What does “strategic autonomy” actually mean in practice? I argue it’s a stack: defence, dual-use, digital — and 2026 will judge Europe on whether it can deliver, not announce. End-of-year essay here: rainerkattel.substack.com/p/the-post-n...

✍️ "Work isn’t working, but it could." Catch up on our 2025 IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel featuring @hilarycottam.bsky.social in conversation with Professors @rainerkattel.bsky.social & @mazzucatom.bsky.social on her new book 'The Work We Need'. 🔗 Watch the recording here: buff.ly/rJfSns1

☮️ Peace as an Economic Strategy What would an economy oriented around a peace mission look like in practice? IIPP Director @mazzucatom.bsky.social and Co-Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social explore this in their latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article. 🔗 Read more here: buff.ly/Jv2ZeSc

Since British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clearly cares about peace, he should recognize that it is not just an aspiration but a potential engine of economic transformation, @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social write. bit.ly/4s7Ihbm

🪪 Why don't we have ID cards in the UK? IIPP Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social joined @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room to discuss what a possible ID card system might look like in the UK, and if it would work. 🎧 Listen to the episode here: buff.ly/e3P8Izf

Digital public infrastructure is not new, nor is digital public infrastructure an inherently good public good. State power is state power is state power, and there are few cases where government infrastructure has been universally accessible www.policyready.ca/policymaking...

✍️ Reframing urban innovation around capabilities, directionality, and the politics of change IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that cities need a new investment logic to steer innovation towards societal wellbeing. 🔗 Read his recent Substack here: buff.ly/eoqweYZ

✍️ Reframing urban innovation around capabilities, directionality, and the politics of change IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that cities need a new investment logic to steer innovation towards societal wellbeing. 🔗 Read his recent Substack here: buff.ly/lHTsVD7

Growth won’t save Starmer. It’s a metric, not a mission. What if the real mission was peace — at home (less division, stronger communities) and abroad (diplomacy, democracy, humanitarian leadership)? Peace gives politics direction. Growth doesn’t. Read on: open.substack.com/pub/rainerka...

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments. 🔗Read more: buff.ly/8Zf9nsE

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments. 🔗Read more: buff.ly/a5G9TRi

⏮️ A look back at the launch of the Public Sector Capabilities Index (PSCI), featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anaclaudia Rossbach, Claudio Castro & @nycfood.bsky.social. 📺 Watch the event recording: buff.ly/8qHThzr

Once seen mainly as centers of service delivery, cities are now the front lines of modern governance. As demands grow, municipal authorities must be empowered to act decisively in the public interest, argue @iipp-ucl.bsky.social's @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social. bit.ly/48sGOoH

✍️ Restoring Public-Sector Capacity Where It Counts The latest @projectsyndicate.bsky.social article by IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social calls for investment, sustained coordination, & continuous learning to strengthen city governments. 🔗Read more: buff.ly/5oUiob3

✍️ From Digital Feudalism to Digital Sovereignty Catch up on our 2025 IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel chaired by Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social & featuring @mazzucatom.bsky.social, @francescabria.bsky.social, @ceciliarikap.bsky.social & Mike Bracken 🔗 Watch the recording: buff.ly/m44Tj3k

⏮️ A look back at the launch of the Public Sector Capabilities Index (PSCI), featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anaclaudia Rossbach, Claudio Castro & @nycfood.bsky.social. 📺 Watch the event recording: buff.ly/ZpWlmc4

Oft werden Investitionen in Stadtverwaltungen als weniger wichtig angesehen als solche in Infrastruktur oder Sicherheit Das ist ein Irrtum", schreiben @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social in ihrem lesenswerten Artikel @surplusmagazin.bsky.social www.surplusmagazin.de/demokratie-s...

🎤 From Insight to Action Join us for the launch of the new Public Sector Capabilities Index report, featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social and @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson, Anacláudia Rossbach, and Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. 🔗 Learn more here: buff.ly/QWael2j

🚀 Launching our newest report on Public Sector Capabilities Index @iipp-ucl.bsky.social on Oct 3. Cities helped us co-create a tool to show how govts can learn, adapt & deliver in complexity. In person or online, register here 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-insig...

✍️ Getting to “zero bureaucracy” takes a lot of bureaucracy. IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social argues that how we orchestrate bureaucracy matters to deliver fast, fair, and trustworthy services that create public value. 🔗 Read his latest blog here: buff.ly/9MOzxFd

Strong 'planning to plan' vibes here: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

👋🏻 A warm welcome to our new MPA Cohort We are pleased to welcome the latest IIPP MPA Cohort yesterday, with Co-Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social and our core faculty kicking off our introduction week! 🔗 Learn more about our MPA Programme here: buff.ly/nfkcOk7

Europe’s innovation agencies are stuck in old habits — grant-giving, compliance, and rigid oversight — when the world needs institutions that **learn, adapt, and lead**. Full article 👉 www.socialeurope.eu/europes-inno...

“Zero bureaucracy” isn’t the absence of rules — it’s the presence of good ones, embedded in routines & digital infrastructures. Full blog 👉 medium.com/iipp-blog/how-much-bureaucracy-do-we-need-to-achieve-zero-bureaucracy-9c586274da0a

A new academic year @iipp-ucl.bsky.social

🪪 Why don't we have ID cards in the UK? IIPP Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social joined @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room to discuss what a possible ID card system might look like in the UK, and if it would work. 🎧 Listen to the episode here: buff.ly/cWLppNb

✍️ Can Design Transform Governance? IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social, co-author of the recently published Public Design Evidence Review (PDER), reflects on the role of design in creating better public policies and services. 🔗 Read his new blog post here: buff.ly/2zMzPpH

🎤 From Insight to Action: Scaling the Public Sector Capabilities Index Join us at the launch of the new IIPP Public Sector Capabilities Index report, featuring IIPP Professors @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @rainerkattel.bsky.social in conversation with James Anderson. 🔗 Register here: buff.ly/BlceTFU

✍️ Are ‘dynamic capabilities’ just ‘public sector innovation’ with a different name? IIPP's Ruth Puttick, Fernando Fernandez-Monge, and @rainerkattel.bsky.social unpack this often-asked question in their latest blog post, exploring the close relation of both terms. 🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/xza1qI2

Good point by ‪@rainerkattel.bsky.social‬. He would agree that not just the innovation agencies but the whole bureaucratic edifice needs modernisation. In fact, the necessary return of the State is not in Trump's tariff-mad mode, but in a creative way, providing directionality and missions.

"Too often, we see rigidity at the top, experimentation at the grassroots, and a weak middle. Innovation agencies should be the bridge—but their structures and practices remain stuck in the past" www.socialeurope.eu/europes-inno... @rainerkattel.bsky.social

Europe’s innovation agencies are stuck between rigid rules at the top and scattered experiments at the bottom. If they can’t become mission architects, we’ll fail on climate, digital sovereignty & even defence R&D. More in my new Social Europe piece 👉 www.socialeurope.eu/europes-inno...

Looking at my inbox and in particular at most of the admin tasks, I suggest we are fast moving from Kantian 'sapere aude' to 'artificialiter sapere aude', dare to use your own AI.

🚨 Last call! UK students have just one week left to apply for our MPA @iipp-ucl.bsky.social. Don’t miss the chance to join a pioneering programme that equips future public leaders with the tools to shape markets, drive missions, and create public value. 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-...

"One of the most striking things they found out in Bowling Green was that when the ideas were anonymous and stripped of political identity, the constituents found that they agreed on a lot" gizmodo.com/a-kentucky-t...

Apparently Putin called off his planned shopping trip. Because of the tariffs the prices were ridiculous.

For German speakers, I strongly recommend the new number of @surplusmagazin.bsky.social It includes an interview where I answer a bit of everything, incl why I don't speak of techno-feudalism More importantly, a lot of extremely interesting articles from a #critical #economics perspective

✍️ Are ‘dynamic capabilities’ just ‘public sector innovation’ with a different name? IIPP's Ruth Puttick, Fernando Fernandez-Monge, and @rainerkattel.bsky.social unpack this often-asked question in their latest blog post, exploring the close relation of both terms. 🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/OyAHHM2

⏪ Catch up on our recent Islamic Public Value book launch In May, IIPP's @rainerkattel.bsky.social, Wolfgang Drechsler & Salah Chafik launched their new book 'Islamic Public Value: Theory, Practice, and Administration' at the British Library. 📺 Watch the event recording here: buff.ly/NyzJckY

🪪 Why don't we have ID cards in the UK? IIPP Deputy Director @rainerkattel.bsky.social joined @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room to discuss what a possible ID card system might look like in the UK, and if it would work. 🎧 Listen to the episode here: buff.ly/cRTRv9S

✍️ Are ‘dynamic capabilities’ just ‘public sector innovation’ with a different name? IIPP's Ruth Puttick, Fernando Fernandez-Monge, and @rainerkattel.bsky.social unpack this often-asked question in their latest blog post, exploring the close relation of both terms. 🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/1xKm7JI

🇪🇺 Missions and Public Procurement in Europe The latest working paper by IIPP Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social, Amy Lai, Chiara Bleckenwegner, @innopirate.bsky.social, & Veiko Lember, examines how public procurement has been used for mission-oriented policy-making. 🔗 Read the paper: buff.ly/aczBf6u

STEWART: “I feel like I’m watching something so self-evidently inhumane and horrific and to be told I have to shut up because I risk the Jewish state by speaking out? I would say the opposite — they’re putting the likelihood of a surviving Jewish state much more at risk.”

🎤 DARPA’s High-Risk, High-Reward Legacy IIPP PhD Graduate Dr Josh Entsminger spoke with Sarah Doyle, @jackstilgoe.bsky.social, and @rainerkattel.bsky.social about his PhD journey researching DARPA, its model, and how governments can fund, structure, and sustain innovation for the public good.

Remember the days when you could let your inbox fill up so no one could send you any more emails? Nostalgic for those simple times.

🇪🇺 Missions and Public Procurement in Europe The latest working paper by IIPP Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social, Amy Lai, Chiara Bleckenwegner, @innopirate.bsky.social, & Veiko Lember, examines how public procurement has been used for mission-oriented policy-making. 🔗 Read the paper: buff.ly/aczBf6u

✍️ Can Design Transform Governance? IIPP Professor @rainerkattel.bsky.social, co-author of the recently published Public Design Evidence Review (PDER), reflects on the role of design in creating better public policies and services. 🔗 Read his new blog post here: buff.ly/haprY2m

✍️ From Digital Feudalism to Digital Sovereignty Catch up on our recent IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel chaired by Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social & featuring @mazzucatom.bsky.social, @francescabria.bsky.social, @ceciliarikap.bsky.social & Mike Braken 🔗 Watch the recording here: buff.ly/gIsnILK

Now do 'why there is something rather than nothing': www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We'll be discussing DARPA and public innovation next week @ucl.ac.uk @iipp-ucl.bsky.social @rainerkattel.bsky.social You can join in-person or online www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...