From power shifts to productivity: Public service trends in 2024
After another busy year for public servants, we round up some of Global Government Forum’s top news stories and features from the last 12 months, highlighting the trends, challenges and opportunities facing civil services around the globe.
A historic year of elections
2024 was the biggest year in modern history for elections around the globe. Citizens of more than 60 countries – collectively home to about half of the world’s population – have cast their votes for national leaders in 2024 and the results will have major implications for what happens in 2025 and beyond.
Following a landslide victory in June, Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, was elected as Mexico’s first female president. While the win was hailed as a seismic shift, commentators noted that Sheinbaum inherited a challenging responsibility including cartel criminality, the growing threat of narco-politics, and surging violence against women.
In the UK in July, the Labour Party celebrated a landslide victory, winning more than 400 seats as the Conservative Party lost power for the first time in 14 years. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer adopted a mission-driven approach focused on economic growth, clean energy, public safety, better healthcare and breaking down barriers to opportunity.
In the United States, Donald Trump won the election and will return to power for his second presidential stint in January, likely ushering in sweeping changes in areas from AI to climate.
As the presidential transition got under way, Global Government Forum published exclusive research, based on interviews with 13 members of the US federal government’s CIO Council, on the steps the next US administration should take to drive digital transformation across the federal government.
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Governments push for greater productivity
2024 has seen several incoming and incumbent governments double down on productivity and efficiency amid financial challenges and growing service demand. 2025 could demonstrate the results of these approaches – some of which are more radical than others.
US president-elect Donald Trump grabbed headlines when he named entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a Department of Government Efficiency, with the aim to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies”. DOGE will not actually be a formal government agency but will work “from outside government” to provide “advice and guidance”.
Japan’s administrative reform minister Masaaki Taira was quick to take note, saying he would look to learn lessons from the initiative.
In the UK Autumn Budget, UK chancellor Rachel Reeves set a productivity, efficiency and savings target for all departments, saying it would be vital to “driving efficiency and reducing wasteful spending”.
“We are setting a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target for all departments to meet next year by using technology more effectively and joining up services across government,” she said.
The year closes out with the government of Canada announcing the creation of a working group to boost public service productivity, with a mandate to provide advice on how government can be more innovative, flexible and efficient in delivering services for Canadians by the end of March 2025.
Anita Anand, the president of the Treasury Board and minister of transport, said that – as the public sector accounts for nearly 40% of Canada’s overall gross domestic product – “it’s crucial to consider the role of the federal public service in strengthening Canada’s productivity”.
Research from Global Government Forum found that nine in ten civil servants say their organisation faces a productivity challenge, with 56% characterising it as significant or very significant. While the solution to this complex challenge is multifaceted, survey respondents highlighted the untapped potential of technology to improve productivity – and tipped AI as likely to have the biggest impact.
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Governments are redefining their approach to productivity
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AI everywhere
Artificial intelligence has continued to be a major focus for governments who want to harness its potential to improve citizen services and boost efficiency while also managing risks.
France, for instance, appointed its first AI minister, Clara Chappaz. Chappaz is the former director of the French Tech Mission, which France’s public administration set up to support French tech start-up programmes. Her official title is secretary of state for AI and digitalisation and the position did not previously include reference to AI.
In addition, some governments began to share early results of large-scale AI trials. Australian public servants who took part in a six-month trial of generative AI reported that it saved them an average of an hour a day but the pilot also flagged risks around accuracy and bias and concerns about the impact on jobs.
Donald Trump’s re-election is expected to impact AI in the US. He recently announced the appointment of former PayPal senior executive David Sacks as his AI and crypto ‘czar’. Trump has also pledged to rescind president Joe Biden’s Executive Order on AI that was signed in October 2023.
In 2024, Global Government Forum published exclusive research examining how ready the UK is to realise the potential of AI. The report found that in the words of one interviewee: “It’s like we’re driving a car with one foot very firmly pressed down on the accelerator and one foot pressed down on the brake”. The report highlights key challenges, blockers and actionable solutions that will help accelerate the use of AI across departments.
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US federal CIO Clare Martorana on ‘human-centred policymaking’ at the speed of AI
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Evolving the civil service
Governments have continued to try and improve the way the civil service works.
At Global Government Forum’s Public Service Data Live in September, the chief operating officer of the UK civil service set out her “big missions” to reform pay, tools and training for civil servants.
Cat Little, who took up her roles as COO and permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office in April, told an audience of civil servants: “I’ve come into this job and looked at the state of the civil service and where we are, and we’re saying there are three really big things we’ve got to sort out.”
Reforms in these areas represent “the three pillars of what we’re going to be looking at in the future, and data and digital technology [are] right at the heart of it”, she said.
Some civil service issues remain more contentious – one being remote working. The Canadian government’s mandate requiring public servants to work in their federal office for a minimum of three days a week took effect in early September. However, trade unions said they would challenge the mandate. This debate is likely to rumble on well into 2025 in Canada and beyond as several governments want more civil servants back in the office.
The year closed out with some inspiration with Singapore coming out on top of a new ranking of the performance of 120 public administrations around the world, with Denmark, Canada, Norway and Finland completing the top five.
Global Government Forum research this year also revealed the key characteristics needed in a modern public service, with priorities ranging across leadership, digital service delivery, workforce development, cross-departmental integration, and citizen trust. The Making Government Work report pinpoints five pillars of a modern, effective civil service and is the result of interviews with 12 senior civil service leaders from around the world, conducted by Lord Gus O’Donnell, the former UK Cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.
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Digital transformation is never done
Digital transformation remains a priority for governments, underpinning their efforts to improve services and efficiency.
Dominic Rochon, Canada’s chief information officer, told us how Canada is making progress on digital transformation. He touched on Canada’s past technological failures and controversies, and stressed the role of collaboration, both within government and with provincial governments and the private sector. Rochon also emphasised the importance of professionalising the digital workforce and implementing more agile procurement practices to keep pace with technological advancements.
Two public service data challenges this year spotlighted the innovation of civil servants. In the UK, the Civil Service Data Challenge was won by a project that aims to build a data platform to improve prison space management and boost effective capacity. In Canada, the winning team in the Public Service Data Challenge proposed combining data to assess the best ways to cut domestic energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, global leaders consistently told us about the ongoing challenges they face around stubborn issues such as legacy technology and cybersecurity. These are topics we will continue to focus on in 2025.
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South Korea tops OECD Digital Government Index
UK digital chiefs emphasise the need for data foundations to unlock government transformation
Denmark ranked as the world’s top government for digitalisation
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Thanks for reading this year. We will be back in the new year with more stories on data and digital, AI, management and workforce and sustainability in government. Sign up for updates here.
About Sarah Wray
Sarah has over 15 years’ experience as a journalist with a specialism in the public sector and topics such as digitalisation and climate action. Sarah was formerly the editor of Cities Today and Smart Cities World, as well as a specialist video-based publication in the aerospace sector. She has also written for publications including Smart Cities Dive, Mobile Europe, Mobile World Live and Computer Weekly.
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