Reform, efficiency drives, and overcoming data-sharing dilemmas: we look back at the government trends of 2025
After another busy year for public servants, we round up some of Global Government Forum’s top stories from the last 12 months, highlighting the trends, challenges and opportunities facing civil services around the globe.
The year of DOGE
Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term as president in January with a determination to shake up the federal government and cut wasteful spending, most notably through the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The temporary agency burst onto the scene in late January and is now winding down, with its core responsibilities reportedly being transferred to other agencies – but there was plenty for Global Government Forum to report on during DOGE’s short life.
Shortly after the Trump administration launched of a ‘deferred resignation’ programme – through which staff who wanted to leave government were offered eight months’ salary as a severance package – the president announced a near-total freeze on foreign aid and the furlough of most employees at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following Musk’s advice.
The following month, US federal officials received an email asking them to set out their five major accomplishments of their working week in an escalation of efforts to root out poor performers and reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.
As well as ‘reductions in force’ efforts – including the culling of a large number of jobs at the Internal Revenue Service and the layoff of thousands of employees during the longest-running federal government shutdown in history (these were later reversed) – Trump also introduced a number of hiring and performance reforms in 2025.
These included the introduction of ‘Schedule Policy/Career’, which removed protections from some career civil service roles; the creation of a new employment category for federal public servants with the aim of enabling the hiring of political appointees to key policymaking roles; further reforms to the federal hiring process; and performance management changes.
Read more:
Make government cool again: US federal workforce chief on how to encourage the smartest people into civil service
Trump and DOGE demand centralised tech systems to track spending
‘Not just another back office function’: US government pledges to empower federal CIOs
Musk leaves US government role leading the Department of Government Efficiency
Technology-facilitated reform and efficiency drives
Other countries to have announced significant civil and public service reforms this year were Canada, the UK and New Zealand, which each focused on the use of technology – and particularly AI – to create efficiencies and provide better services for citizens.
Mark Carney succeeded Justin Trudeau as PM of Canada in March and his Liberal Party won the federal election in April, prompting the appointment of a new Cabinet built to deliver his “mandate for change”.
In line with the party’s manifesto pledge to reform the public service, cut costs and improve productivity, this included the appointment of the country’s first minister for government transformation and plans to create the Office of Digital Transformation.
In its Budget last month, the Government of Canada set out how it would create “a modern, agile, and efficient public service”, with a focus on driving CN$60bn in savings over the next five years.
The Budget documents set out that savings will be achieved by “restructuring operations and consolidating internal services and rightsizing programmes to realise efficiencies”, and that there would be a reduction in the size of the public service using “workforce adjustment and attrition”.
In the UK, PM Keir Starmer outlined the government’s reform plan for the public sector which he called “overstretched and under focused”, in March. He said he would introduce reforms to make every department more efficient and innovative, and “hack back the thicket of red tape that stop us getting things done”.
Moves included abolishing NHS England with its responsibilities returned to the Department of Health and Social Care, a plan to create a scheme to incentivise under-performing officials to leave their jobs, and work to double the proportion of civil servants in the digital and data profession.
The government’s ambitions were further cemented in the Spending Review in June, which set out how the government would “rewire the state”, in part through the use of technology to digitise services and transform how government operates and work to create a leaner, higher-skilled civil service that is “closer to the communities it serves”.
Read more:
Letter from Ottawa: Cold winds and shorter days coincide with a seasonal change for the public sector
Canadian federal government cuts will disproportionately affect women and minority groups, says think tank
UK could increase civil service pay through cutting pensions
AI action plans
The use of AI to accelerate government transformation and boost national economies continued to be a big theme throughout the year, with numerous countries releasing national AI strategies and new tech tools and guidance for civil and public servants.
The UK’s Starmer announced the AI Opportunities Action Plan in January, which is designed to “mainline AI into the veins” of the country, followed by an AI Playbook to help “repair broken services” and a suite of AI tools for civil servants branded ‘Humphrey’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed up the government’s ambitions by earmarking big chunks of money to the development and adoption of AI in her Spring Statement, Spending Review and Budget, including for the operation of ‘Frontier AI Exemplars’, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which are expected to test and deploy AI applications to make government operations more efficient and effective.
In Canada, the government launched an AI Strategy Task Force and a public consultation to shape the way AI is used in government and across the economy, as well as its first AI strategy for the federal public service which Ginette Petitpas Taylor, president of the Treasury Board, said would “stimulate innovation, ensure accountability, and build a future where Canadians benefit from AI both ethically and effectively”.
The strategy comprises four priorities including establishing an AI Centre of Expertise to “help coordinate government-wide AI efforts”, and providing AI training and talent development pathways.
Both New Zealand and Australia have also released national AI roadmaps – see here and here – and frameworks for their respective public services, with the latter also announcing the deployment of ‘GovAI’, a platform designed to foster collaborative use of the technology across departments.
To give a flavour of the contents, New Zealand’s AI framework for the public service outlined four key actions aimed at tackling regulatory uncertainties; perceived complexity around technicality, ethics and risks; poor understanding of AI and its perceived value; and a lack of AI-related skills.
Australia’s national AI plan, meanwhile, contains the three main goals of drawing investment to Australia’s digital infrastructure; supporting AI adoption by strengthening skills across the economy; and ensuring Australians’ safety through a new AI Safety Institute.
And in the US, president Trump signed an executive order that sought to remove barriers to AI innovation, and his administration set out guardrails for AI use and acquisition by government agencies, and published its artificial intelligence action plan.
Entitled ‘Winning the AI Race’, the action plan sets out more than 90 federal policy actions across three pillars: accelerating innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading international AI diplomacy and security.
Read more:
UK prime minister reveals plan for AI to ‘turbocharge every single element’ of government
New Zealand government forges path to responsible AI with new framework
Canada launches first AI strategy for federal public service
US federal government launches action plan to ‘win AI race’
Australian government releases national AI plan
AI regulation: a balancing act
Behind the scenes, governments continue to grapple with introducing AI regulation, recognising that a balance must be struck between implementing controls to keep the public safe from risks with the freedom required to drive innovation.
Research from the Ada Lovelace Institute suggests the UK public want greater AI regulation, a poll of Canadians found similarly, and the Australian Productivity Commission urged the government to set clear rules on the use of artificial intelligence if it wants to secure consumer and productivity benefits.
Other notable AI-related developments this year include the launch of a G7 innovation challenge that will bring “experts and innovators” from member governments to explore the use of artificial intelligence to improve public service delivery; the introduction in Albania of an ‘AI-powered minister’ tasked with ending corruption in public procurement; the World Health Organization’s warning that governments must clarify liability for AI in healthcare; and environmental concerns around the energy and water consumption of the data centres needed to power AI – see here and here.
Read more:
UK government unveils AI regulation blueprint to spur innovation across the economy
New guidance issued to help UK government evaluate AI’s impact
Data sharing, digitising and digital sovereignty
Governments’ drive to make efficiencies and deliver better services for citizens has also culminated in a big push to improve data-sharing and collaboration between departments and agencies and to further digitise this year.
For example, the UK has reformed its data rules, South Africa is piloting a government data exchange to improve policymaking, and the Trump administration has launched a data-sharing initiative for health.
New Zealand and the UK each launched digital services apps for citizens – more on that here and here – and the UK plans to roll out compulsory digital ID for workers, though privacy concerns threaten derail it.
Geopolitical unrest has raised questions over the protection of digital sovereignty – this is a big trend in Canada particularly – leading to procurement reforms that also aim to cut duplicative spending and secure good deals for governments and taxpayers.
Read more:
Brazilian pilot explores letting citizens control – and sell – their personal data
UK veterans offered digital card for quicker access to benefits and support
UK Treasury takes steps to integrate finance and performance data
New Zealand eyes billions in savings through centralised digital procurement
US secures large government-wide software discount with Google
Is the Paris Agreement working? Concerns grow
This year was a big one for climate change on various fronts. In January, Trump set the wheels in motion to withdraw the US – the world’s second biggest greenhouse gas emitter – from the Paris Agreement, prompting international outcry from climate organisations, scientists, and the leaders of many of the treaty’s signatory countries.
This news, the finding of the Global Tipping Points Report that climate-driven ecosystem collapse is beginning to occur as global warming approaches 1.5°C, and the growing number of voices arguing that the Paris Agreement – now 10 years old – is failing and that governance mechanisms beyond the UN are needed to drive the required change piled pressure on COP30, which took place last month in Brazil.
Notably, in the run-up to the summit, China committed to a carbon reduction target for the first time, but questions have been raised over whether countries’ updated nationally determined contributions are ambitious enough in the face of the climate crisis.
This year, Paris Agreement signatories were required to file their Biennial Transparency Reports for the first time, detailing how they are making progress towards their climate commitments. UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell said the evidence was clear that the “the transition is well under way” but that climate action “must now speed up and scale up urgently”.
While there were positives to come out of the COP30 summit, with no mention of a transition away from fossil fuels in the final text following dissent from Saudi Arabia and others, it ended in disappointment for many.
The UN’s bid to negotiate the world’s first plastic pollution treaty ended in failure in August, as did a landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions – which had previously been agreed and was expected to be formally approved in October – following pressure from the US.
In 2026, many will be watching to see whether China will take on the mantle of global leader on climate change and whether pressure to reform governance mechanisms leads to reform.
There will also be interest in what the ruling of the International Court of Justice in July that wealthy nations must comply with international commitments to limit pollution or risk having to pay compensation to countries hardest hit by climate change, will mean in practice.
Read more:
Global temperatures set to breach 1.5°C threshold over next five years, UN says
BRICS leaders urge richer nations to fund global energy transition
Current climate policy ‘doomed to fail’, says Tony Blair
UN sets out opportunities and risks for AI in climate action
Adaptation efforts should be driven from the centre, climate advisers tell UK government
Bitesize insights from brilliant public servants
Ahead of this year’s AccelerateGOV 2025 conference, which took place last week in Ottawa, Canada, Global Government Forum asked the event’s speakers to tell us what digital transformation topics they were most looking forward to discussing, and the insights that will help drive their priorities forward in the months ahead.
These articles share insights from speakers on interoperability, shared services, and digital sovereignty; the use of artificial intelligence in government; and how change management and collaboration can be used to help reimagine government services for the future.
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 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.
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