My colleagues have given me some flak over the fact that many of the visitors to this site will have no idea what "PPP" is in the set of topic selections that you see at the head of this portal.  It's true, not too many people in the US Federal government circles are talking about Public Private Partnership these days.  I think we should be talking more about this.  In fact, I don't think many of the most important issues of our day can be addressed in the absence of rigorous application of global best practices in Public Private Partnership.

PPP has been responsible for dramatic improvements in public service at lower cost to taxpayers right across the world.  Some great companies - like Serco - have raised the art of Public Private Partnership to near art form.  Those that have successfully built businesses around "P3" have been rewarded them with robust growth while improving the lives of citizens in ways that are subtle in their individual effect, but dramatic in the cumulative benefit to the economies of the nations they serve.

The US Federal government has made good use of the concepts of PPP in a few instances.  For example, the FAA's Automated Flight Service Stations program award to Lockheed Martin back in 2005 is right on track to deliver over $2 billion in savings to the US taxpayer while improving services to US general aviation pilots.  The savings are being delivered by exploiting the financial resources and innovation of the private sector to achieve dramatic improvements in process and technologies to deliver an essential public service.  

That is what PPP is all about.  Do you have an example of how PPP has made a difference in the accomplishment of an agency mission?  What worked?  What didn't?

More later on the barriers to PPP in the US Federal market.