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public services

Feb 08, 2019

Government departments are organized vertically, but solving big societal challenges requires horizontal collaboration. Three case studies show it can be done.

February 8, 2019

When the Mowat Centre recently asked public servants to identify the greatest challenges they face, most did not name big societal challenges like homelessness and climate change. Rather, the overwhelming majority pointed to the difficulties associated with working “horizontally”: that is, across departmental boundaries within government. Read More

Jan 22, 2019

The horizontal collaboration toolkit

January 22, 2019

In an era when the most significant challenges facing many governments, such as climate change and homelessness, require coordinated responses from multiple departments, the ability to coordinate across organizational boundaries is critical to success. Read More

Dec 19, 2018

Three ways public servants can break down silos and collaborate horizontally

December 19, 2018

Governments around the world are struggling to solve urgent problems like homelessness and climate change. While the size and complexity of these problems makes them hard to tackle, the fact that they also cut across traditional organisational boundaries further enhances the challenge. Read More

Dec 11, 2018

Abandoning Silos: Key Takeaways

December 11, 2018

The big and increasingly complex problems faced by governments around the world do not fit neatly into the internal structures by which governments have divided and organized themselves. As a result, many governments are struggling to respond effectively.
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Dec 11, 2018

Abandoning Silos

December 11, 2018

How innovative governments are collaborating horizontally to solve complex problems

The complex challenges that governments at all levels are facing today cut across long-standing and well-defined government boundaries and organizational structures. Solving these problems therefore requires a horizontal approach. This report looks at how such an approach can be successfully implemented. Read More

Nov 29, 2017

Technology will make government as we know it obsolete – and that’s a good thing

November 29, 2017

Tech advances should prompt government to radically increase efficiency and effectiveness of programs and services. Read More

Mar 29, 2017

What do Netflix movie recommendations have in common with how government is making big decisions?

March 29, 2017

As people share more and more information online, algorithms are increasingly used by public and private institutions to leverage that information and quickly analyze it with the aim of providing more efficient and optimal decision-making. Read More

Aug 08, 2016

Creating a High-Performing Canadian Civil Service against a Backdrop of Disruptive Change

August 8, 2016

The latest from Mowat in our ongoing Shifting Gears research partnership with KPMG, this paper takes a hard look at Canada’s federal civil service. Read More

Jul 25, 2016

Canada Needs a What Works Centre. Here’s How We Can Build It.

July 25, 2016

Growing demand for services, reduced fiscal capacity and increased public scrutiny of government spending have led to a spike in the demand for systematic, rigorous evidence in policymaking. Read More

Mar 30, 2016

How can delivery units work in a federation like Canada?

March 30, 2016

The federal government is embarking on an ambitious new mandate with over 300 commitments flowing from its election platform and Ministerial mandate letters. Read More