[p2p-research] radical efficiency paradigm for public services, and a counter-intuitive example ..

[Michel Bauwens]

from john thackara:

RADICAL EFFICIENCY ZONES
A new report from Nesta in the UK proposes 'Radical Efficiency Zones' as one
way
to enable improved public services at far less cost. 'Radical  efficiency is
about enabling the right people with the right motivation and the right
tools to
set their imagination free', states the report; 'success depends on central
government's ability to let go of the reins of innovation and liberate local
innovators'. Nesta's language here – a curious mixture of liberation
theology,
and dressage – flatters central government too much. The main problem with
public services in the UK is that they address the wrong questions. Take
health,
for example: in Cuba, total health expenditure costs per person are five per
cent of the cost per US citizen – and yet health outcomes (life expectancy,
and
so on) are pretty much the same. That's real radical efficiency. UK central
government, in contrast, has been cognitively captured by  special interest
groups (such as doctors) and medical services industries (think Big Pharma)
who
have most to lose if health policy were to shift its focus from mopping-up,
to
prevention.  The Nesta report contains interesting ideas – but radical, it
ain't.
http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/reports/assets/features/radical_efficiency

-- 
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100713/cfd0d3b5/attachment.html>