European Centre for Government Transformation – Closing ceremony (19/04)

On 19 April 2017 the participating students of the European Centre for Government Transformation project, in association with the Lisbon Council and Accenture consulting, travelled to the Embassy of the Republic of France for the final award ceremony of the 2017 ECGT project, entitled Digital Innovation in Public Services. 

Participating students of the European Centre for Government Transformation project 2016-2017

The European Centre for Government Transformation is an initiative in public-sector reform established to deal with increased pressure on public finances and increased demand for public services. The European Centre for Government Transformation provides innovative ideas, best practices and actionable solutions to EU institutions as well as national, regional and local governments on key areas of public-sector reform. It comprises a powerful community (including a network of senior-level public service officials), pioneering events, ground-breaking research and strong leadership aimed at facilitating the sharing of leading practices.

Every team took part in the final ceremony. 

  1. Team Amsterdam composed of: Charline BINARD (BE), Paul BRANS (EPPA) (FR-US), Jean-Christophe DELMANS (FR-NO) and Annegret KEMPF (DE). 
    > Project: "Bridging the City Poverty Gap"
     
  2. Team Milan composed of James GALAND-JONES (UK-FR), Alexander MAKELA (SE), Rebecca RYDER (EI) and Camille SAINT GENIS (FR).
    > Project: "Manufacturing 4.0: Learning from the Shared Knowledge"
     
  3. Team Paris composed of Maria LUENA COLLINI (IT), Paul PAQUES (BE-FR), Manuel PEIX CASTIELLA (ES), Farid SAFI (AL-CH)
    > Project: "Open Innovation: A Maker Strategy"

​​The event kicked off with introductory remarks given by Mr Paul HOFFHEINZ, President of the Lisbon Council, who welcomed all participants and guests to the ceremony.  Welcoming remarks were then given by the French Ambassador Claude-France ARNOULD, who was delighted to host this event in the French Embassy.

Opening remarks were addressed by:

  • Michele CHANG, Professor, European Political and Administrative Studies, College of Europe;
  • Kiryakos CHEBEL, Managing Director, Health and Public Service, Accenture;
  • Gertrud INGESTAD, Director-General, DG Informatics, European Commission; Jury Chair, case studies 2017, European Centre for Government Transformation.

Each team presented then its project and recommendations made to solve the case study they were in charge of during six months. A panel discussion, involving Team Milan, Team Amsterdam and Team Paris, followed to address current public challenges cities face nowadays.

Deputy Mayor of Paris City Council, M. Hermano SANCHES-RUIVO awarded Team Paris the winning prize

Finally, the Deputy Mayor of Paris City Council, M. Hermano SANCHES-RUIVO awarded Team Paris the winning prize and thanked all students for their hard work.