Innovation in government is needed to recover from and build the country’s resilience to crises, according to the acting chief of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Acting Socieconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua made the remark during the Sixth Annual Public Policy Conference of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies on September 15, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
Noting risks to the country’s growth outlook, Chua said innovative and creative solutions that could effectively balance health and other objectives were required.
“What this [coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)] crisis has made apparent is the need for us to innovate governance and the importance of effective coordination if we hope not [only] to outlast, but also build resilience against adversities such as this,” he said.
The “government must be the one to provide the direction and impetus for innovation to prosper. We must set the example by recalibrating our systems and processes to suit the needs and demands of the new normal,” the acting NEDA head added.
According to him, this can be done by using new technologies in developing tools that can make the delivery of public services more effective and efficient.
“The task ahead requires innovative and creative solutions that can effectively balance both Covid and other objectives. That is why the government’s response is a phased and adaptive recovery approach that prioritizes health, as well as the recovery of consumer confidence towards opening up more of the economy,” Chua explained.
He also underscored the importance of effective coordination and dynamic multistakeholder partnerships to maximize all available resources to respond to the pandemic.
“Building strategic partnerships with different sectors is an effective way to address resource constraints and tap all available wealth of ideas, technologies, expertise and networks. These are crucial for governance innovation to happen especially in the new normal,” he said.
