IRSPM 2023 in Budapest

Sarah Müller,research assistant at the Department of Public Management, and Prof. Sanja Korac presented a new research project at the IRSPM Conference 2023 in Budapest in early April 2023. Their presentation, titled "The role of qualification, experience, and financial literacy in the use of accounting information by politicians – impressions from the German state level" was introduced to colleagues in the panel on Accounting and Accountability. The IRSPM (International Society for Public Management) is the largest international academic association in the field of Public Management. Prof. Korac is a board member and Communications Secretary of the IRSPM.

15. Course of the FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer – Excursion Week Berlin

Von 16. bis 20. Januar 2023 ging es für die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer des 15. Kurses des FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer nach Berlin! Neben dem Besuch des Deutschen Bundestages samt Austausch mit Mitgliedern des Bundestages zu den Themen Diskriminierungsschutz in der Digitalpolitik, Klimawandel und Ernährungssicherung, sowie Sozial- und Gesundheitspolitik beinhaltete das Programm unter anderem den Besuch und den Austausch mit Akteuren im Bundesrat, Bundeskanzleramt, dem Auswärtigen Amt, dem Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz; Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz; sowie Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat. Wir haben uns besonders gefreut, Bundesminister Dr. Wissing und Staatssekretär Höppner vom Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr in der Auswärtswoche des FKS begrüßen zu können. Der aktuelle 15. Kurs des FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer läuft bis Mitte des Jahres 2024 und hat noch neun spannende Kurswochen, sowohl auf dem Campus Speyer als auch unter anderem in Wien und Brüssel vor sich.

From January 16 to 20, 2023, participants of the 15th course of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer enjoyed an excursion week to Berlin. In addition to visiting the German Bundestag and exchanging views with members of the Bundestag on topics such as anti-discrimination in digital policy, climate change, and food security, as well as social and health policy, the program also included visits and discussions with actors in the Bundesrat, the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection; the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection; and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Homeland. We were particularly pleased to welcome Federal Minister Dr. Wissing and State Secretary Höppner from the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport. The current 15th course of the FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer runs until mid-2024 and still has nine exciting course weeks ahead, both on the Speyer campus and in places like Vienna and Brussels.

Leadership Day "Digital Competencies in Public Administration" - Addendum

On October 17, 2022, the Department of Public Management organized the Leadership Day at the University of Speyer. This year Prof. Sanja Korac and Dr. Derya Catakli, an external lecturer at the University of Speyer and an employee of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), devoted the Leadership Day to the topic of digital competencies in the public administration.

The event was organized in a hybrid format, with 15 participants in person and 65 participants in the digital space.

Speakers with various backgrounds—from public administration, public health, academia, and consulting—addressed the topic of digitalization in general and the relevance of digital competencies in different areas of public administration in particular. They emphasized how indispensable digital skills were for a modern public administration.

In lively discussions with participants in both 'real' and digital spaces, the key findings of the day were summarized at the end:

• Successful digitalization in public administration can only happen with engaged, competent staff.
• Some dissemination of digital competencies in public administration is already taking place, but there is still 'room for improvement.'
• Digital skills are already partially relevant in personnel recruitment in public (higher) service; this could be intensified.
• Artificial Intelligence and statistics should be increasingly considered in the further course of digitalization in public administration and the associated changes.
• Our neighboring country, Austria, can serve as a role model—Austria already has a 'Digital Court of Audit' that not only emphasizes digital skills in new personnel recruitment but has also heavily digitalized its processes in the Court of Audit.

Ceremonial Opening of the 15th Course of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer on September 12, 2022

On September 12, 2022, at 7 p.m., the ceremonial opening of the new 15th course of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer took place in the auditorium of the University of Speyer. After the welcome by the academic director, Prof. Sanja Korac, and opening remarks from the Rector of the University of Speyer, Prof. Holger Mühlenkamp, as well as from the representative of the Permanent Working Group of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer, MR Dr. Marten Pfeifer (Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia), a keynote lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Gottfried Richenhagen (FOM University) on the topic: "Agile Leadership – A Trend or a Necessity?". Together with the new course participants, guests of the university concluded the evening with a glass of white wine and a tasty buffet. For the new participants of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer, the ceremonial opening marked the beginning of a two-year 'journey' that will ultimately lead to personal and professional development. The 15th course of FKS • Führungskolleg Speyer will run until mid-2024.

Prof. Sanja Korac as Panel Chair at the PMRC Conference in Phoenix (AZ), USA

The annual Public Management Research Conference (PMRC) of the Public Management Research Association (PMRA) is considered one of the most important and simultaneously largest conferences in the field of Public Management research globally. It took place from May 25 to May 28, 2022, at the University of Arizona in Phoenix (AZ), USA.

Prof. Sanja Korac served as the Panel Chair for the panel "Local Budgeting: Innovative Research" on May 27. The panel consisted of presentations of academic papers followed by questions and a discussion, focusing on the use of public funds and their impact on public administration at the municipal level.

Topics of the papers from colleagues from around the world included "Budget Decision Accuracy: Analyzing and Advancing Decision-Making in Public Budgeting," "Slack Resources and Financial Performance in Local Governments," and "Experimenting with Engagement: Results from a Municipal Budget Simulation Experiment."