Issue From Public 'Good' to 'Great'

Summary

This opportunity asks what a new model for delivering public goods could look like. It proposes Society-Public-Private cooperation, adding society as a partner alongside government and business, to open new solutions in health, the environment and other fields. Traditional public-private partnerships have reduced cost and schedule overruns in areas such as healthcare and construction, but they struggle where the public sector lacks resources, skills or strategic capacity. In Latin America between 1985 and 2000, 75% of water and 55% of transport concessions had to be renegotiated within 2.2 years on average, and a later review found rates of 87% and 78% with renegotiation arriving after about one year. Meanwhile the top 300 cooperatives generated $2.79 trillion in turnover in 2023, showing that society-owned businesses can scale, and the expected gain is better and cheaper public goods, though partners may lose independence and the state may lose revenue or control of strategic assets.