more generally
-
integration of horizontal and vertical management:
the
necessity for government departments and agencies to act in concert with
other with one another to achieve outcomes
-
maintenance of policy coherence in a fragmented policy community:
the
capacity of government to maintain policy coherence despite the involvement
of a multitude of players and an evolving accountability framework
-
political or Parliamentary structures:
adaptation
of Parliamentary structures to the evolving and complex public sector
environment
-
evolution in required human resource competencies:
demand
for new skill bases which reflect the changing nature of work, one concerned
with complex programme, project and contract management skills, procurement
and IT skills, more so than direct delivery skills
-
values and ethics:
the
challenge of ensuring that the core values of government - integrity,
impartiality, meritocracy - continue to be observed through transformations in governance
