ICTlogy

Abstract:

The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) is working with Bloomberg Philanthropies to develop a new Public Sector Capabilities Index. This index will be a global measure of where city government capabilities are strong and where critical skills must be built up. The first iteration of the Public Sector Capabilities Index will be published in late 2025.

Over the past year, we have engaged with over 20 city governments in 11 different countries through 62 expert interviews with officials in city government and regional and national governments. We have also engaged with other urban experts, such as academics, philanthropic foundations, and development banks, who are involved in or fund city government efforts. These interviews have helped refine our conceptualisation of dynamic capabilities, and identify what existing data we could utilise, the options for assessing dynamic capabilities in city governments, and the value city governments could derive from the Public Sector Capabilities Index as an improvement tool.

This paper synthesises the findings from our research conducted between May 2024 and November 2024. Through in-depth qualitative interviews, and reviewing academic and policy documents, we have generated case studies on dynamic capabilities in 15 city governments across six countries.