Public service challenges and issues were discussed at ASPA’s 2018 Annual Conference in Denver, USA, where almost 1,300 practitioners, scholars and students gathered to join theory with practice and share current trends and information with each other.

The ACSH Panel session on “Challenges, Issues and Tools for Public Service Excellence in the 21st Century” was held in the framework Conference. Public service representatives who realize reforms in practice in the region, namely, from the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia, the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption of Kazakhstan, and the Government of the Republic of Moldova, from the one hand, and the experts in public administration from Kazakhstan, Singapore, the USA, UK, on the one hand, shared their views.

The session was opened by Alikhan Baimenov, Chairman of the ACSH Steering Committee and William Shields, ASPA's Executive Director. First, regional perspectives were presented. Deputy Director of Civil Service Bureau of Georgia Maia Dvalishvili gave an overview of challenges the Georgian civil service is facing. Implementation of the performance appraisal systems, motivation, limited financial resources and often changing priorities were named among challenges. 

Assistant Professor of Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, Saltanat Janenova presented preliminary findings of the research on Civil Service Development in the Post-Soviet Countries, which is conducted by Alikhan Baimenov and herself. Research questions of the paper are: What are common and different trajectories of civil service reforms in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) region? Is there a regional trend specific to FSU countries?

The session was further continued byt the presentation of Max Everest-Phillips from GCPSE on Public Administration at the Dawn of Civilization: Lessons from Lagash for sustainable development in the 21st Century and commented on the 1^st recorded Public Service Reform 4500 years ago on Urukagina’s cones. 

Christine Leitner, Senior Advisor of the Centre for Economics and Public Administration, England, United Kingdom, presented on the role disruptive innovation in the public sector, which create both opportunities and challenges today. 

Panos Liverakos, an international consultant of the ACSH, touched upon remuneration system of civil servants. Relationship between labour productivity and average earnings was one of the questions raised in this presentation. 

The discussions about the challenges, issues and tools for public service were fueled by the experts and practitioners, representing the state bodies, higher education institutions. Leading international scientists, experts and researchers in the field of public administration - Chester Newland, Professor Emeritus in Public Administration, USC, Dr. Demetrios Argyriadis, Professor, City University of New York, also shared their feedback on the development of public administration in the Hub participating countries. 

Alikhan Baimenov has also been invited as a key-note speaker to the session “Reclaiming Public Service: Rebuilding Public Service for Democratic Governance and Sustainable Development.” The session was moderated by Chester Newland, Emeritus Distinguished Professor, University of Southern California. “It does not matter how we call a public administration model, what paradigm’s ideas prevail – what is most important is that it must work for the citizens,” said Baimenov at this session.

Alikhan Baimenov also took part in the International Assembly session on "Public Administration Professional Associations and the SDGs.” “The SDGs are the response to our concerns in building inclusive and equitable societies. However, at the same time, they present an immense challenge to all of us,” stressed Baimenov.

ASPA members and Conference participants noted Hub’s contribution to the development of effective systems of civil service. “The ACSH contributes to capacity building efforts for the improvement of the public sector and thus assists towards the successful implementation of Goals 16 and 17 directly,” said ASPA Executive Director William Shileds.

American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) is the largest and most prominent broadly based professional association in American public administration. It has a diverse membership of approximately 8,000 practitioners, academicians and students. ASPA serves as the principal arena for linking theory and practice within the field of public administration.