A Group Picture of Participants
The University of Ghana(UG) in association with University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), the American Society of Public Administrators (ASPA), the Ghana Institute of Public Administration (GIMPA) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have held the 12th International Conference on Public Administration (ICPA) and 1st International Symposium in West African Studies (ISWAS) under the theme “Managing across Organizational Boundaries: Innovation and Collaboration”.
Welcoming the delegates to the conference, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu noted that the conference over the years has witnessed great strides in both theory and practice of public administration and expressed the hope that many new ideas would emerge from the conference to make it successful. He expressed his appreciation especially to University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) and American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) for partnering the Ghanaian Universities in organizing the conference and wished the delegates fruitful discussions.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu
The Deputy Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Philip Duku Osei noted in his remarks that the theme reflected the current focus of public administration research internationally. He noted that the theme also provided an opportunity for GIMPA to perform its core mandate of contributing to public policy and management in Ghana. He was particularly happy about the workshop sessions of the conference where some of Ghana’s new policies such as the one million dollar constituency development fund would be discussed.
Deputy Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Philip Duku Osei
Prof. Harvey L. White, Past President for the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and a professor of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware, USA welcomed participants to this year’s conference on behalf of ASPA. He said given the fact that public administration is applied everywhere in the world, it was imperative for practitioners to come together and share ideas.
Prof. Harvey L. White
Prof. Jiang Xiaioping, Executive Member of the Council of Chinese Public Administration Society (CPAS) and the Party Secretary of School of Public Administration at Sihuan University, China reflected on the success of the last conference which was held at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa in 2013 and expressed the hope that this year’s conference would be equally successful. She also introduced the Chinese national journal called Chinese Public Administration Journal which is the first professional publication on public administration after the founding of the People’s Republic of China to delegates.
Prof. Jiang Xiaioping
In his presentation on the topic, Key Elements of a Freedom of Information Law, Mr. Robert J. Freeman, Executive Director, New York State Committee on Open Government, USA, explained the concept of law and its relevance to the individual, government, public and private agencies. He further expatiated on the elements of a strong freedom of information law and how it relates to all stakeholders adding that the law provides a framework for the government and public to have expectations of each other as well as hold government and other public employees accountable and also to check corruption and misconduct.
Prof. Zhao Shurong, Director of Center for West African Studies of the School of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) delivered an address on the topic, A Study of the Mechanism of Cross-boundary Governance of Water Pollution in the Taihu Basin: A Synergy Perspective. She spoke on the need for local governments to collaborate to manage cross-boundary water pollution using Taihu in China as a case study.
The three day conference was held at three different locations. The first day was held at the ISSER Conference Facility, UG; The second day of the conference was held at the Ghana Institute of Public Administration (GIMPA); And the third day of the conference was held at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
A cross section of the audience
