PARALLEL SESSION 1A: PUBLIC SECTOR TRANSFORMATIONS

Chaired by Dr. Min Park, Dean of Administration at George Mason University, Korea, this Parallel Session tackled public sector innovations that help improve capacities of education and disaster management institutions. The presenters for this session are: Secretary Alice Yuen Chun Te, Hong Kong Public Administration Association, Hong Kong SAR; and Assistant Professor Ranjit Singh Rye, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines.

In her paper, "A Study of the Impacts and Implications of an Innovative Admission Scheme for Hong Kong Students in Universities in Mainland China," Ms. Alice Yuen Chun Te walked the audience through the outcomes of the new admission scheme introduced by the government of Hong Kong SAR for university students aiming to study in Mainland China. The scheme offers an alternative for all students – both top scorers and low graders, as well as both lower and upper social classes. However, the scheme has attracted only few students (4%), which calls for more in-depth qualitative studies on the students’ psyche.

Meanwhile, in his presentation titled, "E-resilience for DRM: Insights from the Philippines," Prof. Ranjit Rye pointed out where the Philippines is in terms of building the so-called "e-resilience," which is associated with the use of information and communications technology (ICT) as a tool in disaster risk management. The United Nations has adopted an expanded definition of disaster which goes beyond wars and natural calamities. This gave rise to the concept of disaster risk reduction and resilience. However, while there are laws being made and technologies being developed, such as e-resilience, actual Philippine disaster risk management is inclined to deal with the traditional view of disasters.