Transformation of the administration

Geschäftsunterlagen auf Bürotisch. Eine Person hält ein Smartphone in der Hand.
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Contact person

Porträtfoto von Prof. Dr. Jan Ziekow vor gelbem Hintergrund
© FÖV
Director

– Prof. Dr. Jan Ziekow

Email: jan.ziekow@foev-speyer.de
Phone: +49 6232 654-385

The challenges have grown

The challenges facing government, business and society have grown significantly in recent years and will continue to do so. Crisis-like escalations are becoming a permanent feature of the landscape. Examples we all know about include:

  • The economic and financial crisis
  • The sharp upturn in the number of asylum seekers
  • The increase in extremist, religious and politically motivated threats
  • The COVID-19 pandemic
  • Natural disasters caused by climate change,
  • a war in central Europe, and much more.
     

Furthermore, there is a rapidly expanding corpus of knowledge, an increasing fragmentation of discourses, evolving expectations of decision-making behaviour in complex structures, and shifting demands on public sector skills.

Text graphic: 61 per cent of employees in the public sector will retire by 2040. The federal administration is to be organised in a climate-neutral way by 2030.’.
Sources: German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) – Scientific Services. 2020. Demographic change in public service. SS 6 - 3000 - 009/20 (left) and German Federal Parliament. 2022. Briefing by the German Federal Government. Climate Protection Report 2022, page 45. https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/20/037/2003790.pdf (in German only) (right)

All this requires a flexible and rapid response in a dynamically changing environment. This complex process of change can be described as a phase of transformation. The transformation processes necessary as a result need to be considered systematically. The central question of the research area that addresses the 'transformation of the administration' is therefore:

What approach should 'the' public administration take in order to ensure its organisational capability and to recognise the relevant tasks of the future at an early stage, given the differentiated consideration of levels and functions?

In order to remain capable of fulfilling its tasks in this sense, the administration must act in a transformational way, fundamentally changing and proactively shaping the future. This requires both a comprehensive, integrated and sectoral reorganisation, which we analyse and conceptualise in relation to each other in this research area.

We analyse the management of complex decision-making and design processes both systematically and empirically. From this, we develop concrete, sector-specific concepts for institutional arrangements, action strategies and decision-making methods. Throughout the entire process, public administration is viewed as a horizontally and vertically networked system.

The issues raised in this research area are directly pertinent to the long-term sustainability of public administration in Germany and its capacity to influence the future. To ensure its ability to act in the future, it is essential that it adapts its structures and processes itself to align with current developments and evolving expectations in decision-making behaviour.

The research fields covered in this research area

Text graphic with the four topic areas: Identification and assignment of tasks, Institutional transformation of the administration, Methodology and data foundation for decision making, Networked decision making
Click here to go to the website of the Institute for Regulatory Impact Assessment and Evaluation (Institut für Gesetzesfolgenabschätzung und Evaluation - InGFA)

Selected projects in this research area

Projects

Predictive task-based skills planning and development

Demographic change is leading to a change in the structure of work in public authorities. The number of employable people will go down, the workforce will become older and more heterogeneous, and it will become much more difficult to recruit newly qualified staff in competition with the private sector. In addition to demographic change, various changes (e.g. the introduction of new technologies to convert analogue processes into digital ones) and new tasks, as well as the digital transformation itself (i.e. the adaptation of entire business processes or models to reflect the digital changes) are leading to new ways of working in public authorities, which mandate that employees adapt quickly to these changes. The development of skills needs to be planned proactively to ensure the performance of the administration in the future. The project builds on this need by focusing on skills planning and development in public administrations. The aim of the project is to develop a basic methodological model for forecasting tasks and the associated skills requirements, which is specifically tailored to the differentiation in levels and tasks in public administrations.

Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026
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© Unsplash / Jason Goodman
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Projects

Support for the implementation of the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (KJSG)

The project forms part of the reforms initiated by the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (Kinder- und Jugendstärkungsgesetz - KJSG), which was passed in 2021. It serves to provide support to local authorities that need to restructure their administrative structures in this context. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), the National Institute for Public Administration Germany is supporting a pilot test of new administrative structures in the field of integration support for children and young people with disabilities in up to five model communities until December 2025. The project comprises the development of a pilot test concept, scientific support for the model local authority areas and the creation of transfer services based on the findings. These will take the form of roadmaps and guidelines, which will be made available to all local authorities. This will facilitate the nationwide restructuring of the relevant administrative structures in the local authority areas from 2028 onwards.

Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2025 | Funding: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
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© pexels / Diva Plavalaguna
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Projects

Task focussing: Organisational and procedural aspects

The topic of task focussing in public administration is a prominent focus of the current research programme at the National Institute for Public Administration (NIPAG). The hierarchical line structure of public administration is proving to be inadequate in the context of new, complex tasks. The complexity and multidimensionality of the tasks and problems faced by public administrations are increasing, and the solutions to these problems require considerable effort under the use of existing resources. The resolution and management of such tasks could be significantly enhanced by collaboration between different departments and domains (to varying degrees), for example by using matrix structures with adaptive teams. Despite the inherent challenges, a greater emphasis on task orientation appears to be essential for an effective and forward-looking public administration. In this multi-year research initiative, the NIPAG is assessing and collecting data on the successful implementation of task-oriented working methods.

Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026
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© Pixabay / Gerd Altmann
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Projects

Preparation of two expert reports on the evaluation of the Schleswig-Holstein Freedom of Information Act (IZG-SH)

In Schleswig-Holstein, the Freedom of Information Act (Informationszugangsgesetz - IZG-SH) requires public authorities to make certain information available to the public, such as directives, circulars, contracts, expert opinions and statistics. In its current form, the Act also provides for the establishment by the state of a central electronic information register and central information register offices. Since the beginning of 2020, it has been possible for public authorities to publish the information to be provided on the Schleswig-Holstein Transparency Portal. Section 16 of the IZG-SH provides for a review of the application and effects of the amendments to the Act. The state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein is to be informed of the results of the evaluation in two reports (2022 and 2025). The National Institute for Public Administration Germany was commissioned in February 2022 to prepare parts of this evaluation. The commissioning party is the Ministry of the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equal Opportunities of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.

Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 15/02/2022 - 31/10/2025 | Funding: Ministry of the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equality of the State of Schleswig-Holstein
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Selected publications in this research area

Publications (Mainly in German)

What does knowledge management in public administrations look like in practice?

The need for effective and targeted knowledge management in the public sector is growing in response to complex challenges, impending retirement waves, and digital transformation. However, knowledge management is often treated as a buzzword, without really understan-ding its scope.

FÖV Discussion Papers
[Translate to English:] FÖV Discussion Paper 93
Article
Publications (Mainly in German)

Aufgabenorientierte Organisation der öffentlichen Verwaltung:

Der Beitrag beschreibt das Konzept der Aufgabenorientierung, die als Werkzeug zur Erreichung einer krisenfesten und resilienten Arbeitsweise in der öffentlichen Verwaltung dienen kann.

FÖV Discussion Papers
[Translate to English:] Cover des FÖV Discussion Papers 92
Article
Publications (Mainly in German)

Evaluation des Planungssicherstellungsgesetzes (PlanSiG)

Ziel der Evaluation war es erstens, einen Eindruck darüber zu gewinnen, inwieweit in der Verfahrenspraxis von den Instrumenten des PlanSiG Gebrauch gemacht wurde. Zweitens sollten die durch die Anwendung der Instrumente entstehenden Auswirkungen auf die Verfahrensbeteiligten untersucht werden. Das dritte Ziel war es, zu prüfen, welche Instrumente sich auch nach Außerkrafttreten des Gesetzes zur Weiterführung eignen und welche Modifikationen ggf. vorzunehmen sind.

Speyer Research Reports Speyerer Forschungsberichte Nr. 304
[Translate to English:] Cover des Speyerer Forschungsberichts 304
Article
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