Publications & Documents

This working paper discusses strategic foresight initiatives and methodologies that support decision making and process design. It highlights case studies, international benchmarks, and best practices, as well as methodological recommendations and options for promoting the adoption and use of strategic foresight in government. The paper has four sections, each centred on a critical action to improve decision making through strategic foresight: (i) framing strategic foresight, (ii) building its fundamental components in governments, (iii) fine-tuning foresight interventions to specific contexts, and (iv) undertaking concrete activities to solve specific policy challenges. Given its exploratory nature, this working paper and its proposals should be seen as contributing to ongoing debates about the use of strategic foresight for decision making in government. The ultimate purpose of this paper is to help governments become more proactive and prospective.

This report explores how governments in Latin America and the Caribbean can use digital technology and data to foster responsiveness, resilience and proactiveness in the public sector. This report looks at governance frameworks, digital government capabilities, data-driven public sector, public service design and delivery, and digital innovation in the public sector. It identifies trends, challenges, strengths, and opportunities for cross-border collaboration and provides policy recommendations to achieve an efficient and sustainable digital transformation of governments across the region.

Public procurement accounts for 13% of GDP in OECD countries. Pressures on public spending – as well as the need for greater accountability, better monitoring of public policies, and more effective risk management – have made it increasingly important to measure the performance of public procurement. However, many countries still have not established a formal performance management system with key performance indicators. This paper provides a comprehensive, ready-to-use performance measurement framework for the consistent assessment of procurement processes. The framework should also support data-based policy- and decision making in public procurement.

This report analyses Egypt’s legal and policy framework and takes stock of the Egyptian Government’s efforts to co-ordinate child justice services and make the justice system in Egypt more child-friendly. It includes an analysis of specific design and delivery mechanisms of justice and support services based on the legal needs of children and identifies the roles, responsibilities and co-operation opportunities for relevant governmental stakeholders involved in child-friendly justice. The review considers a range of essential components of a child-friendly justice system in all its forms – criminal, civil and administrative justice. It highlights the results achieved so far and provides tailored policy recommendations to support Egypt in better meeting the justice needs of children, in line with international standards and treaties.

The Toolkit for Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality 2023 is a practical resource to help governments, parliaments and judiciaries implement the OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life. It contains self-assessment tools to guide governments and other decision-making institutions in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their policies, mechanisms, and frameworks for gender equality, and in setting priorities for improvement. The Toolkit highlights a range of possible actions to take and pitfalls to avoid in implementing the various provisions of the Recommendation. A revision of the 2018 online Toolkit on Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality, it introduces concepts such as intersectionality and the future of work; includes expanded areas such as budgeting, public procurement and infrastructure; and provides the latest lessons and good practices from OECD countries.

This paper examines the strategies and practices of Ireland’s Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and how the Irish procurement system’s effectiveness is currently measured. It then applies the OECD framework for measuring public sector productivity to some of the centralised procurement activity in Ireland to better understand effectiveness drivers within procurement processes.

Governments are increasingly utilising research and innovation (R&I) policy to foster economic and societal change. Yet, the empirical correlation between these policies and socio-technical transformations remains under-explored. The report investigates this relationship by comparing the Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) of Austria, Finland and Sweden, initiated under the NextGenerationEU framework post Covid-19. The report finds significant disparities in the content, process and transformative value of the RRPs among these countries. The differences in the content of the national RRPs, and the ability and willingness to seize the opportunity presented by the RRPs to drive transformation, are explained by existing national policy contexts and frameworks. Surprisingly, the role of R&I policy in the RRPs is less important than expected, despite its emphasised importance in literature and political rhetoric. The report further identifies implications for a transformative innovation policy as well as areas for further research.