Parallel Session 3B tackled challenges associated with developing skills and competencies of civil servants to address welfare, information-sharing, and socio-cultural needs of the citizens they serve. Experiences from Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia were particularly discussed. Professor Jungin Kim of the Department of Public Administration, University of Suwon, Korea, chaired the session.

For his presentation, Prof. Dongwook Kim posed the question on whether big data can help governments improve policy design and service delivery. To illustrate, he shared good practices based on Big Data analysis, such as SMS alarm services for child immunization, a real-time parking lot information service, people-customized library, and experiences from Namyangju City. He highlighted that to utilize big data efficiently for policy-making, it is important to have good leadership, vision and policy plan. Another is having collaborative governance – between central and local government, public and private sectors and share data. Furthermore, the public sector should employ people with big data skills and expertise, which can be utilized for data collection and sharing and be able to handle information, knowing the implications of data privacy and security.
 
Dr. Kim’s presentation was supplemented by his co-author, Dr. Hyun Deok Choi, who is also the Deputy Mayor of the City of Namyangju. He elaborated on the adjustment of public transport routes, job matching and health care services and indexing in the local government unit.
 
Ms. Rachman of Indonesia’s National Institute for Public Administration highlighted the richness of diversity of her country in terms of ethnicity, religious affiliation and culture. In particular, she cited discrimination in the provision of public services, particularly in healthcare, education and administrative services. To address this, she raised that there should be a standard of social-cultural competency, apart from the technical and managerial aspects. She also proposed that public sector agencies should assess, observe and develop approaches for social-cultural competency, which encompasses the skills, knowledge and attitude of service providers. However, she cited some challenges – from human resources, budget, willingness of the organization leader, commitment, and monitoring and evaluation – which need to be overcome to be able to really develop effective social-cultural competency.
 
In the last presentation of the session, perception and experience of civil servants on their job performance culture was centerpiece of the study of Mr. Giang Vinh Hoang of the National Academy of Public Administration of Vietnam. Through Grounded Theory (GT) approach, and use of open, axial and selective coding techniques, Mr. Hoang found out that civil servants’ job performance culture revolve around inertness, centralization of authority, responsiveness, and manipulation. He emphasized that understanding these factors can help managers to understand the situation and develop solutions and reforms – particularly by encouraging good factors and discouraging bad ones. 

​Presentations in Parallel Session 3A dealt with dynamic political landscapes at the micro-level (e.g., student elections) and at the national level (e.g., ageing societies, domestic abuse, and political turbulence), all of which require public administration reforms. Professor Naomi Aoki of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, chaired the session. Professor Akio Kamiko of Ritsumeikan University, Japan; Dr. Pairote Pathranarakul and his colleagues from the National Institute of Development Administration, Thailand; Mr. Jonald F. Carrera of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, Philippines; and Mr. Arius Lauren Raposas of EROPA Secretariat, delivered their presentations in this session.

Prof. Akio Kamiko's presentation discussed the Japan’s issue on ageing of population and the reduction of the number of municipalities in from over 3,000 to a little more than 1,700 in just a dozen of years. This means that the scale of democracy was pushed up. However, in rural areas where population reduction is especially conspicuous, this reduction in number of municipalities may not have led to the increased size of democracy in the longer term.

Meanwhile, Dr. Pairote Pathranarakul and his colleagues introduced the audience to the new nationwide development model called “Thailand 4.0.” This model aimed to ensure sustainability and global competitiveness of the country. The essential elements of this agenda are focused on a “sustainable growth and development” with long-term vision on security, prosperity, and sustainability. Pairote, et al indicated that, to become successful with this agenda of Thailand 4.0 and to comply with the UN’s SDGs of the new millennium, there are certain forms and patterns of governance that the Thai government needs to comply with.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jonald Carrera's study determined the current situation of violence against women cases (VAWC) in the City of San Fernando, La Union using qualitative-quantitative research design. Findings showed that current situation of VAWC in the City of San Fernando includes cases fall both in economic and physical abuse. The researcher concluded that victims were deprived of financial support due to unwarranted circumstances; provisions of VAWC law are given full attention for stricter compliance; and the intervention program gives emphasis on the Commission’s mandate in addressing the needs of the victims.

Finally, Mr. Arius Raposas' study, mainly a commentary on student elections in the University of the Philippines, analyzed how Filipino democracy works in the national or the local scale through understanding student politics. The findings of the research observed that key factors other than politics (such as culture and social media) influence leadership formation in schools, colleges, and universities.

​Building a workforce of public servants that is ready to take on today's complex challenges is the focus of presentations in Parallel Session 2B. In particular, they reviewed civil service reforms undertaken by the governments of the Philippines and Hong Kong SAR, and strategies for enhancing social capital for provision of public services for the elderly. Professor M. Jae Moon of Yonsei University, Korea, chaired the session. Ms. Soon Eun Kim of Seoul National University, Korea; Ms. Nimfa S. Villaroman of the City Government of Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines; and Dr. Peter K.W. Fong of the Hong Kong Public Administration Association, served as presenters.

​In his study, "Healthy Aging and Social Capital: An Analysis of the Effect of Social Capital Using Multi-level Modeling," Prof. Kim used multi-level analysis to measure the effect of local-level social capital on individual health. The study validated previous relevant literatures on understanding individual-level social capital and local-level social capital on the health of the ageing population. In conclusion, the study reiterated that it is necessary to support elderly individual to accumulate social capital for the health of the elderly.

​Meanwhile, Ms. Nimfa Villaroman analyzed the performance of the employees in three (3) city local government units in Nueva Ecija in the delivery of basic services using the Strategic Performance Management System framework. Specifically, the study gauged performance in the fields of health, social welfare, infrastructure, agriculture and environment. The study also identified problems encountered by the employees in the delivery of these services. Villaroman suggested that future studies on the performance of employees from the national agencies using the SPMS are expected to identify the flaws of the system.

​Finally, in the paper, "A Review of the Civil Service Reform in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Lessons for Asian Public Policymakers," Dr. Peter Fong analyzed the rationales, objectives, principles, processes, and initiatives of the civil service reform undertaken by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Government. The paper evaluated issues, changes, outcomes, goal achievements, and implications to the public service. It concluded with lessons learned form the Hong Kong experience and recommendations of critical success factors for other Asian public policy makers who wish to launch new reforms to improve civil service productivities in their own political and administrative jurisdictions.

​This parallel session reverts to sociocultural norms, local government budgeting, and the judiciary as mechanisms for initiating public sector reforms. Professor Daeyong Choi, Visiting Professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Korea, chaired the said session. It features presentations of scholars from Korea and the Philippines, each country having its own experience of successes and challenges in the aforementioned fields. Speakers were: Professor Soonhee Kim, also from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Korea; Mr. Alder Delloro, doctorate student at the National College of Public Administration and Governance, Philippines; and Ms. Cynthia Grace Valdez from Quirino State University, Philippines.

Professor Soonhee Kim examined the experience of local governments in South Korea in their implementation of participatory budgeting, specifically its impacts on the trust between citizens and the government. The findings of the study indicate that there is a positive association between participants’ knowledge of the budget and the enhancement of mutual trust between the citizens and government officials. She concluded that participatory budget is a valuable venue to engage the involvement of citizens in the policy making process.

Ms. Cynthia Grace Tomas-Valdez presented the findings of their study on the indigenous farming practices of the Bugkalots, an indigenous group in Northern Philippines. The Bugkalots’ farming practices play a vital role in keeping their community together and in the shaping of the traditional laws followed in their villages. The Bugkalots’ traditional laws are kept mostly pertain to the use and protection of their natural resources.

The study of Mr. Alder Delloro, a practicing lawyer, looks into the role of the judiciary in the promotion of climate change justice in the Philippines. Mr. Delloro examines how climate change litigation in the Philippines has been shaping through the judiciary’s jurisprudential pronouncements and promulgation of landmark cases involving environmental laws.