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Front end Governance of Major Public Projects

Governance regimes for major investment projects comprise the processes and systems that need to be in place on behalf of the financing party to ensure successful investments. This would typically include a regulatory framework to ensure adequate quality at entry, compliance with agreed objectives, management and resolution of issues that may arise during the project, etc., and standards for quality review of key governance documents. The challenges are abundant: How to ensure projects’ viability and relevance up-front; how to avoid hidden agendas during planning, underestimation of costs and overestimation of utility, unrealistic and inconsistent assumptions; how to secure essential planning data, adequate contract regimes, etc. Public investment projects do not always meet the expectations of different stakeholders. Many are delivered too late, at a higher cost, and do not meet agreed quality standards. These are common problems that might have considerable adverse effect on operational costs and even the economic viability. In most cases, however, the long term effects of such problems are minor. For instance, the Norwegian national university hospital was completed with considerable cost overrun. This, however, was equivalent to only some months of operational costs. The more serious type of problems associated with projects are when they are not able to produce the anticipated effect. Public resources are wasted. Clearly, a key to successful projects lies in the choice of concept and the fundamental design. This paper discusses measures in terms of governance regimes that might improve success in public investment projects. There are numerous questions to be answered, such as: Which are the current procedures applied in different countries and agencies and what are their effects? What would it take to develop more effective governance regimes at international, government or corporate level to ensure maximum utility and return on investment for society and investors? What would be the optimal mix of regulations, economic means and information in improved governance regimes for major investment projects?