From November 5-7, 2024, Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, hosted the first Joint Conference of 2024 under the theme “Towards a World-Class Bureaucracy.” This collaborative event was organized by the Asian Association for Public Administration (AAPA), the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA), the Asian Group for Public Administration (AGPA), and the Indonesian Association for Public Administration (IAPA), in partnership with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, the National Institute of Public Administration (LPN), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).

The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Diponegoro University (FISIP UNDIP) sent a delegation consisting of Dr. AP. Tri Yuniningsih, M.Si., Dr. A. Rina Herawati, Prof. Kismartini, Prof. Hartuti Purnaweni, and Amni Zarkazy, S.A.P., M.Si., who participated in this event to enhance both academic and institutional networking.

The conference emphasized that human resources are a primary foundation for inter-country and institutional development and growth. In the context of governance, bureaucracy is seen as the backbone of efficiency and effectiveness within the public sector. This was further highlighted in recent publications, such as the 2024 Regional Human Development Report titled Making Our Future: New Directions for Human Development in Asia and the Pacific by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report underscores the vital need to invest in the capacity and capabilities of the public sector workforce to maintain competitiveness, foster innovation, and ensure public sector readiness in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world.