News roundup: OECD urges governments to do more to improve trust, Australia launches cross-government data catalogue
Global Government Forum’s weekly news roundup of public service intelligence
Governments must better engage citizens to boost trust, says OECD
The OECD has called on governments to do more to boost citizen trust after a report by the organisation found more people have low or no trust than they have high trust in the work of the state.
The OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions found that 44% of respondents across 30 member countries now have low or no trust in their national government, more than the 39% of respondents who express high or moderately high trust.
The trust gap is largest between those who feel they have a say and those who feel they do not have a say in what the government does, according to the OECD analysis. Among those who report they have a say, 69% report high or moderately high trust in their national government, whereas among those who feel they do not only 22% do.
OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann said that this illustrates the need for government to give citizens a greater voice in decision-making.
“Ensuring citizen engagement is meaningful and inclusive, supporting open information and transparent communications, fostering information integrity and transparency standards in policymaking processes, and reliable and fair public services, will help enhance the democratic process, and ultimately, strengthen trust in government.”
Among the findings of the report, only around 40% of respondents are confident that government adequately balances the interests of different generations, will regulate new technologies appropriately, or will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next ten years.
Even lower proportions of respondents believe their governments can resist corporate influence, or that they have a say in what the government does. Less than one-third (32%) said they think that government would adopt the opinions expressed in a public consultation.
The 30 OECD participating countries were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Read the latest Management and Workforce Monitor: Trump supporters develop ‘blacklist’ of federal workers, UK civil service prepares for election results, and more
Australia launches cross-government data catalogue
The Australian Government has launched a cross government data catalogue to help better share information across departments.
The data catalogue has been launched in public beta, providing civil servants with a central point to find and request data held by the Australian Government.
Under the system, which is for government agencies, as well as Australian universities, researchers, and private sector organisations who want access to Australian Government data, users can discover data they wish to access in the catalogue and then either be directed to openly available data assets or to make a request for the data.
According to the website, 59,566 data assets are available on the site, with the aim of the catalogue being to “deliver improved government services, inform government policy development, inform program design, and support research and development2.
The government has set four aims for the data catalogue. These are to:
- facilitate the discovery, access, and use of government data by consolidating data assets from various participating departments and agencies into one searchable catalogue.
- improve efficiency and enable cross-agency collaboration by reducing redundant data requests and streamlining data discovery and request processes.
- promote transparency and accountability by making Australian Government held data more visible and accessible to the public.
- open new opportunities for innovation by providing businesses, researchers, and developers visibility of the data they need to create new services, products, and research projects.
Read the latest Digital and Data Monitor: Europe’s top country for e-government, UK overhauls digital departments, and more
New Zealand launches new climate strategy
The government of New Zealand has launched a new climate strategy for meeting the country’s goals.
The plan is based on five key pillars: resilient infrastructure and communities that are well prepared; credible markets that support the climate transition; clean energy that is abundant and affordable; world-leading climate innovation that boosts the economy; and nature-based climate solutions.
The government has committed to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to 50% below gross 2005 levels by 2030 and to reaching carbon net zero by 2050.
Strategies highlighted by the government include pricing emissions fairly and effectively to incentivise emissions reductions; doubling renewable energy by 2050 and installing 10,000 public charging points for electric vehicles; and providing tools and removing barriers to help businesses to innovate and prepare for the future.
The government has also pledged to facilitate enablers for delivery, such as private investment and partnerships and access to the best available data and evidence.
Simon Watts, minister for climate change, said: “We need to think long-term for future generations, taking practical steps to reduce our emissions and build resilience to a changing climate. We need to use evidence and effective policy in our response. The coalition government is committed to meeting its climate change targets.”
However, some commentators say that the three-page strategy is missing sufficient detail.
Professor Sara Walton, co-director of He Kaupapa Hononga Otago’s Climate Change Research Network at the University of Otago, said: “Overall, there is a lack of specificity in how these tools and barriers will be addressed, particularly as some climate subsidies have been removed.”
“Indeed, to realise these five pillars and for meaningful climate action we would expect to see a suite of policies to support the change needed to, for example foster innovation and transformation within industries.”
In May, the government was accused of a “war on nature” after it announced cuts to climate action projects, while making no significant new investments in environmental protection or climate-related policy in the 2024/25 budget.
Read the latest Sustainability Monitor: Coalition launches the ‘backlash to the green backlash’, the new UK government’s climate to-do list, and more
UK government actuary uses AI to analyse consultation responses with AI
The UK government’s Government Actuary’s Department has set out details of how it has used artificial intelligence (AI) to help clients in government departments process consultations responses.
GAD provides actuarial advice for the government and wider public sector, and the department said it had used AI to help central government department analyse consultation responses.
It said that it had used AI software to “categorise and analyse almost 120 responses for a consultation issued by a central government department”, and that in total, the department had processed “close to half a million words” through artificial intelligence.
To do so, the GAD grouped respondents by industry type, with AI then used to pick out themes within these groups.
Larger consultation responses were summarised using the Large Language Model ChatGPT. According to GAD, these responses were then fed in for each question and used to instruct the AI programme to summarise views in “one to two paragraphs”.
The output was read by a human actuary professional to ensure the summarise was technically correct.
One actuary named Laura Brunton said that the AI output had proved a “really useful starting point to analyse the responses to make sure the output was coherently presented”.
“We undertook further editing and were able to ensure that the AI created an initial summarised view which we could use to build in the views of all respondents,” she said.
Read the latest AI Monitor newsletter: Professor Sue Black on AI and education, innovation challenge winner tackles major AI barriers, and more
This week on Global Government Forum
Swiss digital ID chief highlights need for more time to decide tech and cost details
Europe’s top country for e-government, UK overhauls digital departments, and more
UK government to boost powers of fiscal watchdog and nationalise railways in legislative plan
About GGF reporter
Related Posts
