Civil servants primed to share insights, learn from peers and gain inspiration at Global Government Forum’s Innovation conference
Thousands of civil and public servants from the UK and beyond will gather in London on 24 and 25 March to hear how government leaders from around the world are innovating to improve services for citizens and to enable their teams to work more efficiently and effectively.
The Innovation conference and exhibition – which Cat Little, chief operating officer of the UK civil service and permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office, called a “groundbreaking gathering” – brings together government leaders from across the globe responsible for the transformation and acceleration of their public sector organisations and services.
Organised by Global Government Forum and co-hosted by the UK Government, UK Civil Service and the Cabinet Office, the event covers innovation across a range of topics, including data, digital transformation, workforce, culture, sustainability, and more. It is free for civil servants to attend.
This year for the first time, as well as the central government agenda, there are programmes dedicated to defence, national security, cyber and resilience; health; and local government.
Among the 200 speakers across the two-day event, senior UK leaders include Cat Little – who will open the event with a keynote address on 24 March; Emran Miran, permanent secretary of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Samantha Jones, permanent secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care; and former cabinet secretary and head of the UK civil service, Lord Gus O’Donnell.
International speakers will attend from countries including Canada, the US, Germany, Spain, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the European Commission. They include Gregory Barbaccia, US federal chief information officer; Alar Karis, president of the Republic of Estonia; and Marie-Chantal Girard, president of the Public Service Commission of Canada.
One of the speakers, Carla Groom, who is head of human-centred design science at the UK Department for Work and Pensions, wrote on LinkedIn that the Innovation conference “is one of the absolute highlights of my year. The Excel centre buzzes with people from around the whole world with a passion to deliver better policies and public services for citizens, and I get to share what we’ve learned in the year since the last one”.
Find out more about the Innovation 2026 agenda and speakers and register to attend here
Cat Little: collaboration ‘essential to achieve first rate, citizen-focused services’
In a letter sent to colleagues in January urging them to attend the conference, Little wrote: “Inspired by the success of the last two years, I’m excited to be again hosting and speaking at Innovation. This groundbreaking gathering will again bring together public servants from across the UK civil service, wider public service, and from around the world to share examples of innovation, meet their peers and learn from each other.”
She added: “We all know that we need to develop and test new approaches to delivery – and learn what works to better serve our citizens and elected leaders. Collaboration across the public service, with delivery partners and internationally is essential to achieve the first rate, citizen-focused services we strive for.
“The connections made, innovations shared and lessons learned [at Innovation in previous years] have been invaluable in shaping thinking around civil service modernisation.”
A jam-packed agenda
The agenda – which includes plenary sessions, roundtables, workshops, exhibitions and networking – covers topics such as unlocking government transformation; embedding innovation into public service; building capacity and skills for innovation; and boosting public sector resilience.
There will be sessions showcasing innovations from government departments, and spotlighting the best ideas from the UK government’s test and learn programme.
“We want as many of you as possible to join in these discussions, take the opportunity to meet colleagues, share groundbreaking examples of government innovation from around the world and help us be a truly modern civil service,” Little said.
She highlighted that the conference agenda has been steered by the priorities identified through consultation across government and in-depth interviews with permanent secretaries, undertaken as part of Global Government Forum’s study Rewiring the State: Unlocking Government Transformation.
This year, Innovation will also see the semi-finalists in the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge showcase their ideas to the judging panel in front of a live audience as they compete for the prize worth £50,000 of digital product development.
The event’s partners include Visa, Snowflake, CGI, Digital Modus, Salesforce, PA, Nortal, Deloitte, Rainmaker, and Hippo, and government departments and agencies including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Defence and Security Accelerator, and the Open Innovation Team, based in the Department for Education.
Find out more about Innovation 2026 and register to attend here
Insights from Innovation 2026 speakers:
Aligning digital innovation with the needs of public administration: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
Rising to challenges by exploiting technological advance: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
‘Sharing, learning and getting inspired’: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
‘Tolerating risk, being brave’: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
Building a joined-up state: UK government leaders share Innovation 2026 insights
Interviews with Innovation 2026 speakers:
‘It’s important to bring people with you’: the UK Ministry of Defence’s Tim Ketton-Locke on making the government’s defence reforms happen
‘The impact on patient experience will be profound’: Five minutes with Matt Philpott, executive director of technology, NHS England
Helping to solve your most complex problems: Five minutes with Annette Southgate, deputy director of the UK Home Office’s Accelerated Capability Environment
Turning digital ambition into measurable outcomes: Five minutes with Hatim Abdulhussein, chief executive officer, Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex
The harms of not using data in health: Five minutes with Rory Collins, chief executive, UK Biobank
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
