The OECD’s Alex Roberts, Deputy Head of the Observatory for Public Sector Innovation, joined me for the final episode of the Government After Shock podcast series.
Over thirty episodes this year, Alex and I have been speaking with public sector professionals, policymakers, stakeholders, and their allies about the crises of 2020 and the response of government bodies around the world.
In our last instalment, I took the opportunity to ask Alex what he’d learned from these conversations, and how the events of 2020 – and their associated learnings – have affected OPSI itself.
It’s impossible to pick out favourite episodes from the series – every guest offered unique and powerful insights – but I do want to highlight two conversations which were particularly provocative for me as a host and listener.
Peter Thomas of Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services in Aotearoa joined me towards the end of the series for a profoundly thoughtful conversation from an independent, Indigenous perspective on the challenges faced in 2020 and the ongoing work of delivering care and protection to a community from an organisation outside of government.
And Aída Ponce Del Castillo of the European Trade Union Institute offered a critical, interdisciplinary, and future-oriented perspective on the role of government in 2020 and beyond, giving an opinion from within the labour movement on how public sector bodies might adapt and evolve in coming years.
These are just two of the excellent guests that Alex & I had the privilege to interview from around the world.
You can catch up on all of our conversations at the OECD OPSI Soundcloud page – and if you’d like to join one of the wider Government After Shock events on 17th and 18th November, you can find out more at the OPSI website.
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 