How do governments learn from ad hoc groups during crises? From SARS to COVID-19

Abstract

Ad hoc bodies such as committees, task forces and working groups are often deployed by governments on a temporary and short-term basis to respond to conditions of crisis. These groups differ from long-term advisory bodies and can help bypass typical challenges encountered in bureaucracies for governments to act quickly under crisis. Being transient in nature, formal mechanisms to track the institutional roles played by ad hoc groups under crisis are often lacking and can lead to missed opportunities for policy learning leveraging on their strengths when these are deployed again. This exploratory article applies a policy learning lens to examine experiences of five Asian economies in creating ad hoc groups during SARS and COVID-19. Recognising that learning is a complex construct, this article attempts to observe the diverse institutional roles assumed by ad hoc groups for crisis management. We position our contribution as a first step towards a better understanding of the structure and function of short-term ad hoc groups, and argue this can aid a more fruitful deployment and utilisation of similar groups for improved crisis management in the future.