In furtherance of their mandate to promote productivity in public service, the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), hosted the 2023 Development of Public-Sector Productivity Specialists Training Program from November 6 -17, 2023, at the Savoy Hotel, Manila.

The participants comprised the 14 APO member countries, namely Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. A representative from the Philippines include LGOO VI Glenda Ibanez and ITO I Officer Eden S. Lanuza of DILG Region V, AO V Erico V. Salting of DTI Region V and Jake A. Villanueva of UP Institute of Small-scale Industries.

The training program aims at equipping the participants with the tools necessary for fostering efficiency, innovation, and improved service delivery. Public-Sector Productivity specialists like Dr. Brian Marson from Public Service Excellence Institute, Dr. Myung Jae Moon from Yonsei University, and Magdalena L. Mendoza and Maria Rosairo A. Ablan from Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) served as resource persons.

The topics discussed focused on the role of the public sector in the following areas of governance, i.e., Enhancing Productivity, e-Government, Regulatory Reform, Leadership, Citizen-Centered Services, Foresight, Change Management, Measuring Public Sector Productivity, Tools and Approaches in Improving Organizational Productivity, Performance Management, and APO certification process for public-sector productivity specialists, among others.

Moreover, a one-day onsite learning activity was also introduced through a site visit to public sector organizations such as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Land Bank of the Philippines and the City Government of Quezon. Three groups were formed, each visiting their assigned organization. Through this experiential learning approach, the participants were able to gain greater knowledge and insights into the actual situation of the organizations mentioned in terms of the areas/topics covered in the program course.

Hence, each group presented their site visit report to the panel of resource persons as part of the program requirement. At the end of the course, an examination was conducted to assess the learning/knowledge acquired by the participants.