QIPF organizes workshop on public sector optimization reforms in OECD countries

Qatar Institute for Public Finance (QIPF), a joint venture among the Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Ministry of Finance, is organizing a workshop entitled ‘Using Performance Information for Public Sector Budgeting and Management: Challenges, Lessons and Opportunities’, in Doha, on September 27-28, 2016. The two-day workshop aims at sharing experiences of OECD countries that have engaged in public sector modernization reforms.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Abdulaziz Al Horr, CEO of QFBA, said:

“Qatar has, over the years, engaged in a series of reforms that aim to modernize its public sector with a focus on increasing the efficiency of public services and optimizing the sector’s value creation, as part of the country’s National Development Strategy 2011-2016. QIPF’s upcoming workshop is set to bring into light important insights regarding Qatar and other OECD countries’ experiences in the process, while discussing the invaluable role that the systematic collection and analysis of information plays in making judgments about the performance of public policies and programs as well as the relevance of their outcomes.”

During the workshop, speakers will discuss the prerequisites of such reforms, such as complete, reliable, and timely financial and operational information, clear guidance and guidelines for implementing departments, as well as the challenges associated with defining performance objectives and indicators. The speakers will also explain how their countries have led the change, and managed to incorporate performance information in the budgeting, planning, and accountability processes.

On the first day, the workshop will be introduced by a representative from the Ministry of Finance and Mr. Jón R. Blöndal, OECD’s Head of Budgeting and Public Expenditures.

OECD’s Budgeting and Public Expenditure Senior Policy Analyst Ms. Delphine Moretti, along with Mr. Blöndal, will then hold a session about the main concepts associated with performance evaluation in the public sector, before former Director General for Budget and Public Finances of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance Mr. Gerhard Steger discusses Austria’s far-reaching, comprehensive budget reform packages in 2007 and 2009, as well as how, in Austria, performance objectives and indicators are defined.

The workshop’s second day will host a session about using policy to build a culture of results, where Mr. Chris Boughton, a Senior Policy Analyst in the Government of Canada’s Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Program Performance and Evaluation Division, will outline Canada’s experiences in developing and implementing these policies.

Mr. Boughton will also hold a session discussing how the Government of Canada supports and strengthens departmental performance measurement and evaluation through monitoring, guidance, and capacity building.

Mr. Blöndal and Ms. Moretti will conclude QIPF’s workshop with a session titled ‘Powering the Performance System: Reporting and Communicating on Performance’. The session will present the basics of good and transparent reporting on performance, as well as discuss a number of recent experiences for providing user-friendly and decision-making oriented performance data, such as year-end reports combining financial and non-financial information, or performance websites.