While policy-making does not necessarily follow a linear path, the Framework provides guidance on management tools and policy instruments that can support policymakers once a policy challenge has been identified, defined, and framed to determine courses of action. Evidence suggests that the following management tools can improve the quality of policy formulation and design. The Framework stresses the importance of:
- Strategic planning to translate political commitments and ambitions into strategies and action plans,
- Skills for developing policy, that combine traditional aptitudes with new skills in digital, open and innovative government,
- Digital capacities to enable collaboration and enhance transparency,
- Use of data to identify or anticipate societal needs and inform policy design.
Governments usually have three main instruments at their disposal to achieve their objectives: spending, taxation and regulation. Digital tools and public procurement also provide very powerful avenues for giving effect to policy measures. This chapter highlights the importance of:
- Regulatory policy and governance to ensure that regulations meet the desired objectives and new challenges as efficiently as possible.
- Budgetary governance to translate political commitments into decisions on what policies receive financing and how these resources are generated.
