This article is written by Mahlet Yared, UK Policy Adviser and Founder of Crossector

Update January 2024: Since the publication of this article in October 2020, the Crossector commmunity is no longer actively collaborating. But you can reach out to the author to ask about her experiences and insights from leading this project.

The relationship between government and industry is critical. The decisions and actions undertaken by policymakers affect, well, everyone, but particularly businesses and practitioners within them.

I think I can speak for most public servants when I say recent months have highlighted the complexity of the policy questions we grapple with. As I write this, we are witnessing colossal government intervention in economies around the world, arguably the most significant of its kind, ever.

At the best of times, policy design requires exceptional aptitude and specialist skill. Whether it's regulating the financial sector, designing healthcare policy or planning large scale infrastructure projects, policy requires both niche technical skills and sound judgement.

As we enter into a strange new future, policymakers are confronted with an added layer of uncertainty and instability, making the job all the more challenging. At this time, we should be adopting a more open approach to policymaking and proactively inviting industry specialists, practitioners and frontline workers into the policy design process.

This way, we can collectively build high-quality solutions to the very complex policy challenges we face.

Working across sectors because we need to

Cross-sector leadership refers to proactive collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve holistic solutions to government policy and business challenges.

For the public sector, it enables policymakers to apply a broader range of technical skills, strategies and innovation from outside their usual settings. For businesses and industry practitioners, it provides an opportunity to influence and be involved in policy outcomes.

I started the network as I personally couldn't find an easy way for people across sectors to have a dialogue and collaborate

The organisational design of many public institutions often limits opportunities to interact with private sector and industry expertise. As a UK policymaker myself, I have found this to be a challenge. The public policy consultation processes can be slow and inflexible, and I have found some of my most valuable insights have come when I have reached to friendly stakeholders outside of my immediate work group.

Crossector is a newly formed organisation aiming to plug this gap — like Apolitical it prepares policymakers for future challenges through collaboration with industry practitioners and experts. I started the network as I personally couldn't find an easy way for people across sectors to have a dialogue and collaborate. I also found that many professionals outside of the public sector were keen to apply their skills and insights to the broader debates and issues.

Crossector’s members are a truly diverse range of professionals all with a common interest in collaborating to solve society’s toughest challenges in science, healthcare, economy and social issues. Through bespoke problem-solving sessions and the dynamic network, Crossector identifies shared objectives and interests between policy and industry. Members can actively design and contribute to policy discussions in a open and collaborative way.

Crossecor is accepting new members, ahead of workshops and events taking place in the coming months. It is free to join, via this short form . For further information email at hello@crossector.org. — Mahlet Yared

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