Theme: “Inclusive Governance in the New Development Era: System Transformation, Innovations, and Future-Ready Governments”
Venue: Hanoi, Viet Nam
Date: October 5-7, 2026
Rationale and Significance
The world is entering an unprecedented period of profound transformation, in which the traditional foundations of public governance, economic growth, and social organization are being fundamentally reshaped by the simultaneous impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, climate change, strategic competition among nations, supply chain disruptions, population ageing, labour mobility, and growing geopolitical uncertainties. In this context, national governance capacity can no longer be assessed primarily through administrative control or the maintenance of stability. Rather, it increasingly depends on a government's ability to learn, adapt, anticipate change, and enable development in a highly dynamic environment.
Recent international research and development experience indicate that conventional governance systems—largely designed for relatively stable conditions—are revealing widening capability gaps in addressing the demands of an era characterized by rapid change, non-linearity, and complexity. According to recent analyses by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Asia-Pacific region, governments today must transition from reactive, fragmented, and control-oriented governance models toward more dynamic forms of governance that are anticipatory, adaptive, and responsive, leveraging data, artificial intelligence, cross-sector collaboration, and multi-stakeholder participation.
For Viet Nam, this imperative has become particularly urgent as the country enters a new stage of development with the aspiration of becoming a high-income developed nation by 2045, in line with the vision set forth by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. Ongoing reforms—including public-sector restructuring, the establishment of a two-tier local government system, enhanced decentralization and delegation of authority, national digital transformation, civil service reform, and the development of the digital economy—require profound changes in governance thinking, institutional arrangements, operational models, and implementation capacity across the state apparatus.
Current experience suggests that many of today’s most critical bottlenecks lie not only in institutions or resources, but also in management mindsets and the capacity to translate policy directions into effective action. Governance reform is fundamentally a reform of thinking; if mindsets remain unchanged, they may themselves become barriers to reform. Against this backdrop, the objective of building a modern public governance system extends beyond “better administration” toward the creation of a “learning state” that is capable of anticipating and identifying emerging challenges, adapting rapidly to change, operating on the basis of data and knowledge, generating public value, mobilizing societal participation, and continuously strengthening the dynamic capabilities of government institutions.
This is also a central requirement for the ongoing reform of Viet Nam’s public service system: shifting from administrative management to developmental governance; from input-based management to results- and public-value-oriented governance; from experience-based decision-making to data-driven learning; and from closed administrative structures to open, interconnected, multi-actor, and highly adaptive governance systems.
Against this backdrop, the organization of the 2026 Annual International Forum on Public Governance, under the theme “Inclusive Governance in a New Development Era: Systems Transformation, Innovation, and Future-Ready Government,” carries significant theoretical, policy, and practical relevance.
The Forum will serve not only as an international academic platform for discussing contemporary governance trends, but also as a high-level policy dialogue on emerging challenges in national and local governance. It will provide opportunities to exchange international experiences and innovative models relating to digital government, adaptive governance, anticipatory governance, the application of AI in the public sector, and the development of dynamic capabilities within government institutions. The Forum will further examine the evolving requirements for Viet Nam’s public service system in the context of public-sector restructuring and the establishment of a two-tier local government model; explore new directions for public-sector education and capacity development; and foster the growth of a knowledge and innovation ecosystem within the public sector.
At the same time, the Forum will contribute to reaffirming the role of the Academy of Public Administration and Governance (APAG) under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics as a leading institution in public governance research, education, policy advisory services, and international knowledge exchange. It will also enhance Viet Nam’s academic and international standing in the field of public governance; promote the development of international cooperation networks on public governance, local governance, and public-sector leadership development; and contribute directly to the implementation of the Party’s strategic resolutions on growth model transformation, science and technology development, innovation, digital transformation, and the building of a modern, professional, accountable, dynamic, and effective public service system.
Recent international research and development experience indicate that conventional governance systems—largely designed for relatively stable conditions—are revealing widening capability gaps in addressing the demands of an era characterized by rapid change, non-linearity, and complexity. According to recent analyses by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Asia-Pacific region, governments today must transition from reactive, fragmented, and control-oriented governance models toward more dynamic forms of governance that are anticipatory, adaptive, and responsive, leveraging data, artificial intelligence, cross-sector collaboration, and multi-stakeholder participation.
For Viet Nam, this imperative has become particularly urgent as the country enters a new stage of development with the aspiration of becoming a high-income developed nation by 2045, in line with the vision set forth by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. Ongoing reforms—including public-sector restructuring, the establishment of a two-tier local government system, enhanced decentralization and delegation of authority, national digital transformation, civil service reform, and the development of the digital economy—require profound changes in governance thinking, institutional arrangements, operational models, and implementation capacity across the state apparatus.
Current experience suggests that many of today’s most critical bottlenecks lie not only in institutions or resources, but also in management mindsets and the capacity to translate policy directions into effective action. Governance reform is fundamentally a reform of thinking; if mindsets remain unchanged, they may themselves become barriers to reform. Against this backdrop, the objective of building a modern public governance system extends beyond “better administration” toward the creation of a “learning state” that is capable of anticipating and identifying emerging challenges, adapting rapidly to change, operating on the basis of data and knowledge, generating public value, mobilizing societal participation, and continuously strengthening the dynamic capabilities of government institutions.
This is also a central requirement for the ongoing reform of Viet Nam’s public service system: shifting from administrative management to developmental governance; from input-based management to results- and public-value-oriented governance; from experience-based decision-making to data-driven learning; and from closed administrative structures to open, interconnected, multi-actor, and highly adaptive governance systems.
Against this backdrop, the organization of the 2026 Annual International Forum on Public Governance, under the theme “Inclusive Governance in a New Development Era: Systems Transformation, Innovation, and Future-Ready Government,” carries significant theoretical, policy, and practical relevance.
The Forum will serve not only as an international academic platform for discussing contemporary governance trends, but also as a high-level policy dialogue on emerging challenges in national and local governance. It will provide opportunities to exchange international experiences and innovative models relating to digital government, adaptive governance, anticipatory governance, the application of AI in the public sector, and the development of dynamic capabilities within government institutions. The Forum will further examine the evolving requirements for Viet Nam’s public service system in the context of public-sector restructuring and the establishment of a two-tier local government model; explore new directions for public-sector education and capacity development; and foster the growth of a knowledge and innovation ecosystem within the public sector.
At the same time, the Forum will contribute to reaffirming the role of the Academy of Public Administration and Governance (APAG) under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics as a leading institution in public governance research, education, policy advisory services, and international knowledge exchange. It will also enhance Viet Nam’s academic and international standing in the field of public governance; promote the development of international cooperation networks on public governance, local governance, and public-sector leadership development; and contribute directly to the implementation of the Party’s strategic resolutions on growth model transformation, science and technology development, innovation, digital transformation, and the building of a modern, professional, accountable, dynamic, and effective public service system.
Sub-themes
Submission Guidelines
Paper Presenters are requested to adhere to the following guidelines:
- The paper must be relevant to the theme and/or sub-themes of the conference.
- The paper must be written and presented in English.
- A 300-word abstract, together with the biographical sketch of not more than 100 words of the paper presenter/s, must be submitted on or before the deadline.
- Submissions should include the following: (1) author(s) name, title, institutional affiliation, and address; (2) contact information (email and phone); (3) paper title and conference sub-theme; and (4) abstract including references
- All submissions shall undergo a peer review process.
- The authors of the accepted abstracts will be notified by the organizing committee via email. Once notified, paper presenters are requested to submit the full paper and PowerPoint presentation on or before the set deadline. There should be a cover page with the following information: title of the paper, theme/sub-theme, institution or agency, country, and contact details. Further, full papers should be between 6,000 to 8,000 words following the APA 7th edition citation style.
- Presenters are requested to speak for fifteen (15) minutes to be followed by a 5-minute open forum for each presentation.
- Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings and may later on be considered for publication in indexed journals.
- All submissions should be directed to the EROPA organizing committee via email at [email protected] with subject: 2026 Public Governance Forum: [Sub-theme No.]_[Surname].
Important Dates
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Registration Fees
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More details to follow.
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