Future is Public : International database of de-privatised public services
TNI has launched the International database of de-privatised public services! It has been more than seven months since the conference Future is Public in Amsterdam. We hope you are well.
If you go to: https://publicfutures.org
* you can search for countries, sectors, years, how de-privatisation happened, etc,
* you can download all cases,
* you can submit new cases - click 'Submit case '. You are requested to make your account,
*The database contains 1452 cases in total (end of July 2020).
Many organisations and committed individuals have engaged in the collective work to build this database full of evidence that the privatisation of water and other essential services has failed as well as evidence of successfully not only reversing privatisation and achieving socially and environmentally just public services. This database is an illustration of our collective power to reclaim public services!
"The Future is Public: towards democratic ownership of public services" was published last month by 17 organisations. This book features 1408 successful remunicipalisation cases in water, energy, health care, social services, waste, education, telecommunication, transport, local government services. This is the starting point of the database.
A special thanks to Andrew Cumbers (Professor of the University of Glasgow) and his team, who began the research project ‘Global Remunicipalisation and the Post-Neoliberal Turn’. Andrew and his team have made it possible to build this interactive database.
We also want to share another exciting development. The Sidney-based think tank Per Capita Research fellow Osmond Chiu, associated with the Community & Public Sector Union (CPSU), has presented 43 new de-privatisation cases from Australia. The cases are from hospitals, water, energy, prisons, and transport, including very significant cases at state and national levels. His opinion piece 'One of the biggest open secrets in Australian public policy' reveals the strength of public opposition to privatisation.
These cases have now been added to the database. This is an example of how we hope the database, with your participation, will grow as a public knowledge wikipedia on de-privatisation!
The Glasgow team continues to work on improving the database, with further functions in the field of statistics, more detailed download possibilities and a more active appearance. The database is now in a sort of testing and pilot stage. So we would be grateful to hear your feedback. In September, we will start doing outreach to a broader audience, including universities, municipalities, associations and journalists.
Additionally, executive summaries of the "Future is public" book in French Spanish and Japanese are now available. Arabic and Dutch summaries will follow in the coming weeks and months.
Your contact points for this database:
Satoko Kishimoto Transnational Institute Amsterdam www.tni.org e: [email protected] m: +32 4 7448 6268 t: @satokokishimoto