Five key points about big data in government - Dr Panos Panagiotopoulos, Lecturer in Management at Queen Mary

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“Big data” in government are the topic of the moment across the world. Public sector datasets have evolved to include large volumes of very diverse sources of information. They raise issues of privacy, security or information sharing, but also of design and training. To make good use of big data, public managers have to ask the right questions. Not only on the data but also to a new generation of “data scientists” on whom they depend. The post discusses five key points about how public managers need to prepare for working with big data.

The Politics of Austerity and Public Policy Reform in the EU - A symposium edited by Dr Stella Ladi (Queen Mary University of London) and Dr Dimitris Tsarouhas (Bilkent University) in Political Studies Review

In the introductory article it is argued that the EU is at a critical juncture that will either trigger further political and economic unity or reinforce the voices that instead call for intergovernmental co-operation in place of formal union.  The spread of market pressure from Ireland, Greece and Portugal to Spain, Italy and Cyprus and also beyond has demonstrated that the sovereign debt crisis needs to be dealt with at the European and not just the national level.  Up to now the “politics of extreme austerity” has been the mainstream recipe promoted to and adopted by member states.  The measures are tougher in those countries where there has been external financial assistance from the EU and the IMF (i.e. Greece, Portugal and Ireland) but the rest of Europe is following suit (e.g. Italy and the UK). 

Professor Pedro Martins Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Today Programme

Professor Pedro Martins, Professor of Applied Economics and lecturer on the Masters in Public Administration at Queen Mary, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

Professor Martins‘ interview focused on the three-year economic and financial adjustment programme of Portugal, which is coming to its end next month. This programme involved a package of 78 billion euros, provided by the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and a number of measures in terms of fiscal consolidation, financial system stability and structural reforms. 

Professor Martins argued that Portugal is likely to opt for a ‘clean exit’ from the current programme, implying no further financial support and no further conditionality, given the increasing confidence of financial markets in terms of the outlook for the Portuguese economy. Professor Martins also explained that, in his perspective, this likely successful exit – following the footsteps of the Irish Case - implies that the combination of structural reforms and austerity measures can deliver good results in terms of putting an end to the Eurozone crisis.  

Listen to the interview here, the interview takes place at 02:48:33 (available for 7 days). 

An economist by training, Pedro Martins served as employment minister in the Government of Portugal from 2011 to 2013. He joined Queen Mary in 2004, becoming a Professor in 2009, and is the Module Leader for ‘Economics of the Public Sector’ on the MPA. 

Sustainability, Resilience and Public-Private Partnerships from a Global Governance Perspective - Dr Georgios Kostakos, Executive Director, Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability

One hears a lot about sustainable development or sustainability, to such an extent that these terms increasingly feel inflated or devoid of meaning. The concepts behind them, though, do matter and should not be abandoned because of abuse or over-use. Sustainable development has a glorious past, dating back to the Brundtland Report of 1987 and the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as Earth Summit, of1992. It was most recently reaffirmed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, held in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.

Major new Queen Mary programme for Bosnia-Herzegovina with UK Foreign Office

Fellows at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague

The public management team in the School of Business and Management – which also runs the Queen Mary University of London Masters’ programme in Public Administration – won a major contract with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in late 2013 to run a course throughout the month of February 2014 in collaborative policymaking and public leadership for emerging new leaders from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The participants are the first cohort of Fellows on what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hopes will be a series of leaders in that country from the new generation. Britain has a longstanding commitment to assist Bosnia-Herzegovina and Queen Mary has been delighted to be able to play its part.

Open Seminar: Sustainability, resilience and public-private partnerships from a global governance perspective - Dr Georgios Kostakos

Image: Rochester Factory Credit: Ben Reierson License: CC BY 2.0 

Centre for Government and Leadership

School of Business and Management

Queen Mary University of London

Open Seminar

12^th March 2014 – 17:30

Guest Speaker: Dr Georgios Kostakos, Executive Director, Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS)

Bio: Georgios Kostakos holds a PhD in International Relations and a Mechanical Engineering degree. He served on the secretariat of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP) as Senior Adviser and Acting Deputy Executive Secretary, and on many other positions at UN Headquarters, UN field missions, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the University of Athens. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS). His areas of expertise include global governance and sustainability, climate change, UN reform, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. He maintains a current affairs blog: www.kostakos.net

Seminar title: Sustainability, resilience and public-private partnerships from a global governance perspective

Abstract: Sustainability is an often-used term in recent years, especially following the Rio+20 Conference of June 2012 and in view of efforts to arrive at a set of Sustainable Development Goals for the post-2015 period. One important element of sustainability and its three interconnected dimensions - namely social, economic and environmental - is resilience, the capacity of communities, institutions and individuals to bounce back after severe shocks. In an era of climate change, financial crises, food price hikes and water scarcity this is a key ingredient of sustainability, although not the whole of it. However, in the pursuit of growth and efficiency this is often forgotten or relegated to secondary importance. The seminar will focus on how sustainability and resilience are reflected, or not, in the public-private partnerships increasingly concluded at the global level, between international organizations and big private sector entities. Issues of delivery, representativeness, division of labour, respective responsibilities and capabilities, as well as overall accountability will be reviewed in this light, with suggestions for the future.

Research themes: Globalisation; Ethics and Politics; Public Management Group

Chaired by: Dr Stella Ladi

Location: Arts Two Lecture Theatre, Arts Two Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Campus, London, E1 4NS.

This is an open seminar, but please book your place online: http://bit.ly/1hYK1hn

If you have any questions, please contact Naomi Britton Executive Education Administrator: n.britton@qmul.ac.uk

Six consequences of the Ukraine crisis for British government - Prof Perri 6, Chair in Public Management, Queen Mary

Image: Independence Square, Kiev, Ukraine - Credit: Sasha Maksymenko License: CC BY 2.0

Russia’s military intervention in the Crimea and perhaps more widely in the Ukraine will have longstanding consequences for government in Britain, and the impacts will be felt far beyond the Foreign Office and the diplomatic service. Six implications for British government are immediately obvious. In order from the shortest to the longest terms, six implications of the Russian occupation of the Crimea can immediately be identified for British government having to do loans, distractions, gilts, gas, missiles and boots and finally containers and pipes.

Twitter Alerts come to the UK as an official emergency notification system - Dr Panos Panagiotopoulos, Lecturer in Management at Queen Mary University

Twitter’s recent launch of Twitter Alerts to users in the UK and Ireland was covered widely in the mainstream media (see here and here). The system allows users to receive information from trustworthy organisations “during emergencies, natural disasters or moments when other communications services aren’t accessible” (this is how it works). Twitter Alerts also come with a warning that that they do not replace other channels of distributing critical emergency information. In the UK, organisations providing alerts through Twitter includes police forces, ambulance services, the Environment Agency, the Mayor of London and the British Red Cross (the full list is here).

The future of public management education – reflections from the roundtable forum at the Centre for Government and Leadership

The British coalition government’s decision to close the National School of Government in March 2012 has been both a setback and an opportunity for public management education. The narrowing of much of the government’s “Civil service learning” programme upon training leaves a crucial gap in public management education. On the other hand, the school’s abolition has allowed universities the chance to compete to fill that gap. The roundtable organised by the Centre for Government and Leadership discussed the future of public management education in the UK and internationally.

Why can't ministers and senior servants get along? A beginner's guide to bad blood, Universal Credit, blame, briefings and Civil Service Reform - Prof Perri 6, Chair in Public Management, Queen Mary

"War" has broken out, journalists say. Introducing a confrontation between Conservative MP and former police and criminal justice minister, Nick Herbert and former cabinet secretary, Lord (previously Sir Robin) Butler on BBC Radio 4’s “The Week in Westminster” on Saturday 30^th November, the Daily Telegraph’s Peter Oborne positively salivated with enthusiasm in telling us that hostilities between ministers and the senior civil service are at their fiercest for generations. Conservative bloggers such as Peter Hoskin are similarly excited.