Public Service Excellence in the 21st Century

This book combines academic wisdom and practitioners' insights to critically examine the challenges faced by civil service systems in the 21st Century. Moreover, the book evaluates what types of civil servants are needed to tackle critical issues such as rapidly ageing populations, increased urbanisation, environmental degradation, swift technological advancement, and globalisation of the market place in the social and economic realm of the 21st Century. 

Its topics range from civil service development in post-Soviet countries indicating that peer-to-peer learning is the way forward, to civil service reforms in China, Japan, and Korea in their quest to satisfy their citizens demands and expectations in the 21st Century. Other topics span across regional analyses by focusing on current dominant trends and challenges confronting administrative and civil service systems, vis-à-vis technology, innovation and 'big data', and their disruptive effects on society and government. 

This book will be of interest to both academics and practitioners, and would-be builders of the 21st Century world.

Alikhan Baimenov has served as Head of the Executive Office of the President, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, Chairman of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs, and Minister of Labour and Social Protection. He has also been a member of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. He has overseen two waves of civil service reform in Kazakhstan. He is currently the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Astana Civil Service Hub.
Panos Liverakos  has served as Technical Advisor for several UNDP and EU Projects for the past fifteen years, dealing with public administration and civil service reform, change management and governance assessments, among many other issues. He is currently technical advisor for the Astana Civil Service Hub and the United Nations Development Programme in Kazakhstan.