Changes in structures include:
Shifts towards becoming more:
1. Internationally integrated: To ensure strategic alignment in an increasingly complex and fluid
global economic environment, governments may need to pursue structures that include: • activeintegrationwithinternationalpartners,or
• increasedcooperationwithinternationalinstitutions.
For example, as cyber threats are quick to go global, governments will need to work together to address emerging cyber security threats.This includes establishing formal communications channels that enable quick and clear collaboration, particularly during a crisis.151
2. Highly integrated: There will be a need for governments to better establish and implement more highly integrated policy arrangements within and across relevant policy domains.
For example, as many resource stress issues are interrelated (such as the usage of water for mining, food and energy production) or in some cases conflicting (such as the use of land for food agriculture versus bio-fuel production), governments may need to institute multi-disciplined, multi- sector and multi-jurisdictional arrangements.
3. Locally empowered: While much of the world lives in cities, local governments frequently lack the funds and authority to meet their responsibilities. National and other sub-national levels of government will need to work with local authorities and other partners to disentangle roles and responsibilities to better position cities to properly address key challenges in their jurisdiction.
For example, local governments in cities such as Rotterdam are best placed to implement programs that minimize and mitigate potentially serious climate change impacts that may not apply to national governments on a whole.
4. Networked: Meaningful collaboration with citizens, other levels of government, neighboring regions and the private and non-profit sectors is essential to mobilizing the necessary knowledge, capital and resources required to sustain key areas of government service delivery.
For example, various government departments and third parties will need to work together to meet rising demands for integrated delivery in human and social services such as income security, employment assistance, social housing, aged care and child welfare.
5. Flexible and adaptive: Failure and change are essential to innovation, but it is important to ‘fail fast’, learn lessons quickly and move on. Governments will need to be flexible and adaptive in their planning to ensure they can facilitate greater risk taking and be responsive to unanticipated situations, and learn from other jurisdictions.
For example, governments can build flexibility into their structures by taking advantage of virtual teams and matrix approaches (rather than static and hierarchical organizations) to quickly marshal resources to address specific challenges, particularly those that are more short-term in nature.