The APO Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity
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A person accomplishing the survey questionnaire about theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on MSMEs in Asia
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India have been a major contributor to the socio-economic development of their country, contributing 18.5% to its 2019 to 2020 Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector has also contributed immensely to entrepreneurship development, especially in the semi-urban and rural areas of India. However, the global pandemic has affected every sector in the world indiscriminately, albeit in varying degrees, and MSMEs have proven to be more vulnerable to income and asset losses than larger firms.
To better understand and address this issue, India’s National Productivity Council (NPC), in association with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), decided to conduct an online survey to look into the pandemic’s size, aspects, incidence, and how it has impacted MSMEs in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. They combined elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches in their study design to ascertain the level of sectoral distress at the peak of the nationwide lockdown in May 2020. The results were concerning, as they showed that production levels fell from an average of 75% capacity to just 13%, firms retained only 44% of their workforce, and 69% of firms reported an inability to survive longer than three months.
The study had some notable findings on the state of MSMEs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, they found out that MSMEs in developing Asian countries experienced considerably reduced employment and sales revenues in the first few months after the outbreak. The reduction in employment was, of course, more severe for the employment of non-permanent employees, but the employment of permanent or regular employees was also significant. Although there are considerable differences among countries, one-fourth to one-half of the sample MSMEs experienced a temporary close down during this period and one-third to two-thirds were facing a cash shortage at the time of the survey. Thus, the impacts of the pandemic on employment and the sustainability of business were quite severe.
Figure 1: Percentage of Firms that Reduced the number of Permanent Employees after the Outbreak of the Pandemic
Figure 2: Percentage of Firms that Reduced the Number of Temporary Employees after the Outbreak of the Pandemic
Second, some enterprises were earning from online sales before the pandemic, many of them were either 1) young firms, 2) export-oriented firms, 3) even firms facing a cash shortage, and 4) those who have already been using online sales. Moreover, these firms are also planning to increase their utilization of online sales amid the pandemic.
Figure 3: Percentage of Firms that Reduced Sales in the First Half of 2020 in a Year-to-Year Comparison (Data Are Available Only for the Six Countries)
Figure 4: Percentage of Firms that Experienced a Cash Shortage and Temporary Exit
Third, the share of online sales has a nonlinear relationship with employment. As the share increases until it reaches about 40% of the total sales, its relationship with employment is negative, suggesting that the use of online sales displaces labor input. Fourth, MSMEs tend to prefer tax payment deferral, tax rate reduction, and loan repayment deferral to many other possible forms of government support for MSMEs, even though considerable differences exist among countries and among firms regarding which type of support they prefer
Figure 5: Percentage of Firms that Expected Negative Growth in the 2020 Annual Sales
The lessons presented by these findings are of significant use to the public sector as well. The difficulties faced by MSMEs, as seen in the study’s overall findings of sectoral distress across the board during the height of the pandemic, should be taken into consideration by the public sector in its development of interventions to drive recovery from COVID-19. Especially concerning is the widespread layoffs among MSMEs, which could have widespread ramifications that the public sector will have to address.
As the Philippines makes the transition to digital government, a delegation of senior public sector officials participated in the Individual-country Observational Study Mission (IOSM) on 18 to 19 October 2021 via Zoom. The delegates learned about digital innovation in Taiwan through the initiatives of the New Taipei City-Amazon Web Services (NTPC-AWS) Joint Innovation Center and the Public Digital Innovation Space (PDIS). The study mission was a joint effort between the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), the China Productivity Center (CPC), and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), and attended by officials from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Participants from the Philippines and Taiwan during the culminating activity of IOSM 2021
The shift to digital transformation
Nicole Chan of the Joint Innovation Center opened the first day of IOSM with the benefits of digital transformation. She explained that when information and communications technology (ICT) is used to optimize services, resources are maximized and the productivity of human and capital resources is increased. This results in improved public satisfaction, which leads to increased patronage and a higher net profit margin.
Nicole Chan of the NTPC-AWS Joint Innovation Centerexplains the benefits of digital transformation.
However, it is not enough to simply go digital, as public sector organizations with limited resources should think twice about transforming from one system to another. Chan explained that digital transformation needs to be anchored on three important keys: identifying the problem, upgrading to digital technologies, and changing the culture. While the first two are critical for improving public services and establishing a data-driven environment in the public sector, Chan highlighted that the “real challenge is the change of mindset†in shaping a culture of digital innovation, which would entail a shift from traditional values to new innovative thinking.
Nicole Chan explains three keys of digital transformation to guide organizationsin the journey to going digital.
Senior Vice-President Magdalena Mendoza of the DAP asked about the social impacts of this digital transformation. Chan replied that while legislation can be too slow in catching up with the speed of ICT development, there should be a mechanism for self-regulation in place.
After establishing the need for a paradigm shift, Chan then presented the work of the NTPC-AWS Joint Innovation Center, a public-private partnership between New Taipei City (NTPC) Government, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and First China Capital (FCC) Partners Inc. She explained that this partnership integrates government, industrial, and economic resources to create a world-class ecosystem with the goal of accelerating startup incubation and contributing to digital public solutions.
She detailed that the Joint Innovation Center has an intensive program for startups and traditional enterprises on step-by-step digital transformation. AWS provides digital services and technology expertise while the NTPC provides government support through the National Development Fund. Finally, partners from the FCC offer business courses and consultation on fundraising initiatives. The Center also holds social activities where startups exchange experiences and create business opportunities.
Nicole Chan explains the collaboration of parties making up the Joint Innovation Center.
Chan shared that currently, the Center houses 70 startups, including Heroic Faith Medical Science and VEYOND Reality Technology, that help build niche solutions in various sectors such as manufacturing, retail, healthcare, education, and tourism.
Nicole Chan presents innovations from Heroic Faith Medical Scienceand VEYOND Reality Technology.
PPP for public service
On the second day of IOSM, Zach Huang and Yi-Wen Chan discussed the origins and activities of PDIS, which was itself established in 2016 as a PPP with the goal of introducing digital innovation in the public sphere. Huang emphasized that digital innovation is “not only the responsibility of the government but also the responsibility of the private sector,†and this requires that everyone is involved in the process through Open Government, Social Innovation, and Youth Engagement. Chan further expanded this by discussing her organization’s new approach to public-private partnership, which seeks to involve stakeholders in the earliest stages of government planning in order to garner wider acceptance and support from citizens.
Yi-Wen Chan discusses innovations in thePublic-Private Partnership process.
Chan then proceeded to further discuss the collaborative approach that PDIS employs, which promotes open dialogue between the government and the public on social problems requiring government attention. Through the JOIN platform, a mobile application developed by the National Development Council (NDC) of Taiwan, a citizen can voice out their opinion publicly or initiate a proposal. A Participation Officer from the government will then find competent public sector authorities that will respond to the topics raised by the public. PDIS ensures that the public is well-informed before attending by publishing major facts relevant to the topic for discussion. At present, over a hundred of these collaborative meetings with citizens have been conducted.
Yi-Wen Chan explains how collaborative meetings work in theearly stages of government policymaking.
Another example of PDIS’ collaborative efforts is the creation of the Mask Map, a mobile application that details the location and current face mask inventories of pharmacies throughout Taiwan. This addresses supply chain issues and the possibility of cluster infections created when agitated citizens begin panic buying during shortages, thus ensuring the equitable and safe distribution of face masks. The app even has an option to reserve face masks for purchase, allowing otherwise busy citizens to be able to ensure their personal supply.
Yi-Wen Chan presents the features of Mask Map and its use in helping people find nearby pharmacies with available face masks.
To close the IOSM, Huang discussed Taiwan’s road map towards digital transformation and how it could relate to the Philippines’ own ongoing transition. He emphasized that while Taiwan’s approach was far from perfect, they quickly learned that the only way it could work was if there is true partnership between the public and the private sectors. He reminded the delegation that “the Philippines, as a developing country, would not be in any disadvantaged position when it comes to social innovation as long as everyone feels that they can do something to make a difference, as long as everyone believes they can be part of the solution.â€
The Development Academy of the Philippines’ (DAP) Modernizing Government Regulations (MGR) Program formally launched its 2021 Regulatory Review on 6 October 2021 via Zoom. The event was attended by 56 members and officers of private organizations/associations and officials from regulatory agencies involved in the prioritized government-to-government/agency-to-agency (G2G/A2A) and government-to-business (G2B) transactions.
This year, the MGR Program is focusing on the following transactions that are supportive of reviving the industries that were heavily affected by the current pandemic: a) G2G/A2A regulations affecting the streamlining of service processes; b) G2B regulations covering the digital economy; and c) G2B regulations covering food logistics.
DAP Study Team and participants during the 2021 MGR Regulatory Review Launch
During the Launch, the study team research fellows presented the sectoral background, initial regulatory issues and research questions of their respective industries through breakout groups. After the presentation, participants shared their comments and experiences on what regulations/processes contribute to the difficulty in compliance and high transaction cost. The activity also brought to fore initial recommendations on how to address said issues. Among the key issues that were validated and gathered during the activity were as follows:
a. G2G/A2A Regulations Affecting the Streamlining of Service Processes Non-submission of Citizen’s Charter compliance report of about 2,000 agencies, despite the existence of streamlining law – ARTA report
Regulations on procurement, PBB guidelines, financial and audit regulations, pandemic-related requirements of LGUs, regulations related to Data Privacy Act, and tax payment are perceived to hinder process performance and efficient delivery of services – DAP perception survey initial results
Inconsistent enforcement of regulations and unreasonable delays in the release of requested documents.
Inadequate personnel to process a transaction, unclear requirements, and difficulty in accessing the concerned agencies.
Application of traditional policies which do not reflect rapid changes, innovations and technology advancements to digital businesses due to prolonged process of law-making
Difficulty to regulate online businesses due to Department of Trade and Industry’s limited manpower and increasing number of unregistered and unscrupulous businesses online
Need for coordination and discussion between government agencies to adapt to changes involving government digitization and the shift to online G2B transactions (e.g., recognition and use of electronic signatures)
Inadequacies in our current laws on the liability of online buying and selling platforms to protect consumers
Possible challenges on implementing regulatory sandbox framework for financial technology innovations
c. G2B Regulations Covering Food Logistics
Overregulation of food manufacturing sector and agriculture and LGU restrictions on the delivery of produce during pandemic resulted to wasted produce.
Low productivity in provinces that were traditionally centers of productivity or food baskets.
Absence of standards/guidelines/regulations on importation non-traditional products (e.g., rabbit) and stringent requirements of Good Animal Husbandry Practices
High price of fruits and vegetables due to logistics problem, food safety and other regulatory measures
Difficulty in implementing viable recommendations of various researches (e.g., DAP Benchmarking Study on Regulatory Management) to effect regulatory reform in the sector
Additional cost and potential operations delay caused by changes in documentary requirements (e.g., Bureau of Animal Industry’s Certificate of Analysis annual submission compared to previous process of every five years)
Tedious and unwieldy end-to-end process of online payment, i.e., the need for traditional hard copy of receipts instead of electronic receipt
Difficulty in obtaining permits to transport livestock and poultry due to sudden change of area condition that gives inconsistent information and entails additional costs to companies.
Following the launch, the next step will be for the study teams to take a deep dive and prioritize issues gathered from the activity by conducting separate focus group discussions and industry dialogues with the participants from the public and private sectors.
As the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity, the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) held a Webinar Series on Productivity and Quality Frameworks in the Public Sector last 13-15 October 2021.
The webisode was attended by over three thousand participants from various public and private sector agencies. Speakers included Engr. Charlie A. Marquez, DAP resource speaker; Dr. Ralph Sherwin A. Corpuz, director of Quality Assurance at the Technological University of the Philippines; and Dr. Juliet J. Balderas, head of Management Services Department at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC).
Webinar speakers answer questions from the participants during the program forum.
Lean Management
Engr. Marquez, who is a certified QMS Lead Auditor and a Lean Six Sigma practitioner, gave a general overview of Lean Management. It is a philosophy based on the Toyota Production System (TPS) that is focused on improving process performance. He explained, “when we say Lean, the objective is simply eliminating everything that does not add value to the customer’s eyes… Meaning, who defines quality is the customer, not us as service providers.â€
He briefly touched on the history of the TPS and Toyota’s 4P’s, namely Problem Solving, People and Patterns, Process, and Philosophy. Engr. Marquez also expounded on the Lean Management Framework.
Stability and standardization serve as the foundation of the Lean Framework. He added, “If there is no standardization, bawat office kanya-kanya [each office will vary in their ways of doing things]… We do not want that. We want standardization.â€
Engr. Marquez expounds on the Lean Management Framework.
Engr. Marquez underlined some principles of Lean and mainly discussed the eight (8) wastes in Lean Management, namely defects, overproduction, waiting, transport, inventory, motion, extra processing, and skills. He also highlighted a few benefits of Lean, which include an increase in sales and profits, improvement of quality and lowering of costs, optimal utilization of resources, and most importantly, improvement of customer satisfaction. As he pointed out, “in everything that we are doing—Total Quality Management, ISO 9000, Lean—at the top is ultimately customer satisfaction. That’s what we are here for.â€
In his conclusion, Engr. Marquez recommended that participants perform an 8-Waste Analysis, using the Check Sheet that he shared in the talk. He also gave other practical suggestions such as the creation of Value Stream Maps (VSM), Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA), and formulation of solutions and prioritization of projects or activities.
TQM and Business Excellence
On the second day of the webinar series, Dr. Corpuz presented an overview of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Excellence. His topic zeroed in on the application of the approaches in the public sector.
To start his talk, Dr. Corpuz outlined some of the needs and challenges faced by the public sector such as inconvenient and tedious government transaction processes and unsystematic queuing. He added that in order to meet the needs of the public, the Government must exert greater efforts to provide more citizen-focused services, invest in innovation and emerging technologies to improve services, push for a smart government through the integration of ICT with management systems to address red tape, provide seamless connection among processes and governments toward one-stop-shop services, and partnership with the private sector in the country and abroad.
Quality service is what public servants have sworn to deliver and hence should be the prime focus in all government endeavors, Dr. Corpuz pointed out. To realize this, the biggest hindrances to public sector productivity must be dealt with through a solid management solution such as TQM. These barriers include security of tenure which may result in the complacency of government employees, a culture of resistance to reforms in the organization, and a complex political environment.
The speaker discussed principles and tools of TQM such as cause-and-effect diagram, check sheet, control chart, histogram, Pareto chart, scatter diagram, and flow chart. He also explained business excellence approaches that evolved from TQM and its models, including the Malcolm Baldrige National for Performance Excellence and the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model. Additionally, Dr. Corpuz described business excellence as more than a mere award but, more so, a journey of building a competitive nation.
Dr. Corpuz also shared his insights into other TQM tools, including Deming’s Seven Deadly Diseases that infect an organization’s culture, Ishikawa’s Diagram and Total Quality Control, and the Philippine Quality Award Framework.
Dr. Corpuz outlines Demings’s Seven Deadly Diseases of Management
Philippine Heart Center Best Practices
On the last day of the webinar series, Dr. Balderas presented the best practices of PHC to help flatten the curve amid the past COVID-19 surges. She also shared about the center’s quality journey in the new normal, which dates back to 2010 when the center was awarded the PhilHealth Center of Excellence. To improve its hospital processes, the PHC has also been undergoing multiple internal accreditations since 2011. In 2015, it received national recognition for good governance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. Dr. Balderas noted, “our history of quality is stronger than COVID. If we look back at the history in 10 years, we have improved ourselves so much that probably, what we evolved over the years could be something that we can use productively against COVID.â€
Dr. Balderas looks back at PHC’s excellence journey over the years.
Dr. Balderas discussed one of PHC best practices when the pandemic started—the creation of an Incident Command System, which is a standardized emergency response management structure comprising an incident commander, liaison officer, public information officer, safety/security officer, and operations, planning, logistics, and finance divisions. According to Dr. Balderas, the chain of command members meet every month to discuss all the operations in the hospital. They also hold multidisciplinary daily COVID-19 meetings to ensure that COVID-related problems are addressed as they happen. Additionally, new COVID-19 policies by ISO standards on patient admission and on the cohorting of COVID and non-COVID patients among other policies were implemented. These policies were also made accessible to the staff and the patients through its Intranet. The speaker also put forward other best practices of PHC such as stricter compliance to safety protocols, observance of ICP policies for healthcare workers in terms of daily symptoms monitoring and electronic health declaration every fourteen days, and expansion of GeneXpert PCR Testing.
Dr. Balderas also presented PHC’s Beyond Better Strategy Map for the year 2017 to 2022. The map outlines the center’s support and core processes, strategic position, and impact areas that are geared towards its change agenda, which are to become a leader in cardiovascular care that is at par with global benchmarks and to be a leading advocate in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the country.
Maintaining a high standard of quality is doubly difficult due to the ongoing health crisis, but PHC’s performance governance system, which includes unit scoreboards that help monitor the staff’s individual performance and breakthrough results, has made it possible. Dr. Balderas explained, “when there was little budget for the Heart Center, [our question was] how do we go towards development? We only know that we have to remain the best heart hospital and we are the heart hospital referral center. Our strategy was to improve the performance, so performance monitoring despite COVID was a PHC Culture.â€
Despite changes in leadership every five to six years, the center has achieved outstanding breakthrough accomplishments yearly until 2016. And even amid the ongoing COVID surge in 2021, the scoreboards guided the center in decreasing patient safety incidents and the number of healthcare workers diagnosed with COVID 19 by 50 percent.
Dr. Balderas shares the major institutional breakthroughs of PHC in 2020.
The use of scoreboards has been recognized as a best practice in all of PHC’s external audits. In 2019, the center was awarded by the Philippine Quality Award as the leader in upholding standards of cardiovascular care. PHC’s quality and performance excellence have also led the center to be recognized as a “Leader in Upholding Highest Standards of Cardiovascular Care†in 2018 at the 21st Cycle Philippine Quality Awards. Dr. Balderas noted that despite the hurdles brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, good governance and pursuit of excellence in quality improvements must continue.
The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Modernizing Government Regulations (MGR) Program, completed the Capability Development Assistance on Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for the Intramuros Administration (IA) which commenced on 15 September with the conduct of a Basic Course on RIA and culminated with the conduct of an Advanced Course on RIA on 7 October 2021.
Basic Course on RIA for the Intramuros Administration conducted on 15-17 & 20-24 September 2021Advanced Course on RIA for the Intramuros Administration conducted on 28 September – 1&4-7 October 2021
With the primary objective of developing the capability of the IA key officers and technical staff to undertake RIA, the participants were able to perform RIA using various analytical methods and produce their agency’s Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for the following identified regulations:
Amendment to an existing regulation: Efficiency of the Processing of Building Permit for Intramuros Constructions through the City of Manila
Amendment to an existing regulation: Issuance of the IA Development Clearance (PD No. 1616 as amended and its IRR: Rule III, Section 1.3 and Rule VIII, Sections 2 and 5)
Proposed regulation: Pedestrianization of General Luna Street
Amendment to an existing regulation: Proposed online application of permit for photography and video in Intramuros (Section 6 of PD No. 1616)
As part of the commitment and advocacy of the DAP MGR Program for wider application of good regulatory practices, the DAP Project Team is offering to provide a sponsored RIA Clinic/follow-up assistance to help the IA enhance further the RIS produced during the training. Upon enhancement of output, the IA is encouraged to present their revised RIS to a panel composed of IA senior official(s) and DAP representatives to solicit further feedback.
At the heart of public service is the citizens’ interest, and with resources in short supply, organizations must reassess their efficiency and productivity. The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), as the Asian Productivity Organization Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity, trains public sector agencies through the Designing Citizen-Centered Public Service Improvements (DCCPSI) Program to evaluate government service delivery, identify inefficiencies, and developsolutions to adequately address clients’ needs and expectations using the approach on Service Design.
The second batch of the DCCPSI Program was conducted on September 13-15 for Phase I and on September 20-24 for Phase II. Participating agencies included the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Energy (DOE), National Wages Productivity Commission (NWPC), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). Participants could also avail of additional project incubation interventions to prepare for implementation.
First day plenary, Ms. Adona San Diego of DENR shares their agency’s criticalservice and the experience of citizens in service delivery.
Service delivery in the shoes of our citizens
The first phase, Citizen-Centered Service Design and Data Gathering, asks public sector agencies to consider their services from the perspective of a typical citizen. By having a picture of the client journey, agencies can empathize with the citizens on the end-to-end service experience. Mr. Peter Dan Baon, COE-PSP Program Manager, emphasizes the service design principle of human-centeredness because it gives “perspectives of the clients, their emotions and pain points when availing of the service.†As a result, agencies are able to evaluate the efficiency of their services and redesign areas for improvement according to clients’ insights.
Ms. Jodellie Pacala of DSWD leads conversation of their agency’s Client Journey Map.
To further develop a citizen-centered design, agencies supplement their ideas with local examples of design initiatives. Agencies draw inspiration from concrete examples of local government units like Valenzuela’s Paspas Permit and Pasig City’s Ugnayan sa Pasig (UsaP) as good examples of public service despite the hindrances that come with battling the pandemic. They also look at design fails as caution for what to avoid when implementing citizen-centered services. With these observations on design initiatives, they paint together a picture of what citizen-centered design should look like.
Redesigning services to improve citizen satisfaction
Once agencies understand the principles of service design and use the same in empathizing with clients’ perspectives, they engage in an ideation process to brainstorm solutions to their clients’ pain points. The Design Sprints look into many angles of the problem and explore even the most radical ideas on how the agencies might resolve them. Using tools and strategies prepared by the program, agencies develop prototypes of potential solutions. Ms. Elizabeth Alladel of DOST appreciates the ideation process as “it is very useful especially when you want to modify or develop an improvement in the existing system or operations.â€
Mr. Mohammad Victor of OWWA shares their agency’s proposed approach to solving the observed problems in Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program for OFWs.
Following the development of their prototypes, agencies identify and invite users to test their solution. After days of analyzing problems and brainstorming solutions, they finally test their prototypes. Day 4 of the Design Sprints is an exciting stage for the agencies as they uncover hits and misses based on the experience and feedback of real live users.
One of BIR’s test participants, Mr. Jalandoni, appreciates the prototype since “somehow, personnel are focused on the system because face-to-face transaction consumes time and prolongs queuing.†He adds that “it’s a big step for BIR to improve the business registration process since less stress for the frontliners, and saved time is diverted to other office work.â€
Ms. Janette Cruz of BIR instructs test users on how to go about their prototype.
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Ms. Glenda Pua of NCIP demonstrates their prototype to the test users.
After their participation in the program, the agencies developed the following solutions:
OWWA – OFCs (Overseas Filipino Circles) as site inspectors of Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program for OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers)
NWPC – Revision of evaluation forms to cater to clients’ demands on learning sessions related to wages and productivity
NEDA – Web-based self-assessment tool on completeness of project proposal documents
DOST – User-friendly online submission of collaborative research proposals
BIR – Web-based system on end-to-end business registration process with collaborative interface with other government agencies
DOE – Online application of Notice To Proceed (NTP) for Downstream Natural Gas Facility
NCIP – Integration of an information system on the NCIP official website for tracking of application requests
DILG – Delegation of authority to regional offices in processing of multi-purpose vehicle requests
DMB – Tracking system for client agencies to access the status of requests
DENR – User-friendly online tree cutting permit application process
DSWD – Accessible online application of Minors Traveling Abroad (MTA)
Efficiency of iterative design
In a span of less than two weeks, agencies understand their unique inefficiencies, brainstorm possible solutions, develop prototypes, test their solutions with real users, and redesign their processes. The principles of service design help agencies respond to challenges in government service delivery with the least amount of time and least possible use of resources. The outcome is a noticeable improvement of critical government services. Ms. Yvette Batacandolo of NEDA said it best, “we have a tendency to create programs without asking users how it will affect them.†With the help of the DCCPSI Program, agencies know better how to improve efficiency in government service delivery.
In closing, agencies are strongly encouraged to join project incubation interventions. In this phase, agencies relish opportunities for focused coaching and guided implementation from beginning till end. Ms. Lucita dela Pena of DILG shares her realization, “this is the reason why there is alpha, beta, gamma in product testing, to keep on remodeling until we reach an ideal model where issues are resolved.â€
The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Modernizing Government Regulations Program, completes the Phase II: Capability Development Assistance on Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for Priority Agencies of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) which ran on 31 May 2021 and culminated with the conduct of ten-panel presentations on the results of the RIA on 19 July 2021.
With the primary objective of developing the capability of selected regulatory agencies’ personnel to undertake RIA, the participants were able to produce their agencies’ Regulatory Impact Statements (RIS) that would help them analyze identified regulations. Twenty-three priority agencies presented their agencies’ RIS results to a panel of experts from the DAP, representatives from the ARTA, and officials from the respective beneficiary agencies. The panel presentations of the agencies aimed to enable further analysis of the following draft RIA to identify opportunities for improvement: proposed implementation of the electronic tracking system and automated processing of certificates/permits, as well as, amendment of guidelines on online registrations and streamlining application processes.
Panel Presentation of the Results of RIA
The next step would be for the agencies to integrate the feedback received during the panel presentations and finalize their respective RIS.
Times of crisis have emphasized the importance of the role of the public sector. Public sector employment and compensation are two fundamental government production functions that determine overall public sector productivity and service. With the government employing the majority of the workforce in most economies, it shapes the country’s fiscal sustainability, productivity, and labor market policies and standards.
Quality data are most useful to evaluate the performance of the public sector and formulate evidence-based reforms. On September 30, 2021, the World Bank launched the Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators (WWBI) that covers 53 million high-quality microdata, 192 indicators, across 202 countries on demographic, size, compensation, and wage bill of the public sector to aid policy-making. Senior Public Sector Specialist of the World Bank, Mr. Zahid Hasnain, described the WWBI, its findings and potential applications. One of the WWBI findings across the globe determining that the public sector is the largest employer for most countries, especially for essential workers. He also shared how public sector workers have an average wage premium of 7.3% more than similar formal private-sector workers, however, this varies across gender, educational attainment, occupation, and industry. The public sector employs more women than the private sector with a concentration in select industries such as healthcare, education, and public administration. Women are also generally provided a higher wage premium in the public sector. This reflects a more gender-inclusive environment for women in the government although there is still a long way to go.
During the launch, Mari E. Pangetsu, World Bank Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships, expressed her excitement over the first unique cross-national dataset developed by World Bank Bureaucracy Lab to better understand the footprint of the public sector workforce.
Senior Vice President Magdalena L. Mendoza of the Development Academy of the Philippines applauded the WWBI for providing an impressive wealth of analytics to better understand public sector employment and compensation. This database of indicators enables productivity assessment using the WWBI proxy indicators to create data-driven policies and reforms in the civil service. She expounded how information on the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes of public servants can enable the government to understand internal and external motivations for work discipline so that it develops a more effective incentives system and more responsive civil service reforms to improve performance and maximize productivity. According to SVP Mendoza, the Philippine civil service has gone through reforms such as rationalization, salary standardization, result-based performance management, performance-based incentives, and the dataset may be useful to evaluate if these reforms have resulted in productivity gains.
Other members of the panel shared their ideas on the potential of the WWBI in its application, growth, and expansion relative to pursuing public sector productivity. Tim Besley, W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at London School of Economics, raised the value of looking into the bureaucracy as a whole system and not just through pockets of excellence whereby integrating different components of civil service can make waves of influence through global best practices. He also suggested collecting granular personnel data over career lifetimes to identify determinants in career progression, but a fundamental step needed today is to first work on proper codification and standardization of data to support analysis.
Ghana Head of Civil Service, Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena, relayed how they put up systems in place to improve monitoring of human resource data analytics to develop more data-informed reforms in the public administration. Adil Zainulbhai, Chair of the Capacity Building Commission and the Chairman of the Quality Council of India, described how they have developed an Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) Platform to provide access to learning materials from over 700 training institutions to all levels of civil servants. He continued to share their pursuit for more innovative ways in delivering these capability-building solutions amidst the heterogeneity of its 30 million public servants. He brings light to using data on what level of capability people are in, what they need to learn, what are they interested in, and letting the ecosystem work together to achieve the goal.
SVP Mendoza raised the value of the WWBI in relation to the work of DAP as the Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity and look forward to collaborating with the Bureaucracy Lab. In closing, Indermit S. Gill, Vice President of World Bank Equitable Growth and Finance Institutions, expressed gratitude to the Bureaucracy Lab team that has worked hard in the extensive process of data collection and its emphasis on delivering it through a transparent process. He thanked all speakers, panel members, and the audience for their active participation in the launch and looks forward to putting these datasets into the application for more innovative and responsive civil service reforms.
The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Productivity and Development Center (PDC), in cooperation with the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), successfully hosted the Conference on Urban Agroecology and Food Security last 9 September 2021, via Zoom and YouTube Live.
Attended by 55 participants from Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Philippines, and viewed by 75 YouTube observers, the virtual conference was graced by esteemed guest speakers including the Philippine’s Agriculture Chief, Secretary William D. Dar, and the new APO Director for the Philippines, NEDA Undersecretary Jose Miguel R. De La Rosa. The DAP Officials also took part in the virtual event including its President and CEO, Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr., Senior Vice President for Programs, Ms. Magdalena L. Mendoza, and Vice President and PDC Managing Director, Mr. Arnel D. Abanto.
Welcome remarks by NEDA Undersecretary Jose Miguel R. De La Rosa, APO Director for the Philippines
The APO Director for the Philippines, Usec. Jose Miguel R. De La Rosa, in his welcome remarks, pointed out that efforts to ensure food security must be complemented with building a resilient and sustainable urban food production system, and while urban agriculture may not solve the complex and interconnected dilemmas in the food system, it has the potential to contribute to food security among urban dwellers.
In the keynote presentation of Secretary William D. Dar, he underscored the global impacts of COVID-19 to the agriculture sector including disruptions in food supply, labor shortages, reduction in job quality, food wastage, affected livelihoods, price spikes, and increased price volatility, among others. While the global health crisis may have sparked an enthusiasm in urban agriculture, it has become increasingly clear that sustaining it is just as important. He also encouraged the attendees to consider the online conference as an excellent opportunity to exchange views, collaborate, and reforest the existing knowledge base about the sustainability of urban ecology.
Aside from the valuable insights of the esteemed guest speakers, brilliant and adept international and local resource persons provided the participants with informative presentations.
Food Security and the Role of Urban Agroecology/Agriculture in a Global Context was presented by Mr. Kit Chan of K-Farm Sendirian Berhad Malaysia. He emphasized that in order to address food emergencies and food security crises, there should be short-term and long-term measures. Short-term interventions entail a) providing fiscal support to lower food import tariffs and taxes, b) reviving rural financial systems, and c) declaring food production, marketing, and distribution as essential services to keep trade corridors open, among others; while long-term measures involve a) regenerating and increasing food system incomes, b) building early warning systems, and c) promoting climate-resilient productivity growth, to name a few.
Next to present was Dr. Hironori Yagi of the University of Tokyo, who discussed the Sustainability of Urban Agriculture for Post-Pandemic Society, the Sustainability and Persistence Theory, as well as, the urban agriculture-related empirical researches and the impact of the pandemic on the sector. Dr. Yagi stressed the importance of drastic policy changes especially during the “new normalâ€, and inter-linkage of normative sustainability evaluation and empirical persistence investigation to validate multiple information, enhance resource base, and further facilitate an interdisciplinary approach towards sustainable urban agriculture.
The third topic discussed by Ms. Diah Meidiantie of PT. Hydrofarm Indonesia was Policies and Resources Support to Help Urban Agriculture. It underscored the important references for agriculture policy-making which include sufficient needs-based community assessment guided by availability, access, and safety as primary attributes towards improving the quality of the environment and empowering the community to achieve its goals in relation to food security.
The last topic on Best Practices of Urban Agriculture and Strategies for Implementation was presented by Dr. Rosana P. Mula of the Agricultural Training Institute. She shared the best practices of urban and peri-urban (UPU) agriculture. These involve establishment of UPU community/school gardens, capability development activities, provision of urban agriculture starter kits, information, knowledge sharing and communication services, market linkages, and partnerships and collaborations.
The high-level presentations were followed by a Panel Discussion which was facilitated by Dir. Gerald Glenn F. Panganiban of the DA’s Urban Agriculture Program. Trigger questions from the resource persons ultimately spurred the interest of the participants and viewers to raise discerning questions that were acknowledged accordingly during the discussion.
DAP Senior Vice President Ms. Magdalena L. Mendoza highlighted in her closing remarks that amid the health crisis and natural calamities, it is even more timely to collaborate and strengthen support to farmers and consumers while promoting self-reliance among people in producing foods that can be grown at home. She also mentioned the significance of exemplifying urban agriculture through a variety of technologies that may be adopted in the community or at home such as hydroponics, vertical gardening, green alley, and UPU agriculture.
The sought-after conference is one of the 2021 virtual programs of the APO assigned to the DAP-PDC Productivity Development Research Office anchored on the goal of promoting innovative approaches across all sectors of the economy and bolstering the institutional infrastructure crucial to sustained productivity improvement especially amid the pandemic. For more information, visit www.dap.edu.ph, or email pdc.pdro@dap.edu.ph.
The public sector must adopt more dynamic strategies and mindsets and continue delivering effective services in the face of fiscal and regulatory constraints. This was the call of the Conference on Public Sector Productivity, organized by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in partnership with the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), last August 25, 2021.
Through presentations and a panel discussion, the conference tackled alternative workplace and service delivery strategies, measurement and management of work productivity, and nurturing a productivity mindset in the new normal.
Over 3,700 participants made up of policymakers and government officials, representatives of government enterprises, and staff of public-sector organizations and research institutions watched the livestream through Zoom, Youtube, and Facebook. Participants also included 181 international delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Republic of China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.
APO Secretary-General Dr. AKP Mochtan and APO Director for the Philippines, Undersecretary Jose Miguel R. De La Rosa both emphasized the need to leverage the available digital platforms because of the multifaceted impact of the pandemic Aside from highlighting productivity and innovation, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara added that public sector professionals should perform their duties to the best of their ability and go beyond the call of duty if they can.
Dynamism, Flexibility for Service Continuity
In South Korea and Malaysia, the public sector used regulations and digitalization to ensure continued functioning despite the pandemic.
Using public-private data for their Covid-19 Response System, the South Korean government was able to easily detect the location of the patients for effective contact tracing. Data-sharing was also used in their Mobile Vaccine Reservation in cooperation with the leading messaging service in the country, Kakao Talk, making it easier, faster, and more accurate. Through this, the citizens can also easily access information if there are leftover vaccines.
The Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) ensured productivity gains through the integration of regulatory facilitation and digitalization between public and private players. The digitalization of their procurement system diminished the use of hardcopy documents and enabled better tracking of the application process. Increased productivity and flexibility were noted because of the use of online meeting platforms as well as limitless educational possibilities with a full subscription to online platform learning. The transformation from physical seminars to online webinars boosted the number of participants as they can participate from all around the globe. Companies can receive certification from MPC faster and at a lower cost through an online self-assessment mechanism.
One of the public sector’s major stumbling blocks during a crisis is that it does not anticipate and innovate enough. The architecture of system thinking, innovation and foresight functions will enable efficient governance approaches in the new normal, according to Dr. Piret Tõnurist of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Using Anticipatory Innovation Governance, organizations can foresee various futures and explore options. The framework requires an authorizing environment with networks and partnerships, public participation, vested interests, legitimacy, evidence evaluation, and learning loops to develop policies for complex and uncertain contexts.
The framework pushes governments to challenge the status quo by asking the following questions: Should governments rely on crises to make technology, solutions, and innovations within the public sector possible? What other processes, tools, and methods can organizations use continuously to improve its processes? What behavioral, organizational, and institutional drivers within organizations will drive innovation?
Innovation and COVID-19 Responses
Partnerships are the great enabler for the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines (OVP) pandemic response programs. By working with the private sector, they were able to expand their reach and multiply their efforts making their presence felt throughout the country. By working with local government units, the online application market service Community Mart, improved the income of market vendors and tricycle drivers while having less exposure to customers. Volunteers paved the way for the Bayanihan E-Konsulta, a free teleconsultation service that aims to help decongest hospitals in Metro Manila.
In Makati City, the Makatizen application and card served as lifelines for residents who needed government support and emergency services. TheMakatizen Card is a multipurpose card that allowed the Makati government to transfer financial assistance to its constituents, and enabled citizens to make electronic purchases. The Makatizen app offered a platform where users can access the latest announcements from the city government and offered access to the proper authorities for any emergency that requires urgent government assistance and intervention. Technology aided new possibilities in addressing the demands of governance under the new normal.Education should continue despite the challenges of internet-based/blended learning through the establishment of community learning hubs, which serves multiple school-age children, rather than trying to ensure that each household has a device or internet service.
For his closing remarks, DAP President and Chief Executive Officer, Atty. Engelbert Caronan, Jr. relayed that pushing for productivity, innovation, and foresight in the public sector is not a matter of perspective anymore, and the government’s capacity to respond effectively and efficiently to the current and emerging concerns of the people should be a given. According to him, the government must be agile and must assume that we have to hurdle the digital divide on behalf of our clients, instead of them having to invest in additional resources to access our services. And lastly, he imparted that every organization’s quest for productivity should consider the effects their interventions have on the lives of the people they serve.
