European Center for Government Transformation Award Ceremony

On 14 June 2016 the participating students of the European Center for Government Transformation project, in association with the Lisbon Council and Accenture consulting, travelled to the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union for the final award ceremony of this project entitled The Innovation Imperative: Public-Sector Administration in the Digital Age

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.

In attendence was each student from the three teams: Team Spain, composed of Liam FARROW (ES,UK), Nathalie SADOWSKI (FR/PL), Cecilia SERRANO (ES) and Sarah MAZARI (FR), worked on innovation in open data in the Spanish economy; Team Netherlands, composed of Lison RABUEL (FR), Louis NAVE (FR), Pietro BERTAGGIA (IT) and Althea CENCIARELLI (IT), focused on improving conditions and funding opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises in the Northern Netherlands; and Team Austria, composed of Nadim ABILLAMA (FR, LB), Aleksandar LATINOV (BG), Christiane SEIDEL (DE) and Linda STRAZDINA (LV), focused on improving business to business invoicing systems for the federal ministry of finance in Vienna. 

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.  Professor Olivier COSTA preceeded him and thanked all external stakeholders for their consistent committment to the project and continued support of the students. Mrs Alexandra PAUL, EU Associate Manager for Accenture, spoke of the positive few months she had had working with the students and encouraged them to remain committed to their work in public administration reform. Mr Robert MADELIN, Senior Adviser for Innovation in the European Political Strategy Centre, European Commission (and jury chair, case studies 2016 for ECGT), spoke of the value and importance of the project in facing the challenges of 21st century public administration. Finally, the keynote address was offered by Mr Maarten CAMPS, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Government of the Netherlands, and representative of the Rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Secretary CAMPS spoke of the exciting careers ahead of the students given their experience in the project and thanked all participants. 

Finally he awarded team Netherlands the winning prize and thanked all students for their hard work.