IIPP, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, has launched an initiative to establish a Public Sector Capabilities Index – the first global measure of city governments’ capacity to solve problems
About the project
The project will examine areas in which a municipality can quickly scale or invest to bolster existing capabilities, serving as a guide for city leaders as well as state and national entities who can supply funding.
The Public Sector Capabilities Index will be the first global measure of where government capacity is strong and where critical public sector skills – such as engaging residents through innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and leveraging data infrastructure and digital platforms – must be built up.
The research focuses on cities, and as part of its output, the project will examine areas in which a municipality can quickly scale or invest in order to bolster existing capabilities, serving as a guide for city leaders as well as state and national entities who can supply funding. Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting this initial phase of work to test the viability and usefulness of the Index.
To design and test the Public Sector Capabilities Index, UCL IIPP will form a cross-disciplinary team of specialists in public administration, urban governance and economics, digital transformation, data analytics, and public value, as well as a project-specific advisory board comprising of high-level practitioners and academics. The team formed by UCL IIPP will work alongside cities and government officials, who will be invited to co-create, test, and refine the Index, injecting their on-the-ground experiences and expertise.
News and media
- Blogs
From theory to practice: assessing dynamic capabilities in the city of Arequipa, Peru
Lessons from Australian Cities: How Limited Powers Shape Dynamic Capabilities
How Brazilian cities are nurturing transformative capabilities
Exploring Capabilities in Finnish City Governance: Lessons for the Public Sector Capabilities Index
Missions and dynamic capabilities in practice: UNDP’s portfolio approach
How are dynamic capabilities conceptualized by city governments?
Capability building: Lessons for city government from emergency relief response
Capability Building in Government: What are the lessons from Blair’s Capability Reviews?
Creating a typology of city governments to measure their capabilities
Developing a Public Sector Capabilities Index – what it is and why we are doing it
- Publications
- IIPP Public Sector Capabilities Index team : Kattel, R., Puttick, R., Mazzucato, M., Goulden, A., Gronchi, I., Monge, F., Tarp, M., Baafi, K., Chau, B., Dhamija, A., and De Feria, M. (2024). Developing the Public Sector Capabilities Index: Phase I synthesis report, September 2023 to May 2024. UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (2024), IIPP Policy Report No. 2024/08
- Puttick, R. (2024). The landscape of public sector capacity and capability frameworks, toolkits and indexes: What they do and what we can learn. UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Policy Report 2024/02
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