The Republic of Indonesia hosted the 2018 EROPA Conference. It was held in Bali, Indonesia on 16-20 September 2018. The conference theme was on Public Administration in Managing Global Megatrends: People, Public Services, Institutions, and Ethics. The conference was organized by the National Institute of Public Administration (Lembaga Administrasi Negara) and the EROPA.

EROPA and Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia became a state member of EROPA in 1971.  Indonesia hosted the EROPA Conference in 1977, 1981, and 2012. The country also hosted an EROPA Seminar in 1988. 

2nd Carlos P. Ramos Award for Best Conference Paper


HYO JOO LEE
of Sungkyunkwan University
South Korea
For having presented an outstanding paper entitled Entrepreneurial Leadership and Ethical Climate in the Public Organization: The Mediating Roles of Public Service Motivation and Confucian Values during the 2018 EROPA Conference with the theme, "Public Administration in Managing Global Trends: People, Public Services, Institutions, and Ethics".

Conference Theme and Sub-themes

WHY THE MEGATRENDS?

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Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives by John Naisbitt (1982)
Megatrends are defined as important shifts or movements in society. The term became public knowledge with John Naisbitt's seminal work called Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives (1982). For two years, it was New York Times bestseller with over nine million copies sold worldwide. Almost four decades later, yesterday's futuristic fantasy may well be today's reality. Many research institutions have recently released reports on the main forces that drive the future of the world, namely the global megatrends. Some of these significant forces include the growth of technology, climate change, ageing population, urbanization, and shifts in economic power. In the private sector, it is argued that the global megatrends have opened the way for the fourth industrial revolution. The trends have changed the way business people behave and build strategies. Governments and other public sector actors across the globe have also responded to the trends, either by riding the opportunities provided by the trends or by mitigating the risks that follow. To name a few of the responses, they include changes in the way government manages the civil service, innovative approaches in the delivery of public services, shifts in governance institutions, and redefinition of public sector ethics.

Theme A
People: New Approaches in Human Resource Management in the Public Sector

The dual pressure of globalization and localism forces government in developing countries to better understand the needs of their citizens and potential tensions in the society. Socio-cultural awareness, thus, had become a necessity for everyone working in the public sector. Meanwhile, the rapid development of technology must also be accompanied by development of human resource management in the public sector.

Sub-themes for this session include:
  1. Enhancing human resource capacity to promote innovation
  2. Integrated human resource management strategies for public sector
  3. Policies and Instruments in human resource development
  4. Maintaining employee engagement and motivation in times of rapid change

​Theme B
Public Services: Challenges and Strategies for Delivering Better Public Services

Asia’s population is growing old and projected to reach as many as 923 million by the middle of the 21st century. The number of population that once was a great modality of development will soon become liabilities when their access for basic services becomes poor. Meanwhile, more and more people are moving from rural to urban areas. Almost 200 million of them have gone to urbanized areas during the first decade of the century. Meanwhile, governments across the world are catching up with the rapid growth of technology through invention and innovation in the delivery of public services.
 
This session will discuss the following sub-themes:
  1. Innovation in public services delivery to cope with the megatrends
  2. Policies on eradicating poverty and inequalities
  3. Strategies to build an e-services: Experiences and lessons
  4. Public services delivery in the era of sustainable development

Theme C
Institutions: Refining Governance Institutions for the Future

Knowledge-based economy needs knowledge-based approach to governance. Utilization of evidence-based policymaking, open government system, and e-governance is more important today than ever. Technological growth has helped Asia-Pacific countries survive the last two economic crises. Startups and tech billionaires grow rapidly in number. People become more aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their government. Governments have to equip their employees with capacities to master these concepts. In the near future, some of the known positions in government bureaucracy could be replaced by artificial intelligence.
 
The session will tackle the following sub-themes:
  1. Building social capital and social trust between government and the citizens
  2. Governance approaches and sustainable development
  3. Developing knowledge-to-policy and evidence-based policy
  4. Strengthening public-private society partnerships to address common challenges​
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​Theme D
Ethics: Redefining Public Service Ethics

The growing importance of social media has changed the way people, including civil servants, interact and voice their concerns. Is social media a private or a public sphere? How much freedom should government provide for civil servants to voice their concern through their social media accounts? Governments today have to deal with competing, wicked problems. Environmental degradation, economic crises, and demographic changes, to name some, have changed the way bureaucrats interact with politicians as well as with citizens. Do common public service ethics still matter?
 
The session will tackle the following sub-themes:
  1. Managing integrity in the public sector
  2. Shall we expand or limit public service discretionary power?
  3. Lessons in the implementation of values-based governance
  4. Contemporary public service values in the era of social media