The plans form part of the government’s Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, which seeks to position Australia as a global leader in developing and adopting “trusted, secure and responsible” AI

Global Government Forum’s regular webinars attract public servants from around the world to discuss some of the most pressing issues faced across government. Here are some of 2023’s most popular sessions

Visit Global Government Forum’s webinar page to register for upcoming events in 2024

Getting to net zero: how governments and infrastructure players can close the gap

The growing impact of climate change has been laid bare this year. July saw the three hottest days on record, while wildfires spread across both Europe and North America.

United Nations secretary general António Guterres has said this “cruel summer” demonstrated that “the era of global boiling has arrived”, so governments need to act to reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

However, research by EY and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) has found that this investment is not sufficient to fully decarbonize economies, with a total investment of US$139 trillion in sustainable infrastructure required – a gap of US$64 trillion.

This webinar with knowledge partner EY, will brought together public servants from around the world to discuss how governments can close this investment gap.

We discussed how governments can assess the investment they need to make in net zero, and look at how different countries around the world are catalysing investment in sustainable infrastructure through collaboration with the broader infrastructure community of asset owners, investors, innovators and businesses.

Safety in numbers: making sure all public servants have the cyber security skills they need

As more and more government services move online, the need for high quality cyber security skills becomes ever more pressing for departments and organisations.

This webinar looked at how governments can boost cyber security across the full range of departments and agencies, considering how organisations need to respond to the ‘new normal’ of flexible and remote working to ensure that the key information of government remains secure, and consider what techniques, such as zero trust, governments can use to make sure that they are eliminating as many threats as possible.

AI for all? Addressing the biases in automation

The development of artificial intelligence creates opportunities to automate public sector  bureaucracy and improve the delivery of public services. However, concerns are growing that the use of AI algorithms could also perpetuate and exacerbate existing inequalities and disparities in society.

This webinar looked at how governments can use artificial intelligence in hiring decisions and beyond in a way that reduces inequality rather than exacerbates it.

Report launch: do government services work for citizens?

Governments around the world have rarely faced as much pressure as they do now. A once-in-a-century pandemic, high inflation, budgetary pressures, volatility caused by global conflicts, and mass industrial action pose major challenges that governments and civil services have to overcome.

Amid all these pressures, do government services still work effectively?

Exclusive research by Global Government Forum and knowledge partner Appian has examined how well public services are responding to these pressures. We have surveyed public servants around the world to find out how they rate both the quality of the services provided by their organisation, and the standard of the government services they use.

This launch webinar shared that exclusive insight into how public servants in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Italy rate government services, as well as revealing the extent to which public servants workloads are increasing, and where they would like to focus their effort to improve services in the months ahead.

Just in time: how real time data can improve government delivery

Data is everywhere in government, as departments collect large amounts of information from many different sources across both public and private sectors.

Much of this information could be used to improve public services if it was made available to policymakers. But this insight can be lost if it takes too long to analyse the information and unlock the intelligence as data can go out of date quickly in a fast changing and uncertain world.

Using real time data can therefore ensure policymakers make decisions based on understanding the situation as it is, not as it was, and this Mastercard webinar looked at how governments can make the most of this insight.

The session looked at how data can be collated from public and private sector sources to improve both decision-making and the delivery of public services.

Harnessing the digital potential of government services

Governments worldwide are diligently modernizing and enhancing their online public services, catering to the rising expectations of citizens who seek convenient and efficient access to government functions. Nevertheless, this journey towards digital transformation within the public sector has many challenges. Dated technology, resistance to change, and financial constraints often act as formidable obstacles, impeding progress and the development of user-friendly digital services.

In partnership with SAP and DXC Technology, this webinar brought together government officials from across the globe to share their experiences in making government services digital and more effective. The session explored strategies to overcome these hurdles and uncover the substantial benefits that arise from digitizing government services.

Following the money: how can data and technology combine to help governments beat fraudsters?

As society becomes increasingly digitalised, the volume of digital data held by – and accessible to – governments is on the rise.

Governments worldwide are increasingly keen to capitalise on this trend, using technology-led solutions to prevent fraud and catch those who have committed fraud, but lack of budget, capacity or awareness of potential solutions are among the reasons why many governments are yet to grasp the nettle.

This Global Government Fintech/Global Government Forum webinar looked at how this can be resolved, and what are the biggest untapped possibilities – and obstacles – for governments when it comes to using data and technology to fight fraud.

Telethon: have three years of remote working changed public services for good?

More than three years on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, how – and where – the public sector works has been changed massively. Many public servants had to switch to working remotely nearly instantly in 2020 as countries introduced lockdowns to tackle the spread of COVID-19, and many governments then developed hybrid working arrangements – where officials work in the office and remotely throughout the week – as staff embraced the benefits of working from home.

However, many governments are still grappling with what the hybrid world means for public service delivery. While the views of staff that they want to retain the option of working remotely, senior public servants have said that they are still lacking the data on business efficiency and output from flexible working.

This webinar looked at how three years of flexible working has affected – for better or worse – the productivity of public services, and looked at how leaders, managers and staff can come together to understand what works.

Responsive government Survey 2023: success in the era of permacrisis

From high inflation and budgetary pressures to recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, global governments are responding to a series of unprecedented crises.

In the Responsive Government Survey 2023, Global Government Forum and knowledge partner PA Consulting surveyed public servants around the world to assess how well governments are standing up to these challenges.

In this webinar, our experts revealed the results of our research and provided exclusive insight into how public services have weathered unpredictable storms. We unveiled the world’s most responsive governments, explored why public service leaders are more optimistic than their rank-and-file colleagues, and identified where public servants think responsiveness has improved in the last 12 months.

Getting international development right: how to maximise aid impact

International aid is a key humanitarian and foreign policy tool of many governments around the world. Overseas development assistance is intended to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries – and is of increasing importance in addressing climate change.

Overseas development assistance is also going to be crucial to helping countries move to net zero through the development of clean power and other sustainable infrastructure. And – at a time of constraints on government budgets – making sure that aid money is spent effectively is a key concern for both donor countries and recipients.

This webinar looked at how international development spending can help countries reach net zero, and well as looking at how the impact of projects is best assessed, how to manage them on the ground, and how to evaluate what has worked best.

Visit Global Government Forum’s webinar page to register for upcoming events in 2024