The Blavatnik Index of Public Administration will be published on 4 December 2024, towards the end of a year of elections which have put the workings of government firmly in the spotlight. Registrations for the launch event, bringing together public administration leaders and academics, are open.

The Index will publish open-source data on the performance of national public administrations and civil services using available information from over 100 countries around the globe. It aims to broaden the conversation about how countries can improve and learn from each other. 

Professor Ngaire Woods, founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said: 

“At the Blavatnik School of Government, we see real value in having countries compare and discuss their public administration effectiveness to spur learning and improvement. We hope the Index will enable more data-informed approaches to public administration improvement and be a call to action for both policymakers and academics to further enhance our understanding and evidence of what really works on civil and public service reform.” 

Chaired by Lord Gus O’Donnell, former UK Cabinet Secretary, the project’s Senior Leadership Panel includes former and current Cabinet Secretaries and heads of public administrations across the globe. 

Lord O’Donnell said: 

“I am delighted that the Blavatnik School of Government has launched the Blavatnik Index of Public Administration, building on the experiences of the previous InCiSE Index. As a former Cabinet Secretary, I know how important it is to understand how your civil service is performing on strategy, policy, delivery and its people and processes. The Blavatnik Index provides this generation of public administration leaders with a valuable tool to help them better understand and monitor how their administration compares globally. I hope it encourages them to engage with their peers, to share best practice from their country and to learn from others." 

Building on the success of the Index for Civil Service Effectiveness (InCiSE), this refreshed version of the project will broaden its perspective, aiming to be useful to a wider range of governments. It will consider 20 priority indicators across four areas including ‘strategy and leadership’, ‘public policy’, ‘national delivery’, and ‘processes and people’. 

The expanded Index will bring together the best available transparent, comparative data with interactive tools to help public administration leaders – and those working with them or holding them to account – to understand their own performance and how it compares to others. With the support of key partners, the Blavatnik School aims to provide training and events to help countries to use data and peer learning to improve their reform and transformation plans. 

For press inquiries and to find out more about the project, please contact our communications team on comms@bsg.ox.ac.uk.