Kate started us off by discussing why its so important for this agenda to move forward.  She talked about big, challenging problems like climate that are compelling and urgent.   She also described service challenges for the public sector. And she pointed out that, in a particular place, residents are comparing public services with retail services and other company products. 

There’s a lot of things to do to support truly effective and optimized collaboration between public and private entities. We have to do a better job on publicize opportunities to build viable partnerships.  We also need to improve procurement mechanisms to build relationships.  There’s a lot of translation that is needed to enable collaboration.  We need to break down barriers on both sides.   Kate is inspired by examples from California such as the Stir project.  There are several ways to begin effective collaborations.  For example, big Global Challenges can be broken down into smaller component problems through which collaborators from different sectors can learn to work together.  Just getting people connected with each other can be a big step forward.   Once that happens, we can get better at prototyping, and at early-stage accomplishments such as attracting a first customer.   Kate gave an example of a company called Binti that helps parents to adopt children.  By working closely with governmental agencies committed to adoption, Binti learned which types of services and capabilities would be most valuable, and focused on them.

The mandate to move slowly to build relationships and to create value locally led us to discuss the tension between solving local problems and dealing at scale with global problems such as climate.  We need to lower the barriers for business-school students, for example, to start to work on these problems.  There is a real desire among hard-charging, insightful students for impact at scale.  If business schools could support student in thinking about big problems, that would be make a big difference. The first thing is lowering the barrier to entry and opening up a pathway for private-sector employees and managers to engage.

Kate also described her experiences in leading InnovateUS, which is targeted at public-sector employees who want to learn more about how to improve processes and use frontier technology to improve public service.   InnovateUS is a collaboration of leaders who want to improve the effectiveness of state workforces. This model is interesting – people come together to work across states on shared problems.

Anita asked Kate for her thoughts about whether entrepreneurs such as her Wharton classmates are best served by working first to build local partnerships with public agencies, or by seeking to work independently to create value.   Kate suggested that we need both types of initiatives.   Many of Kate's classmates at Wharton are focused mainly on building new organizations that sell privately to prove the viability of their services, and on deferring their connections to public organizations until after proof of the concept occurs.   At the same time, there is a lot of value in building connections between people across sectors who share common passions.  The world would be better off with a massive effort to convene people who share a desire to make change.

Kate ended by encouraging us to become deeply curious about the challenges of local governmental leaders.   Instead of focusing on what the private sector can offer, her recommendation is to learn what government employees really need. This understanding can become the building block for collaboration. Kate also wants us to know that many public-sector leaders are responsible for outcomes that can affect millions of people.  TThere’s a real responsibility there that private-sector leaders need to take stock of when addressing public problems.  Don't underestimate the capacity for change at scale through the public sector.