Future-Ready Public Service: An Integrated Framework for Institutional Adaptability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4426Abstract
Public institutions increasingly operate under conditions of technological disruption, workforce transition, fiscal constraint, environmental uncertainty, and complex cross-boundary problems. The phrase 'future-ready public service' is now visible in international and national reform discourse, but existing formulations vary in unit of analysis and emphasis: workforce preparedness, anticipatory governance, broad civil-service transformation, or organizational renewal. This article does not claim novelty for the phrase. Instead, it develops Future-Ready Public Service (FRPS) as an integrated institutional capability construct through a theoretical integrative review of recent literature published primarily between 2021 and 2026. Five core capabilities are identified: strategic foresight; digital capability; workforce capability; adaptive leadership; and resilience. The framework argues that future readiness is not adequately represented by isolated or purely additive capability scores: individual capabilities can make direct contributions, but their value also depends on complementarity, the absence of critical bottlenecks, and the institution's ability to mobilize them together as conditions change. Systems thinking, collaboration, and organizational learning are treated as cross-cutting enablers, while public value, ethics, accountability, and stewardship define the normative boundary of public-sector adaptability. Six theoretical propositions specify the contribution of each capability and the integrative effect of a balanced capability configuration. The article also develops indicative measurement domains for subsequent empirical validation. The contribution is therefore the integration, theorization, and operational positioning of future readiness as an institution-level public-administration construct rather than the introduction of a new policy label.
Keywords: Future-ready public service, Institutional adaptability, Strategic foresight, Digital government, Workforce capability, Adaptive leadership, Resilience, Public value
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