About the author Research Editor Maria Katsonis is The Mandarin's research editor and a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She previously worked in the Victorian Public Service as a senior executive. Follow Maria Katsonis
The twin faces of public sector design: policy design and design thinking Monday July 22, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Design thinking has become a popular approach for governments seeking to address complex governance challenges. It offers novel techniques and speaks to broader questions of… Read more
Putting value creation back into public value Monday July 8, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series In conventional economics, the concept of value creation by the public sector is largely absent. Value is created in business with the state playing a… Read more
Does evidence still matter? What works now? Sunday June 23, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series The idea of evidence based public policy has been fundamental to policy making since it first came to prominence over 20 years ago. Events around… Read more
Rethinking policy capacity, competencies and capabilities Monday June 10, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series The increasing complexity of contemporary policy problems coupled with rising public expectations present unprecedented challenges to the capacity of governments to make and implement effective… Read more
Knowledge sharing between policy makers and academics Sunday May 26, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Policy makers are increasingly drawing on knowledge outside the public service to deal with the complexity of public policy. Academic research is one source of… Read more
What’s so wicked about wicked problems? Monday May 13, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series The concept of wicked problems has become a fad in contemporary policy analysis with any number of problems being labelled as “wicked”. However if these… Read more
Why government agencies forget Friday April 26, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Organisational memory loss impacts negatively on the performance of government agencies. It can lead to weaknesses in policy, service delivery and the craft of the… Read more
Delivering local solutions should not be an afterthought Friday April 12, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Placing citizens at the centre of policymaking and service design means they have the opportunity to shape policy and services in areas that matter to… Read more
Privacy and consent: Winning the trust of consumers and citizens Tuesday April 9, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Sponsored How do we demonstrate that data aggregation has widespread benefits for citizens and consumers and can empower a wide suite of services?… Read more
The new practice of public problem solving Monday April 1, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Does a policy solution work for the people it is intended to help? This is the fundamental question that problem solvers and policy makers must… Read more
Getting the work of government done Monday April 1, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series The APS seeks outcomes for Australians through complex systems of organisations, rules and relationships. How the APS designs and stewards these systems matters. Research prepared… Read more
Learning from failure and success Tuesday March 19, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Evaluation of policies and programs together with a culture which learns from success and failure is pivotal in producing evidence for effective policy development and… Read more
To build trust in data, empowering consumers and citizens is key Monday March 4, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Sponsored After a string of data breaches in 2018, privacy and protecting people’s information became a hot issue which shows no signs of abating. Digital privacy… Read more
How do we measure public value? Sunday March 3, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series The concept of public value has become a hot topic in public administration. However there has been a lack of clarity about how to measure… Read more
Indigenous leaders navigate two worlds Friday February 15, 2019 By Maria Katsonis Research Series Emerging Indigenous leaders working in community development and management are developing an emerging style of leadership which has its own distinctive attributes. These leaders are… Read more
