About Us

The APO Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity

The Philippines has been designated as the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity (COE-PSP) with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) as the focal organization and implementing institution.

The DAP also serves as the country's National Productivity Organization (NPO) that supports the APO in promoting and implementing public sector productivity-related activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

As the implementing institution and the country's NPO, the DAP is tasked to facilitate learning and sharing of knowledge and best practices on PSP among APO members, conduct relevant research on new areas related to the PSP including identifying innovations and best practices, develop resources and materials to assist member countries with their programs, and build a database of experts who could assist APO member countries with their programs on PSP.

Specifically, the COE-PSP has the following objectives:

• Promote the advancement of the public sector productivity movement in Asia and the Pacific region;
• Help address common and critical issues on public sector productivity performance besetting the APO member countries;
• Foster cutting-edge research, facilitate training and knowledge-sharing, and support outreach to APO member countries in raising productivity of the public sector organizations in the region; and
• Serve as a hub of web of collaborators (physical or virtual) on innovation and productivity in the public sector.

The Philippines was designated as a COE by the APO during the 57th Session of the APO Governing Body Meeting in Bangkok in April 2015. The designation to the Philippines as COE is next to Singapore, which is the COE on Business Excellence since 2009 implemented by SPRING, and the Republic of China, which is the COE on Green Productivity since 2013 implemented by the China Productivity Center.

The designation of a COE is a key strategy of the APO to develop NPOs such as the DAP in areas where NPOs possess unique strengths and expertise. The DAP is a government corporation with more than four decades of dedicated support in training senior government officials to be highly effective, conducting strategic and innovative research in public sector efficiency, providing technical assistance along the lines of public sector efficiency and national productivity, and serving as nexus for catalyzing the exchange of ideas and expertise in productivity and development in Asia and the Pacific.

Through the DAP, the COE-PSP has initiated projects that would help member countries improve their public sector performance and productivity. Among the activities include research, needs assessment, capacity building initiatives, introduction of new knowledge, and continuing review of the APO Public Sector Productivity Framework.

The APO PSP Program Framework

The APO PSP Program Framework guides NPOs and other public-sector organizations (PSOs) in member countries in adopting coordinated approaches to raise productivity and improve the quality of public service delivery. Interventions performed according to this framework are intended to result in greater citizen satisfaction, stronger public trust, increased cost-effectiveness, enhanced economic competitiveness, and overall better quality of life. The framework engages the following key thematic areas (APO, 2016) in PSP: