Public service delivery is a vital service provided by local governments, ranging from healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Cities and municipalities worldwide are constantly innovating to improve both the quality and accessibility of these services. Yet, effective delivery requires more than just provision—it demands problem-solving, collaboration, and adaptation.
This article introduces the case of the MELAYANI programme in Indonesia and the Moving Day Permit System in the city of Boston, United States of America, to demonstrate how problem identification and cross-sectoral collaboration drive better public services.
MELAYANI: untangling problems for better service
MELAYANI stands for “Untangling problems to improve basic services in Indonesia”. The programme is a joint initiative by Kementerian PPN/Bappenas, the Australian government, the World Bank Group, Local Solutions to Poverty, and BaKTI.
It aims to support local governments to find solutions for public service delivery by understanding the issues local governments face and how they can be better supported in doing so. The programme has experience in Bojonegroro in East Java, Kubu Raya in West Kalimantan, and Belu in East Nusa Tenggara.
A problem-focused mindset
The core thinking behind the programme is a problem-focused mindset. Understanding there is no one-fits-all solution, the programme helps identify the complex, context-specific challenges faced by local government. Thus, it helps local governments take an active role in identifying and addressing these complex obstacles to improve basic services.
It is anchored in the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach but augmented by other schools of thought, including Deliverology and experiences in implementing MELAYANI’s predecessor, the Rapid Assessment and Action Plan approach.
Local government capacity building
The MELAYANI programme works with local governments to solve service delivery problems while testing scalable capacity development approaches and learning about locally-led change. It suggests ways to enhance local governments’ competence by addressing root causes to understand what’s needed.
Local governments are supported to:
- Identify the underlying causes of delivery challenges.
- Use data and evidence to inform actions.
- Test, adjust, and refine solutions through iterative cycles.
Credit: World Bank
Cross-sectoral collaboration
One of the key advantages of a problem-focused approach is the opportunity for different sectors to work together on their mutual goal. The programme indeed gathered development actors from different sectors to facilitate multi-sectoral approaches. It allows more actors to mobilise the resources and improve service delivery.
Evidence-driven improvement
The programme has successfully driven evidence-based improvement. In the city of Belu, officials initially believed teacher certification would drive learning improvements. After examining school environments, they discovered that clear supervision and actionable feedback from the headmaster were more critical. This insight led to cross-school working groups and stronger engagement from district school supervisors—an example of shifting from assumptions to evidence-based practice.
Credit: World Bank
Boston: improving traffic management via online permit system
The problem: the moving day congestion ordeal
The 1st of September every year is called “Moving day” in Boston, characterized by the high number of people moving houses on that day. The reasons are multifaceted, ranging from over 163,000 students starting their schools in September to real estate reaching the lowest point in September to the difficult winter for moving. The impacts are apparent: traffic congestion, gridlocked cities, and an overburdened waste management system. In this context, Boston drivers lost more than 5 days due to congestion in 2022, while the moving day alone generated an additional 38 tons of trash. As the locals would describe, the moving day is a chaos due to the inconvenience of congestion, disposal of waste, parking lot availability, and general city operation disruption.
Credit: The New York Times
The solution: the moving day permit
The Boston government responded by issuing a moving day permit, which guarantees the applicant a legal parking space. While it was not targeting 1 September alone, over 50% of the permits are issued in summer. As in 2025, 4500 moving day permits are issued in August, 2,500 for weekends alone. Multiple benefits encourage citizens to apply for moving day permits: avoidance of double or illegal parking, preventing traffic issues, and carrying furniture for a shorter distance.
For the Boston government, the benefits are multifaceted. It improves the traffic flow by preventing gridlock on streets and keeping emergency routes open, which also contributes to public safety. It also improves efficiency by predicting traffic management and waste pick-up workloads. Additionally, it provides data from the moving day permits for the government to plan better and design the neighbourhoods.
Credit: North Bennet Street School
Cross-department collaboration for service delivery
Yet one critical issue remained for the moving day permit. Before, the applicants needed to apply for the permit in person, which could take more than 2 hours during moving days. The Department of Innovation and Technology, therefore, stepped up to digitalise the process by creating an online system.
A major challenge is transferring the Transportation Department staff’s expertise in handling permit requests to the online system. Previously, staff manually reviewed requests and approved them based on experience to prevent conflicts. To ensure the online system maintains accuracy, the Department of Innovation and Technology learned from the staff by manually handling requests and having the department review them. This helped simplify its procedures.
Jascha Franklin-Hodge
Former Boston
Chief Innovation Officer
It’s important for us to respect the knowledge that actually exists within these departments and within the people who do this work. Then we need to figure out, ‘Okay, what’s both a way we can build trust and comfort in a more automated approach, but also have a do-no-harm mentality? Can we use the automated tools as a guide for a person to say, ‘This needs some level of human scrutiny?’
The system was launched in summer 2015, where 40% of permits are applied for right before the moving day, 1 September. It means 1,200 fewer people are lining up at City Hall for the permit.
Lessons learnt
These two cases—MELAYANI in Indonesia and Boston’s Moving Day Permits—offer several key insights for governments worldwide:
- Problem identification is foundational. Effective solutions begin with diagnosing the real, context-specific challenges, not just symptoms.
- Collaboration drives better outcomes. Cross-sectoral and cross-department partnerships unlock resources, knowledge, and shared accountability.
- Evidence should guide action. Data and iterative learning help governments adjust and refine approaches for lasting impact.
Together, these cases show that by combining problem-focused thinking, collaboration, and evidence-based adaptation, governments can transform public service delivery from routine administration into a driver of trust, resilience, and improved quality of life.
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