On June 11, the seventh “Humanities × Technology” Thinkers’ Forum, jointly organized by the School of Public Administration and the Advanced Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (AI-HSS), was held at the Qingshuihe Campus, UESTC. This forum, titled Constructing the Public Service Discipline with Chinese Characteristics, featured Professor Chen Zhenming as the keynote speaker. Professor Chen is Dean of the School of Public Policy Research at Xiamen University and winner of the Fudan Award for Outstanding Contribution in Management. The forum was moderated by Professor Ding Huang, Specially Appointed Dean of the School of Public Administration.  Professor Shen Xiaorong, on behalf of AI-HSS, presented Professor Chen with a Letter of Appointment as a Member of the Advisory Committee.

Professor Ding introduced Professor Chen's major academic achievements, stating that as a leading figure in the field of public management in China, his research outcomes have provided important guidance for the theoretical development and practice of public services. He hoped that both faculty and students can benefit from this forum.

Professor Chen conducted an in-depth analysis of the construction of the public service discipline from three key dimensions: historical evolution, disciplinary positioning, and digital transformation, under the theme of "Theory and Practice of Public Service Discipline Construction". He pointed out that public services, as the core carrier of ensuring and improving people's livelihood, play an important role in the process of China’s path to modernization. With the advent of the digital age, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data have opened up new paths to improve the quality of public services. Despite continuous technological innovations, the fundamental purpose of "serving the people" in public services has remained unchanged. Instead, it continues to enhance people's well-being and happiness through innovative traditional content and methods.

When sorting out the ideological origins, disciplinary positioning, and research paradigms of public services, Professor Chen emphasized that building a theory of public service with Chinese characteristics must be based on local practice, integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives such as political science, economics, sociology, and information science, and gradually build an autonomous knowledge system. Taking the international seminars on public services as an example, Professor Chen proposed that a public service theory and institutional system with Chinese characteristics, style, and grandeur should be comprehensively constructed based on local conditions, rooted in practice, exploring traditions, and engaging the world, through comparisons at home and abroad, and combined with China's own development situation.

At the end of the forum, Professor Chen emphasized the opportunities that digitization brings to the development of the public service discipline. He believed that interdisciplinary integration, technological innovation to support the development of disciplines, and technology to empower public services will become a new trend in the development of public service discipline, helping to further enhance people's sense of happiness in life.

The attending faculty and students expressed that Professor Chen elaborated on the relevant content of constructing a public service discipline with Chinese characteristics in a clear and concise manner in this forum, which not only provided valuable academic insights for the attendees, but also clarified important ideas and directions for the construction and academic research of the public service discipline.