Transformation in the Public Interest

The transformation of the Kennedy Space Center offers evidence that the public sector is capable of swift transformation. 

All jokes about bureaucracy aside, the COVID-19 pandemic offered proof that at least some slices of the public sector are capable of change. South Korea’s response to the pandemic, informed by earlier battles with the MERS virus, was among the best in the world, and even before the pandemic, there are examples of quick, successful changes in the public sector. Consider the transformation that occurred at the Kennedy Space Center. When the decision was made to ground the space shuttle, 50 years of passion and experience could have gone to waste. Instead, leaders embraced change and welcomed commercial launch programs.

Thanks to this ability to shift away from the past toward future relevance, talent hasn’t gone to waste, the United States is still strengthening its space program, and Florida’s central coast is enjoying economic benefits.

The first step in public sector transformation...