Accessing City Government Dynamic Capabilities

Rainer Kattel

Professor in Public Governance and Innovation at IIPP, UCL

Rainer Kattel is Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). He has studied at the University of Tartu, Estonia, and the University of Marburg, Germany, in philosophy, political philosophy, classics and public administration.He led Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance for 10 years, building it into one of the leading innovation and governance schools in the region.

Professor Kattel has also served on various public policy commissions, including the Estonian Research Council and European Science Foundation. He has worked as an expert for the OECD, UNDP and the European Commission, and served as a member of E-Estonia Council advising the Prime Minister of Estonia. Currently, he leads the Estonian Government’s Gender Equality Council.

He has published extensively on innovation policy, its governance and specific management issues. In 2013, he received Estonia's National Science Award for his work on innovation policy.

Rainer received his BA in political philosophy in 1996, MA in Classics in 1998, and PhD in Public Administration in 2001 (all University of Tartu, Estonia).

Ruth Puttick

Honarary Senior Research Fellow at IIPP, UCL

Ruth is a Senior Research Fellow at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). She is working alongside Mariana Mazzucato and Rainer Kattel and in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, to develop a new Public Sector Capabilities Index.

Outside of UCL, Ruth runs a research consultancy. Current and recent collaborations include projects with the Future Evidence Foundation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Results for America, The British Academy, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Centre for Homelessness Impact, What Works Wellbeing, Nesta, Alliance for Useful Evidence, Pearson Plc, Newcastle University, Edinburgh City Council, and advising the council for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Blockchain.

In 2023, Ruth completed a PhD that explores the influence of philanthropic foundations on city government innovation and decision-making.

Ruth has over 15 years of practical research experience in the public and private sectors. Most recently, she served as a Senior Policy Advisor in HMG Open Innovation Team. Ruth’s previous experience includes working at Tony Blair Associates, a global management consultancy, helping establish the policy and research team in the government advisory practice. Before that, she spent six years at Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency.

Ruth has advised governments all around the world, on topics including innovation strategy, policy reform, evidence and impact measurement, the establishment of delivery units, and the creation of school inspectorate and improvement agencies in emerging economies. In the UK, she worked on the Annual Innovation Review for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and contributed to various government white papers.

Ruth designed and advocated for the creation of a "NICE for social policy", successfully convincing the Cabinet Office and ESRC to create the What Works Network, a chain of evidence centres informing decision-making in policy areas overseeing more than £200 billion of public spending. She also created and launched the global practitioners' network, the Alliance for Useful Evidence.

She has written and managed numerous critically acclaimed research reports, including a mapping study of evidence institutes and i-teams - a global study of innovation labs across six continents. Ruth's research has been cited in the press, including coverage in The Financial Times, Guardian, and Times, and numerous academic articles. Her research on evidence has had a significant impact, with the standards of evidence framework developed for Nesta since being adopted by other organisations including FTSE 100 Pearson Plc and the Big Lottery Fund.

She has served on boards and is currently a school governor.

In 2012 Ruth worked on the successful Obama-Biden re-election field campaign in Virginia. 

Ruth holds a degree in Geography from the University of Sheffield, a Master's in Research Methods, and a PhD in political science and urban studies.
 

Ben Rogers

Bloomberg Distinguished Fellow in Government Innovation at LSE Cities

Ben divides his time between LSE Cities, where he is Bloomberg Policy Fellow in Government Innovation and University of London, where he is Professor of Practice. Ben is also the Chair of Design South East and Acting Chair of the Yard Theatre.

Prior to joining LSE, Ben founded Centre for London think tank in 2011 and led its growth to an influential authority on London policy, with an international following.  

He was a member of the London Finance Commission and is author of many reports on cities, citizenship, public service reform and the built environment.

Ben was an Associate Director at the Institution for Public Policy Research (IPPR) for five years and has worked in local and central government, including a year spent as a team leader at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, working on planning, urban design and quality of place.

Since taking up his position at University of London he has set the London Research and Policy Partnership, which brings together London policymakers and academic researchers to tackle London’s critical policy challenges.

As Bloomberg Distinguished Fellow in Government Innovation, he is leading LSE Cities’ European Cities initiative, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Ben has a doctorate on Blaise Pascal from Oxford, has written and broadcast widely, and is the author of several acclaimed books including A J Ayer, A Life and Beef and Liberty.  He is currently writing a book on civic republicanism and urbanism.