Augmenting public sector data-driven decision support systems with expert knowledge: case of OTT

Public sector data-driven decision support systems are uniquely challenging to design due to the ramifications they have on the societal level. Accountability and ethical considerations require these systems to arrive at an equilibirium between accuracy and interpretability amid various implementation and data constraints. While these systems need to contribute to legitimate governance through reasoned and explainable decision-making, they also need to accurately model the policy outcomes they were designed to support. Inopportunely, inductive data-driven systems struggle to solve problems that rely on heuristic input. In this thesis, a particular knowledge engineering technique was adopted to augment a public sector Machine Learning decision support tool with domain expert knowledge. The case in question is OTT – a job-seeker profiling tool used by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund to predict the long-term unemployment risks of their clients. Upon augmenting it with knowledge from caseworkers and data scientists associated with the project, some evidence was found that accounting for expert knowledge in probabilistic data-driven models can lead to a model that performs better on new out-of-sample data and is more in line with underlying domain rules. This yields important implications on the future of Machine Learning in the public sector as it opens up new potential use cases in avenues where 1) labelled training data is hard to come by, 2) a more generalizable model is preferred due to frequent changes in the surrounding context, 3) a model has to perfectly mimic domain logic for interpretability and explainability reasons.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5508371*es

Transforming the Decision-Making Process in Egypt

Decision support systems (DSS) emerged in the 1970s and have gradually in different dimensions and through various channels based on emerging information technology affected the decision making process at the individual, organizational and societal levels. Competition, convergence, globalization, business and socioeconomic pressures as well as market needs have all contributed to the deployment of cutting-edge mechanisms for rational and effective decision-making processes for government, private and public sector organizations alike. This paper describes the experience of the government of Egypt in spreading the awareness of information technology and its use in managing socioeconomic development since the mid 1980s through building multiple DSS platforms for governmental decision-making with a variety of lessons learnt in the design and delivery of DSS under complex conditions common to developing nations. The experience offers insights into a variety of problems for IS designers, implementers, users, practitioners and researchers. The paper focuses on the use of DSS for development through the experience of a government think tank, Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), while demonstrating the implementation and institutionalization of decision support platform at the local administration level for delegation, empowerment and development planning

EXPLORING STRUCTURAL AND SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENTS TO PROMOTE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FOR HIV/AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT Ibegbunam, Innocent Ndubuisi: Exploring structural and systemic improvements to promote effective and efficient pharmaceutical supply chain management for HIV/AIDS service delivery in Nigeria (Under the direction of Pam Silberman) The uninterrupted availability of health products is essential for the provision of HIV/AIDS services. A 2015 assessment of public health supply chain systems in Nigeria supporting HIV/AIDS services revealed that some vital HIV/AIDS products were unavailable in about 9%–16% of health facilities visited. This implied >10% of the health facilities visited did not have all the life-saving HIV/AIDS commodities needed to provide needed clinical services. Health commodity unavailability interrupts health service delivery, negatively affects the quality of services and adversely affects patient adherence to treatment. This suggests a need for changes in the HIV/AIDS supply chain management (SCM) system. The aim of this study was to explore structural and systemic improvements needed to promote effective and efficient public-sector pharmaceutical SCM system for HIV/AIDS service delivery in Nigeria through (I) identification of current gaps in the pharmaceutical SCM system (II) identification of potential solutions to address the gaps (III) exploring effective solutions in Nigeria and other places, and (IV) identification of policy improvements for the pharmaceutical SCM system. The study was conducted using sequential mixed-method design of surveys and key informant interviews. The results identified poor logistics data management and use, poor information dissemination for decision-making, limited leadership and funding, poor performance management and limited human resources capacity to support SCM services which disrupts HIV/AIDS service delivery. Some of the solutions to address these gaps include: use of electronic systems for logistics data management to enhance decision-making, more widespread dissemination of information on changes in clinical guidelines and the SCM system, improvements in government leadership and funding, establishment of an accountability structure, improved performance management of private sector contracted to support the supply chain system, and improved human resource management. In addition, the study identified the need to set policies on minimum remaining shelf-life requirements for donated health products, minimum levels of government funding to support the supply chain system, and an implementation plan for the national supply chain policy.Doctor of Public Healt

Analysing the provision of agricultural public goods: The case of irrigated olive groves in Southern Spain

The analysis of the joint production of private and public goods (PGs) from farming activities is a fertile research field. These joint production. processes are typically characterized by a high level of complexity derived from the intense relationship between the production of both kinds of outputs. An integrated approach is strongly recommended to study the provision of agricultural PGs and the design of public intervention in this sector. Here, we propose a theoretical framework to apply an integrated approach using the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to analyse the production of PGs by agricultural systems to support public decision-making concerning the design and implementation of agricultural policies. We introduce a novel approach in applying ANP through double direction of the influences among elements, allowing us to identify the most influenced PGs and the most influential farmer&rsquo;s decisions. This methodological approach is empirically applied to a particular farming system; the irrigated olive groves (IOG) of Southern Spain. Results show that the PGs most influenced by olive growers&rsquo; decisions are soil fertility, visual quality of agricultural landscapes and farmland biodiversity. In addition, the most influential factors affecting the PGs provision are the structural factors, namely farm size and tree density, and, to a lesser extent, management factors dealing with fertilization, soil and irrigation management. These results are useful for supporting agricultural policy decision-making to enhance an adequate management of this farming system concerning PGs productionEn el art&iacute;culo se analiza la producci&oacute;n de bienes p&uacute;blicos por parte de la agricultura. Mediante entrevistas a expertos siguiendo el m&eacute;todo ANP se aplica al olivar de regad&iacute;o.</p

The Barriers to Implementation of New Public Management Strategies in Iran’s Primary Health Care: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: New Public Management (NPM) is a special management philosophy used by governments. OBJECTIVES: The aim of NPM is to increase efficiency, effectiveness and cost saving in public sector through employing private sector characteristics and market mechanisms. Therefore, objective of this study is to identify barriers and challenges to understand the limitations of implementing the NPM model. STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative study STUDY SETTING: Managers of primary health care (PHC), East Azerbaijan, Iran. METHODOLOGY: The researchers performed a series of semi-structured interviews with health managers (n=30) and three focus group discussions with policy makers and district health managers (n=9) in 2016. A questionnaire was used for collecting demographic characteristics and managers’ perspectives. RESULTS: Lack of authority, executive bureaucracy, traditional budgeting system, poor payment systems, inadequate resources were considered to be the most common managerial barriers to the implementation of NPM. From the experts' view, the other factors that can affect poor implementation of NPM reforms in public health complexes are as follow: a shortage of trained managers, centralized decision-making process, organization's unwillingness to compete, lack of customer-oriented culture, lack of supervisor support and feedback, disharmony between employee needs and appraisal goals, absence of clear and independent performance dimensions, and biases in the process of evaluation. CONCLUSION: Designing and implementing an NPM reform need to be based on the operational reality and conditions of every country because most of the NPM programs in different countries are suffering from non-implementation syndrome. Therefore, before implementing this reform, identifying managerial barriers and challenges helps managers to execute the NPM in their desired sector properly

Organic Action Plans. Development, implementation and evaluation. A resource manual for the organic food and farming sector

In 2004, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming was launched. Many European countries have also developed national Organic Action Plans to promote and support organic agriculture. As part of the EU funded ORGAP project (“European Action Plan of Organic Food and Farming - Development of criteria and procedures for the evaluation of the EU Action Plan for Organic Agriculture”) a toolbox to evaluate and monitor the implementation of national and European Action Plans has been developed. In order to communicate the results of this project as widely as possible, a practical manual for initiating and evaluating Organic Action Plans has been produced. This manual has been created to inspire the people, organisations and institutions involved, or with an interest, in the organic food and farming sector to engage in the initiation, review, revision and renewal of regional, national and European Organic Action Plans. The objectives of the manual are to provide: • a tool for stakeholder involvement in future Action Plan development and implementation processes at EU, national and regional level • a guide to the use of the Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET) developed through the project The manual summarises the key lessons learnt from more than 10 years experience of development, implementation and evaluation of Organic Action Plans throughout Europe. The Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET), which includes comprehensive information to support the Organic Action Plan development and evaluation process is included with the manual as a CD-ROM, and is also accessible on-line at www.orgap.org/orgapet. The ORGAP website www.orgap.org provides a further information on the project and the European and national organic action plans. Published by: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland; IFOAM EU Group, Brussels Table of contents Foreword 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 About this manual 3 1.2 Organic farming – origins, definition & principles 6 1.3 Development of organic food & farming in Europe 8 1.3.1 Organic food and farming regulation in Europe 10 1.3.2 Policy support for organic food and farming in Europe 11 2 Organic Action Plans – what are they about? 16 2.1 Why Organic Action Plans? 16 2.2 European Organic Action Plan 21 2.3 Overview of national and regional Organic Action Plans 23 3 Planning and implementing Organic Action Plans 28 3.1 Policy development 28 3.2 Defining organic sector development needs and potential 31 3.3 Defining policy goals and objectives 34 3.4 Involving stakeholders 40 3.4.1 The case for stakeholder involvement 40 3.4.2 Identifying relevant stakeholders 42 3.4.3 Participatory approaches for stakeholders involvement 44 3.5 Decision making: selecting, integrating and prioritising relevant measures 46 3.5.1 Deciding on policy instruments and action points 47 3.5.2 Priorities for action – allocating resources 50 3.6 Implementing Organic Action Plans 52 3.7 Including monitoring and evaluation of Organic Action Plans from outset 56 3.8 Managing communication 58 3.9 Development of Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 59 4 Evaluating Organic Action Plans 61 4.1 Principles of evaluation 61 4.2 Conducting an evaluation 64 4.3 Evaluating Action Plan design and implementation 70 4.3.1 Evaluating programme design and implementation processes 70 4.3.2 Evaluating programme coherence 72 4.3.3 Evaluating stakeholder involvement 74 4.4 Evaluating Action Plan effects 78 4.4.1 Developing and using indicators for evaluation 78 4.5 Overall evaluation of Organic Action Plans – judging success 85 4.6 Evaluating Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 89 5 Organic Action Plans – the Golden Rules 91 5.1 Key elements of Organic Action Plan development 91 5.2 The Golden rules for Organic Action Plan 93 References 96 Annex Detailed synopsis of ORGAPET 10

Strengthening Integrated Primary Health Care in Sofala, Mozambique

Background: Large increases in health sector investment and policies favoring upgrading and expanding the public sector health network have prioritized maternal and child health in Mozambique and, over the past decade, Mozambique has achieved substantial improvements in maternal and child health indicators. Over this same period, the government of Mozambique has continued to decentralize the management of public sector resources to the district level, including in the health sector, with the aim of bringing decision-making and resources closer to service beneficiaries. Weak district level management capacity has hindered the decentralization process, and building this capacity is an important link to ensure that resources translate to improved service delivery and further improvements in population health. A consortium of the Ministry of Health, Health Alliance International, Eduardo Mondlane University, and the University of Washington are implementing a health systems strengthening model in Sofala Province, central Mozambique.Description of implementation: The Mozambique Population Health Implementation and Training (PHIT) Partnership focuses on improving the quality of routine data and its use through appropriate tools to facilitate decision making by health system managers; strengthening management and planning capacity and funding district health plans; and building capacity for operations research to guide system-strengthening efforts. This seven-year effort covers all 13 districts and 146 health facilities in Sofala Province.Evaluation design: A quasi-experimental controlled time-series design will be used to assess the overall impact of the partnership strategy on under-5 mortality by examining changes in mortality pre- and post-implementation in Sofala Province compared with neighboring Manica Province. The evaluation will compare a broad range of input, process, output, and outcome variables to strengthen the plausibility that the partnership strategy led to healthsystem improvements and subsequent population health impact.Discussion: The Mozambique PHIT Partnership expects to provide evidence on the effect of efforts to improvedata quality coupled with the introduction of tools, training, and supervision to improve evidence-based decision making. This contribution to the knowledge base on what works to enhance health systems is highly replicable for rapid scale-up to other provinces in Mozambique, as well as other sub-Saharan African countries with limitedresources and a commitment to comprehensive primary health care

Political Economy of International Climate Finance: Navigating Decisions in PPCR and SREP

This working paper explores how countries can build their own 'climate finance readiness' by understanding their internal political economy and use that understanding to steer consensus-based decisions on climate finance investments. For climate finance to be effective, national leaders must build shared commitments. This involves considering the arguments, incentives and power dynamics at play to ensure priorities are more equitable and representative of a broader group of stakeholders. Doing so will also help to reduce the risk of implementation delays. This paper uses case studies from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal to explore how narratives and incentives within the political economy drive climate investment outcomes under the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and the Scaling up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP). It draws from broader analysis of the discourses around these investments, including 80 interviews with government; multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other stakeholders

Multi-stakeholder partnerships in affordable rental housing: An investigation using soft systems framework

Queensland Department of Housing has proposed the use of partnerships as one possible option to deliver affordable housing outcomes. Although this initiative is supported by other stakeholders, many constraints have impeded its implementation for the delivery of real projects. Whilst it might find application for mixed housing projects with some relaxation on tax and/ or planning requirements, in general, affordable housing has not been seen as a valuable investment. Moreover, the partnerships require stakeholders to work across boundaries and outside their comfort zones.\ud \ud This initial study examines the use of soft systems framework to explore stakeholders’ views of multi-stakeholder partnerships in affordable rental housing. A series of in-depth interviews with major stakeholders representing housing providers, regulators and users in Queensland has been conducted. \ud \ud Soft systems methodology has been used to express the unstructured problem by using systematic thinking to develop a conceptual model to solve the problem. A complex problem is broken down into role, social system and political system analyses. This study provides an example of using systematic thinking in solving conflicting problems. The gap between the conceptual model and implementation in the real world situation was also investigated. Major changes in the socio-cultural aspects of the broader community as well as between stakeholders were required to implement the further development of multi-stakeholder partnerships for affordable rental housing

Investing in Sustainable Energy Futures: Multilateral Development Banks' Investments in Energy Policy

Analyzes MDB loans for electricity projects and lays out policy reforms, regulations, and institutional capacities needed to enable public and private investment in sustainable energy and ways for MDBs to address them consistently and comprehensively