 oil needs a whole new architecture of public sector workers professor michael e scott oil needs a whole new architecture of public sector workers professor michael e scott oil needs a whole new architecture of public sector workers webmaster tue 10312017 130 oil needs a whole new architecture of public sector workers public sector reform is in a comatose state despite years of work and an investment of millions of us dollars professor michael e scott who also serves as the deputy vicechancellor of the university of guyana has said he indicated that this was troubling at a time when guyana is about to experience radical transformation with the gamechanging oil and gas sector speaking of the oil and gas sector he said it has the capacity to reconfigure the entire social system economically institutionally politically legally and environmentally i consider it rather troubling at this critical time that guyana s socioeconomic landscape is pursuing radical and economic change there is no attempt to reconsider refocus reconfigure and reposition an effective and efficient public sector to deliver services to meet the requirements of the oncoming reality scott said wednesday he was at the time delivering the first 2017 professorial lecture of the university professor scott deals with academic engagement at the university he said there has been an investment of over us 300 million over the years funded by the world bank the interamerican development bank the british government and others towards public sector reform but he said that process seems to have been stagnated despite years of reforms and initiatives it is clear public sector reform is comatose this presents significant challenges he stated he said the state of reform begs the question of the readiness to facilitate this gamechanging sector and all its implications according to professor scott the public sector serves the interest of guyanese and is responsible for managing the conditions for investment in fact he said in the public sector s bosom is the policy decisions the laws the concessions and the rules pertaining to the initiation of the oil and gas sector scott said that at this critical and historic juncture the public sector needs to give assurance in a meaningful way of its readiness to facilitate and manage the new and significant gamechanging sector a whole new architecture of personnel is needed he declared he added the public sector must be ready to set pursue and adjust goals reconfigure its services and upgrade its service delivery to meet the new reality in the economic sector professor scott summarised the public sector to mean state and government activities of not only government ministries and departments but also semiautonomous government agencies statutory government oversight bodies state trading and investment bodies state enterprises and in the disciplined forces over the years he said no change has been obvious in the public sector other than those that are structural and so he questioned how appropriate the guyanese public sector and its business practices is to usher in and facilitate the veritable gamechanging sector that oil and gas is he reasoned that the offshore business of oil and gas will resonate onshore and so public sector rules regulations laws and policies must be ready the public sector architecture must be capable and efficient to service the game changer in what is increasingly a glocalised policy environment where the local and global can hardly be differentiated he pointed to the fact that the sector would be completely new to guyana as oil and gas is an extractive sector of a different type it is at an offshore location and for guyanese it is called black gold it is drilled and pumped it is not mined as we are accustomed to with our porkknockers and miners there are large players capable of accelerating economic upturn capable of generating s we know the dutch disease capable of spawning a black gold parallel economy as we ve seen in other parts of the world capable of undermining public processes and structures if the public sector and its service business are not strengthened he stated the university of guyana s professorial lectures provide newly appointed professors with the opportunity to inform colleagues the campus community and the general public of their work to date including current research and future plans the inaugural professorial lecture was held in 2015 article adapted from  https newsroomgy 20171027 oilneedsawholenewarchitectureofpublicsectorworkers  professor michael e scott oil gas 