ù“Resilient” approach to the

Public sector: considerations on the Italian case”.

DISPA Meeting Athens, June 5th 2014

Aurelio La Torre1

All roads lead to Rome

Resilience (n.) 1620s, "act of rebounding," from Latin resiliens, present participle of resilire “to rebound, recoil," from re- "back" (see re-) + salire "to jump, leap". Meaning "elasticity" is from 1824. (from Online Etymology Dictionary)

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Ways to build resilienceThe American Psychological Association suggests "10 Ways to Build Resilience", which are:1.to maintain good relationships with close family members, friends and others;2.to avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems;3.to accept circumstances that cannot be changed;4.to develop realistic goals and move towards them;5.to take decisive actions in adverse situations;6.to look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with loss;7.to develop self-confidence;8.to keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader context;9.to maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things and visualizing what is wished;10.to take care of one's mind and body, exercising regularly, paying attention to one's own needs and feelings.

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Debate on the necessary reforms for the Italian Public sector: some introductory remarks

• Heavy budgetary contraints (spending review)• Distance from citizens (procedures, language,

lack of adequate innovation and coordination among offices etc,)

• Bad PS reputation / attack campaign from media (on PS oversized and old structure, lack of semplification and innovation, public managers privileges and salaries, etc,)

• (...)

• Heavy budgetary contraints (spending review)• Distance from citizens (procedures, language,

lack of adequate innovation and coordination among offices etc,)

• Bad PS reputation / attack campaign from media (on PS oversized and old structure, lack of semplification and innovation, public managers privileges and salaries, etc,)

• (...)

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Reform of PA in Italy: the new Government approach

The 30th of April 2014, with an open letter to Italian public sector employees, the Prime Minister M. Renzi and the Minister for Simplification and Public Administration M. Madia proposed a PA reform consisting of 44 points.http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Palazzo%20Chigi/dettaglio.asp?d=75525

From 30 April to 30 May these 44 points have been subject to a public consultation, followed by a period in which Government works on fine-tuning measures to be adopted by the Council of Ministers scheduled on the 13th of June (probably by a Gov. bill). 

The 30th of April 2014, with an open letter to Italian public sector employees, the Prime Minister M. Renzi and the Minister for Simplification and Public Administration M. Madia proposed a PA reform consisting of 44 points.http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Palazzo%20Chigi/dettaglio.asp?d=75525

From 30 April to 30 May these 44 points have been subject to a public consultation, followed by a period in which Government works on fine-tuning measures to be adopted by the Council of Ministers scheduled on the 13th of June (probably by a Gov. bill). 

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The 3 pillars of the proposed reform

The 44 points of the reform are divided into 3 main pillars:

I. Change starts from people. (1-15)

II. Cutting off unnecessary expenses and reorganization of the Administration. (16-36)

III. The Open Data as a tool for transparency. (37-44)

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I. Change starts from people (1-15)"We need structural innovations: strategic planning of actual needs; generational change, increasing mobility, labor market of top public management, measurement of results, trade off between work and leisure, provision of kindergartens in public administrations“.

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II. Cutting off unnecessary expenses and reorganization of the Administration (16-36) 

"We can not afford new horizontal cuts anymore, without having made clear for everyone the objectives PA provided for its reorganization. We have to eliminate all the duplications, abolishing institutions initially designed to offer a placement to friends of friends instead of satisfying citizens. Or just {abolish} those institutions not as efficient as in the past"

III. Open Data as instrument of transparency (37-44)

"Simplification and digitization of services. We can use new technologies to make public and understandable the expenditure and process data regarding central government departments and authorities, but also to simplify the everyday life of citizens: no more queues to collect documents or to pay penalty charges, never again different modules for different administrations"

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Some considerations on the approach adopted

About the method:•Direct communication to citizens (open letter) •Request to send comments (to rivoluzione@governo.it )•Overcoming public worker organisations (trade unions) •Huge number of issues (44)•A precise date for action (June 13th) 10

Some considerations on the approach adopted

About the merit:•See the 44 points (to be distributed) for detailed analysis•Change of approach and key words: “change” and “resilience” instead of “sacrifices” and “austerity” •Point 26: “Only one national school of administration.”

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The Italian National Reform Program

The National Reform Programme (NRP) defines actions necessary to achieve the national objectives of growth, productivity, employment and sustainability outlined in the strategy "Europe 2020". This document explains:- the state of art of the reforms, with variance between the expected trends and actual results; - national macroeconomic inequalities and macroeconomic factors affecting competitiveness; - the priorities of the country (main reforms, their compatibility with the policy objectives set out in the Stability Programme and the implementation scheduling); - the expected effects in terms of economic growth, competitiveness and employment. 12

The Italian National Reform Program

The National Reform Programme was submitted by Prime Minister Renzi and Minister of the Economy and Finance Padoan and adopted by the Cabinet on 8 April 2014.

The priorities identified in this documents anticipates in great part the priority for the Italian semester.

In what concern the PA, the priorities are outlined in the following slide:

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The framework

PURPOSEPURPOSE

Upgrade and improve skills. Efficient reorganisation of offices. Increase general government accountability, participation and reuse of public data. Simplify the

regulatory framework and reduce costs.

PA at the heart of change

TIMELINETIMELINE

May 2014. October 2014 for simplifications.

Italian Reform Agenda 2014

Some final considerations…

the challenges the Schools’ of Public Administration have to face:•New organisation (less budget, less staff, less offices/premises…)•More efforts towards new priorities (digitalisation, innovation, modernisation, internationalisation, synergies with privat sector etc.)•Better communication and networking

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From resilience to antifragile

“Antifragility is beyond resilience. While the resilient resists shocks and stays the same, the antifragile gets better”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb “Antifragile, things that gain from disorder”, United States 2012.,

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Resilience Antifragile

• “People of rank and status, thanks to the growing complexity of modern institutions have no more real downside for their actions;

• While we owe the growth and evolution only to the ability to take over risks and errors of a certain class of people we need to encourage, protect and respect.”

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Thank you for your attention!

aurelio.latorre@sna.gov.it

www.sna.it18