The nation has no shortage of problems to solve. Facing these challenges will require a flexible government ready to operate on demand. Learn how to shape your agency by creating a workplace that is more connected and less hierarchical, and more focused on acquiring talent from outside the public sector.
That is the general conclusion of the experts assembled in the volume, Transforming American Governance, edited by Alan P. Balutis, Terry F. Buss, and Dwight Ink and published by M. E. Sharpe, as part of the National Academy of Public Administration’s Transformational Trends in Governance and Democracy series. The contributors discuss current policy challenges as the nation’s fiscal crisis and our on-going war on terrorism, particularly the effects on state and local governance. They speculate about exactly how government will respond to these challenges, considering various current and emerging changes and reform models adopted in government organizations. Future issues expected to change government management are also discussed, such as the influx of the millennial generation into public service, Web 2.0 and other collaborative technologies, new models of citizen engagement, and even co-production.
Dr. Norman Jacknis, Director, Ciscoâ€ââ€Å¾Â¢s IBSG Public Sector Group (the companyâ€ââ€Å¾Â¢s open innovation and pro-bono strategic advisory group), is a globally recognized expert in government innovation and transformation.
Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic Innovations at GSA
Alan Balutis is a distinguished fellow and director in the North American Public Sector Consulting, Internet Business Solutions Group, of Cisco Systems. Mr. Balutis has served in public-service and industry leadership roles for more than thirty years, as president and chief executive officer for government strategies with INPUT, a leading market research firm, as chief operating officer of a small, minority-owned firm, and as a leader of the Industry Advisory Council and its parent group, the American Council for Technology. During his twenty-seven years in the federal sector, he was the first chief information officer and head of the Management and Budget Office at the Department of Commerce and also served at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Mr. Balutis is a founding member of the Federal Chief Information Officers Council, where he led strategic planning and outreach committees. He is a five-time Federal Computer Week FED 100 winner and a member of the Government Computer News and Federal Computer Week halls of fame. He is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Donald F. Kettl is the dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
