SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 15 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The General Directorate of Organic Coordination and Strategic Projects within the Government of the Canary Islands has established a working group to devise the Public Policy Evaluation Plan for the Canary Islands (EPCAN).
The inaugural meeting of this group took place on Tuesday and was overseen by David Pérez-Dionis, the general director of Organic Coordination and Strategic Projects. The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, attended the session, highlighting the importance of “ongoing assessment of policies to ascertain whether we are adhering to our roadmap and if we are truly prioritising the citizen at the heart of the public system.”
This initiative seeks to foster a culture of evaluating public policies across various governmental sectors.
Specifically, it represents the initial move towards developing a new management framework in public administration that is citizen-focused, transparent, agile, adaptable, and innovative, with the objective of enhancing public trust in institutions while fostering accountability, effectiveness, and efficiency in governmental actions, underpinned by scientific evidence, as stated in a government release.
The initial working meeting on Tuesday at the government headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife involved the participation of Dulce María Gutiérrez, the general director of Disability, Pino de León, the director of the Canarian Institute of Public Administration (ICAP), and Sergio Alonso from the Canarian Institute of Statistics (ISTAC).
PARTICIPATORY CHARACTER
Over the upcoming months, various initiatives will be undertaken to put the EPCAN Plan into action.
A key initial step is the formation of the working group that commenced operations on Tuesday, which will include representatives from Canarian public universities as well as various departments responsible for evaluations, such as ISTAC and ICAP, aiming to provide training to public employees on this subject.
A representative from the COTEC Foundation for Innovation has also been invited to join this working group.
The establishment of this working group reflects the participatory approach intended for the Evaluation Plan.
It will examine and discuss the draft implementation and development of the EPCAN Plan, which outlines the general principles that will guide priority settings for analysis, organisation, governance, dissemination, communication, collaboration with other entities, and work methodologies.
Following the input from the working group, the finalised plan will be presented to the Government Council for approval and to initiate the first actions towards its implementation.
In line with this, efforts will begin on a pilot basis with one of the governmental departments, specifically in the area of Social Welfare.
The evaluation of the conducted public policies, which will be scrutinised by the working group, will be invaluable for shaping the guidelines and methodologies for the future expansion of the Evaluation Plan across other sectors and departments of the Executive.
In addition, innovation has been integrated as a novel component that can greatly enhance the evaluation process.
Firstly, there will be an emphasis on employing new technologies in evaluation processes, such as artificial intelligence, process automation, and advanced analytics, based on an adaptive methodology that allows for learning throughout their development and improving their operation and effectiveness.
Secondly, scientific evidence will be considered not only in relation to decision-making in the formulation of public policies but will also be regarded as a critical instrument for evaluation.
In a subsequent phase, all actions and objectives outlined in the Plan will be executed, ultimately leading to the establishment of a comprehensive public policy evaluation system, with coordination fostered with each government sector to incorporate evaluations of those policies deemed priorities by citizens.
