Innovation in government is needed to recover and build resilience from the twin public health and economic crises, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the future requires innovative and creative solutions to effectively balance health and other objectives as risks to the country’s growth outlook persist.

“What this crisis has made apparent is the need for us to innovate governance and the importance of effective coordination if we hope not just to outlast but also build resilience against adversities such as this,” Chua said in a recent conference.

“Government must be the one to provide the direction and impetus for innovation to prosper. We must set the example by recalibrating our systems and processes to suit the needs and demands of the new normal,” he added.

According to Chua, this can be done through the use of new technologies in developing tools that can make the delivery of public services more effective and efficient.

“That is why the government’s response is a phased and adaptive recovery approach that prioritizes health as well as the recovery of consumer confidence towards opening up more of the economy,” Chua said.

He also underscored the importance of effective coordination and dynamic multi-stakeholder partnerships to maximize all available resources to respond to the pandemic. “Building strategic partnerships with different sectors is an effective way to address resource constraints and tap all available wealth of ideas, technologies, expertise, and networks. These are crucial for governance innovation to happen especially in the new normal,” Chua said.