Public-Private Partnerships are collaboration between government and private ventures that is done to complete a project meant for the public good. Understanding the nuances of this strategy is critical for any potential engagement to occur.

In order to provide an insight of this tool, the World Bank with the help of Coursera is offering an online course on Public-Private Partnerships. The aim is to make the learners understand the major principles and roles of PPPs and how successfully this tool can be used to deliver value added infrastructure services.

This is a four week course that will enable the participant to get first-hand information and knowledge from practitioners, government officials, and academicians. The entire course consists of video lectures, suggested readings, quizzes for evaluation.

The instructors for this course are from Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, the Indian School of Business, the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Speaking about the course, Fernanda Ruiz Nuñez, senior infrastructure economist at the World Bank, said, “It’s a topic that has been very important for our client countries.

We have provided many trainings that are more technical and specific for people that are actually doing PPPs, but we wanted to reach a much broader audience, and we thought this platform is the best way.”

The present PPPs scenario in the world remains positive with 134 developing countries adopting the model and with 15-20 percent of total infrastructure investment.

This course provides two tracks. Track one is ‘PPP awareness’ and the track two is ‘Policy and Practice’. There is an option to switch from ‘PPP awareness’ to ‘Policy and Practice’ track at any point of time during the course. The course syllabus includes modules such as
-Reducing the Infrastructure Service Gap: The Role of PPPs
-Getting Decision-Making Right: PPP Frameworks and Institutions
-Attracting the Right Partner: Procuring PPPs
-Making the Partnership Work: Implementing PPPs.

The participants who successfully complete the course shall receive a Coursera Statement of Accomplishment. For this, one needs to have a cumulative 50% in the relevant assignments. Furthermore, those who secure 80% or over shall receive a distinction.

The course begins on June 1, 2015 and end on June 28, 2015.

The course has three instructors. Fernanda Ruiz Nuñez, the first instructor is a Senior Infrastructure Economist in the Public Private Partnership Group at the World Bank Group.Jane Jamieson has 20 years of technical and managerial experience of delivering infrastructure projects and programs in developing countries. The third instructor Dianne Rudo has 30 years of international advisory experience structuring and financing infrastructure transactions, financing initiatives and risk mitigation instruments to support private investment and public-private partnerships transactions in developed and emerging markets.

This is not the first course from the World Bank. It signed an agreement with the Coursera to provide Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for practical learning in the field of infrastructure development and social issues. Its first MOOC was on climate change and its impact on the world.

Join this free online course of World Bank & Coursera.