Interface is a private consulting firm
located in Lucerne, Switzerland. A key aspect of its company
policy is to present scientific expertise in such a way that it can be put to
practical use. Hence the company name Interface constitutes the agenda: Putting
science in the service of social and political practice.
Interface specialises, first, in evaluation and assessment of public
policy, conducting summative and formative evaluations, ex-ante, ex-post and
meta evaluations, developing evaluation concepts for policy programs and
measures and providing support with self-evaluations. Second, Interface has
many years experience in consulting the public sector on strategic as well as
operational issues, including the implementation of administrative reforms (for
example, using an integrated performance and effects approach), participative
planning processes, moderation of workshops, arranging and conducting training
courses as well as supporting organisational development. Finally, Interface carries
out applied interdisciplinary research with a view to finding solutions to
current socio-political problems. This research is done mainly in the context
of research programs of the Swiss National Science Foundation and on behalf of
the Federal Administration.
Interface focuses on four policy areas: transport,
environment and energy; social security and integration; education and family; health;
and institutional reform. The company has broad competences and experience in these
areas as it consists of an interdisciplinary team of fifteen research
associates trained in the different disciplines political science, economics,
sociology, history, environmental science and geography.