Intl conference on public administration held at UESTC

The 2018 International Conference on Public Administration is held at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, Sichuan province from Nov 30 to Dec 2. [ Photo provided to China Daily]

The 2018 International Conference on Public Administration (13th ICPA) was held at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, from Nov 30 to Dec 2.

Sponsored by UESTC and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), ICPA is an international academic conference focused on public administration. It is hosted annually by the School of Public Affairs and Administration of UESTC, and jointly hosted by a different international university every other year.

Themed "improving the agility of government organizations", this year's event attracted an array of academics and practitioners from countries and regions including China, the United States, Russia, Poland, Singapore, Japan, Korea, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Sudan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The organizing committee of the conference received more than 200 papers, 50 of which passed the review of the academic committee and were discussed at the conference.

Zeng Yong, president of UESTC, speaks at the opening ceremony of the 2018 International Conference on Public Administration. [ Photo provided to China Daily]

Some of the authors were granted best paper awards at the conference. Prof. Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, director of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and Dr. Kingsley S. Agomor, a senior lecturer at GIMPA, won first prize with their paper entitled "Financing Public Universities in Africa Through Strategic Agility: Lessons from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Ghana)".

Co-sponsored by the Center for West African Studies of UESTC and the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies (IWAAS) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Workshop on West African Studies was a new addition to this year’s conference.

Scholars, experts and practitioners were invited to share experiences and lessons under the theme "Social and Economic Development in West Africa from a Global Perspective".

Scholars, experts and practitioners communicate at the Workshop on West African Studies, a new addition to the 13th ICPA. [ Photo provided to China Daily]

"It is the honor and responsibility of UESTC to promote international academic exchange in the field of public administration and to help build a platform for cooperation and exchange in public administration between China and abroad," said Zeng Yong, president of UESTC.

Zeng said the ICPA has been growing to become one of the world’s
most influential academic platforms in public administration research and scholarship since its establishment. The first ICPA was held at UESTC in 2005.

The 14th ICPA will be held at Syracuse University in the United States next year.