The impact of the project

Direct impact of the project for the economy and society

The main socio-economic contribution of the project shall be two-fold:

1. Clearly defined optimal governance model of Slovenian administration and
2. A series of clear and ranked activities (by means of an original index) for a systematic transition from the existing to the optimal governance model. At the same time, the project shall have a series of additional social and economic effects (empirical results that represent a novelty in the wider area of the EU and globally, greater utilisation rate of budgetary resources, overview of the state of public administration from the aspects of efficiency and effectiveness). Besides the above, the project represents an important support instrument for the framework 2015-2020 Slovenian Public Administration Development Strategy, since based on the scientific approach it supports achieving the target conditions of the strategy regarding (Ministry of Public Administration, 2015):
   • rational public administration organisation,
   • project management in public administration,
   • human resources management,
   • strengthening the competences of public employees,
   • areas of public procurement,
   • managing tangible assets,
   • situations in the area of improvement of legislation,
   • reducing the legislative burdens and integration of key stakeholders,
   • modernisation of administrative procedural law,
   • responsible, open and transparent operation of public administration,
   • zero tolerance for breaches of integrity in the public sector,
   • quality management system in public administration,
   • information technology implementation.

An especially big challenge to the implementation of the above strategy and related ones (i.e. Strategy Europe 2020) is its exceptional extensiveness and the related need for additional support with a systematic and clear order of the required measures (Kovač and Jukić, 2016).

Because the project will link the activities of reforming Slovenian public administration systematically and in an order that enables implementation of modern governance models, it will be possible to achieve the target conditions of the strategies faster, with less resources, and the socio-economic effects of the projects will also be more quickly detectable by citizens and institutions from the public and private sector.

Moreover, the project supports efficiency, effectiveness and innovation, all integral parts of the EU’s development strategy Europe 2020, which sees these elements as important drivers of economic growth and social wellbeing.

Indirect impact of the project for society

The global financial crisis and its negative influence on the global economy have highlighted the importance of governance model application, which fosters an effective and efficient use of resources, consequently leading to citizen, consumer and investor confidence (WEF, 2015). At the same time, we must acknowledge that the public governance improvements are especially valuable since public administrations have to tackle radical challenges, which are beginning to show, but will be even more prominent in the long term.

Emerging challenges include aging society, climate change and the rise in long-term health conditions (Bommert, 2010). High potentials for public sector innovations exists both within persistent and emerging challenges, as the Slovenian public administration and many others throughout Europe have not yet found suitable answers within any of these categories (Bommert, 2010). From the perspective of responsible national institutions, one can see the value added of the project in the presented model, supplemented with an Index of prioritised governance factors, enabling concrete innovative improvements in the public organisations’ long-term activities.

Especially as regards democratic, participatory models, enabling holistic addressing of emerging challenges, consequently leading to better representation of public value and the much desired economic and social wellbeing. Not to forget, the project also proposes modern models of governance, which enforce mechanisms of transparency and accountability. Enforcing such mechanisms indirectly reduces corruption, a problematic phenomena in Slovenia and several CEE countries (Corruption Perceptions Index 2014).

Consequently, the funding of innovative projects for public wellbeing (instead of personal interests) and recruiting most creative human resources will be fostered indirectly by the project.  In line with this, the public sector will also be able to induce two positive effects, one on the performance of private firms and one on the improved services offered by the public sector itself.