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A license to think afresh: how the Data Challenge empowered civil service innovators

Under the UK’s Civil Service Data Challenge, staff were invited to send in their ideas for how to use data better in government. Matt Ross profiles a programme that drew […]

UK civil service urged to develop workforce plan before making up to 55,000 job cuts

Canadian government races to collect Phoenix overpayments as deadline looms

News

UK civil service urged to develop workforce plan before making up to 55,000 job cuts

Leading UK civil service observers have called on the British government to develop plans on the staffing requirement for the post-COVID public sector before it goes ahead with plans to […]

Canadian government races to collect Phoenix overpayments as deadline looms

Canada’s federal government is racing to recoup an estimated C$552m (US$433m) in overpayments made to employees as a result of the botched Phoenix pay system before they must be written […]

UK to get fully fledged ‘Office of the Prime Minister’ in response to Sue Gray report as premier rejects calls to resign

The UK government will create an Office of the Prime Minister headed by a top tier civil servant after a report into a series of parties in 10 Downing Street […]

US state and local governments ‘on the brink of a workforce crisis’

US employees across state and local government are considering leaving their jobs in increasingly large numbers, putting the sector at risk of a serious workforce shortage, according to new research. […]

AI

East Asian governments surge in AI readiness – see global rankings in full

Governments in countries across East Asia have leapt ahead in their readiness to adopt artificial intelligence in public services, according to an annual index report released by Oxford Insights. The […]

Brexit, AI governance, and public service leadership: 2021 in review

The top features and podcasts from GGF over the last 12 months As we mentioned in yesterday’s round up of 2021’s top news stories, it has been yet another year […]

AI regulation is coming. Here’s how governments can get it right

Many governments are beginning to consider what regulation is needed in the field of artificial intelligence. The Ada Lovelace Institute sets out what they need to get right to harness […]

China unveils AI ethics code

Artificial intelligence (AI) in China will remain “under meaningful human control” according to the country’s first set of rules which will govern every aspect of the emerging technology from its […]

Policy & Governance

Australian privacy regulator reform plan, White House sustainability talks, Davos summit’s ‘uncertainty’ warning: policy & delivery roundup

Global Government Forum’s weekly digest of all the news you need to know but might have missed Privacy regulator calls for more powers to enhance national regime The Office of […]

‘We have a totally different management style’: what makes Sweden the world’s most responsive government?

Sweden came out at the top of a whole host of rankings in the Responsive Government Survey 2021, conducted by Global Government Forum and PA Consulting. Richard Johnstone takes a […]

Mass vaccination: COVID-19 protection for the many, not the few

Global rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations has raised questions over supply, inequality and logistics. Catherine Early heard panellists at a Global Government Forum webinar discuss how they have overcome the many […]

Seven things we learned from the Responsive Government Survey

The Responsive Government Survey 2021, conducted by Global Government Forum and PA Consulting, gathered views from civil servants about their confidence in their organisation’s ability to respond and adapt effectively […]

Partner Content

Energy transition: a complex but necessary journey

Economic Outlook 2022: What the data says about the risks and responses needed to capture emerging opportunities

Identity certainty: How biometrics can help secure public services

Security at the centre: why biometrics is key to supporting digital ID programmes

How to make digital transformation happen in your department in 2022

The path to digital government

Interviews

Crystal clear: Sir Ian Diamond on using data to profile the pandemic

The UK civil service has transformed its data operations during the pandemic, says Office for National Statistics chief Professor Sir Ian Diamond – web-scraping, integrating datasets, and building partnerships with […]

Leading Questions podcast: civil service leaders share what they learned from their time at the top

From working with ministers to managing personal resilience, every episode a former senior civil servant reflects candidly on the challenges they have faced in their career and what they learned […]

Time traveller: Israeli IT chief Shahar Bracha on digital’s leap into the future

The pandemic has supercharged progress on Israel’s digital services, says the head of its Government ICT Authority – and cleared the path ahead for radical reforms to create corporate IDs […]

First build the foundations: Shaida Badiee on governments’ misplaced aid policies

After nearly two decades running the World Bank’s Development Data Group, Shaida Badiee now works to help developing nations improve their data systems. And she has a clear message for […]

Features

A license to think afresh: how the Data Challenge empowered civil service innovators

Under the UK’s Civil Service Data Challenge, staff were invited to send in their ideas for how to use data better in government. Matt Ross profiles a programme that drew […]

Fixing governments’ broken financial systems

Many finance departments have rescued their economies from major crises twice since 2008, but do they have the tools and assets to do so a third time? At the Government […]

Top job application tips for digital roles in government

A UK civil servant has set out a series of job application tips to help would-be public servants make the most of their application for digital roles in government. In […]

‘A global inflection point’: Government finance chiefs set out how their countries are launching the post-COVID economy

The pandemic has done huge damage to growth rates and public finances – but digital technologies, green growth and government interventions offer an economic lifeboat. At the first session of […]

Digital & Technology

A license to think afresh: how the Data Challenge empowered civil service innovators

Under the UK’s Civil Service Data Challenge, staff were invited to send in their ideas for how to use data better in government. Matt Ross profiles a programme that drew […]

Former UK GDS chief lists biggest digital challenges

The former head of the UK’s Government Digital Service this week called for major changes in how governments handle digital technologies, as he set out the findings of a report […]

Malta tops European league table for digital government

Malta has been ranked top out of a list of 36 European countries in the European Commission’s latest league table for online government services. The commission’s eGovernment Benchmark Reports 2021 […]

US government needs to compete for tech talent, says GSA chief

The US government is “embarrassingly out of sync” with private sector salaries but could compete for tech talent by offering long-term telework opportunities and making it easier to navigate the […]

Finance

UK chancellor announces largest departmental spend increase ‘this century’

Spending by UK government departments is to grow by £150bn (US$206bn) over the period to 2024-25. UK chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the increase in his Budget and Spending Review today, […]

Resilience, stocks and supplies: public procurement during the pandemic

When COVID hit, governments had to address a series of colossal procurement challenges – sourcing the services and goods required to keep people safe as global supply lines failed. At […]

UK government must improve commercial transparency and market knowledge, watchdog says

UK’s green recovery plan lacks ambition and co-ordination, think tank warns

OECD tax deal set to hike receipts from digital giants and corporations

Pandemic set to boost productivity, says Bank of England chief economist

OECD warns of uneven economic recovery from COVID-19, despite global growth

New Zealand sets out 2021 budget with new inclusive wellbeing framework

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37lGqGIFBG8

Anil Arora, the chief statistician of Canada answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.

https://youtu.be/sCf9jpuBCIU

Alex Benay, chief information officer of the Government of Canada answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.

https://youtu.be/fVUcUJ9fYck

Tim Occleshaw, Deputy Government Chief Digital Officer, New Zealand answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.

https://youtu.be/164iyzNBllE

Kevin Cunnington, Director General of the Government Digital Service, UK answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvjmbin2bbg

Heiki Loot, Secretary of State, Estonian Government answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZFtd2lXnNQ

Sunil Shahaney, former Director of the Debt Programme, Cabinet Office answers Global Government Forum’s five questions for better government.