The first of these is linked to public entrepreneurship, which has the power to break down entrenched silos,
encourage collaboration across traditional boundaries, retool the machinery of government, stimulate economic
outcomes by catalysing the private sector to create lasting value, and multiply the value of the investments
Government makes in its efforts to accelerate national development.
Essentially, the public entrepreneurship model empowers individuals to work together to develop solutions. It
moves public servants away from bureaucratic, regimented, robotic responses to the delivery of services even as it
makes room for creativity, efficiency and flexibility, all while maintaining the operational integrity of Government.
Applied correctly, it motivates public service providers to view citizens both as clients and as shareholders in a
national enterprise whose core mission is to create sustained and sustainable value.
But models of public entrepreneurship might not only improve the dispositions of public servants and the efficiency
of public service delivery, but also have a knock-on effect on the private sector, providing new opportunities for
business creation and enterprise development. Inefficient, unresponsive, complex Government systems are a huge
drag on economic activity and social innovation. A strong, creative, well-managed, empowered public service is a
stimulus to private sector growth, foreign investment flows, and sustainable national development.
Yet, the current structures and processes of most Governments in the Caribbean are not configured to deliver on
this compelling promise. If Governments fail to unlock the potential of new technologies and digital frameworks to
reconfigure their operational cultures, they will continue to see revenues shrink and costs balloon as they deliver
substandard services to frustrated citizens, businesses and foreign investors who will eventually seek other avenues
through which to attain real value.
This points to the second area of significance for Belize in terms of revolutionary E-Government services, linked to
the notion of “mission productivity”, or what is known as “mission leadership”. This approach uses broad,
integrated thinking to prioritise and manage Government initiatives. In the Caribbean context, mission productivity
is really about restructuring and repurposing the way in which the ministerial style of government functions in
modern economies and societies driven by technological innovation. Simply put, best-in-class E-Government
integration is not achievable without rethinking and restructuring how Cabinet manages the affairs of state.
In reality, the prevailing Cabinet approach was designed for an “analogue” world where ministerial and
departmental silos were the order of the day and Governments were not well attuned to the benefits of crossfunctional internal collaboration. Indeed, Caribbean public sectors were originally crafted to maintain high levels of
secrecy and control for colonial masters who lived continents away. Speed, efficiency, collaboration, and
innovation in decision-making were not values to be encouraged. In some sense, many ministries, departments
and statutory corporations today still function like isolated, self-sufficient fiefdoms untouched by events outside
their mandate.
Yet, the world in 2013 is different from what existed when most Caribbean countries gained independence in the
1960s and 1970s. Global financial systems designed in a post-colonial post-war era are in freefall. Health care and
educational sectors are out of alignment, national insurance schemes are in danger of failing, even the delivery
systems for traditional public goods like water, electricity, telecommunications, broadcasting, transportation, and
sanitation services have become obsolete (Babb 2010, 2012, 2013; ACB Knowledge Consultants, 2005, 2006).
As the 21st century continues to unfold, it is becoming more and, more clear that the structures built by earlier
generations to manage the affairs of state are, largely, in tatters. As the old models fail it is imperative that
developing countries design new ones that allow them to unleash the full potential of their citizens to create
lifelong value. Such a reconfiguration, if it is to be successful, has to begin at the Cabinet level with the mission
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