Rewiring the state: Experts on how to unlock government transformation
The UK government has set the directive for a “complete rewiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform”. It says that a “digital revolution” will underpin the move to a more “agile, effective and active state”, focused on delivering its missions: growing the economy, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, opportunity for all, and making Britain a clean energy superpower. It is also essential to simplifying how citizens interact with government to access more joined-up services.
A new Global Government Forum study – which was led by Lord Gus O’Donnell and based on in-depth interviews with 12 UK permanent secretaries – pinpoints the barriers and enablers to transformation in government, with a particular emphasis on the role of digital technologies and data, and identifies four priority areas as key opportunities to accelerate change.
In this podcast, Lord O’Donnell sets out the findings of the report with former senior civil servant and GGF’s global event and webinar chairperson, Siobhan Benita, along with their guests Yatin Mahandru, vice president, head of public sector and health, Cognizant UK & Ireland, and Faye Holt, director, UK public sector, Amazon Web Services – whose organisations were knowledge partners for the report.
Together, they discuss the findings from the interviews with permanent secretaries on how to make change happen in government and the four priorities the report identifies that government should focus on to create the conditions for reform.
These priorities are:
- Driving joined-up government through mechanisms that enable coordination and peer learning across departments. This means re-energising the government’s vision for cross-departmental missions and ensuring that all departments understand how they can contribute.
- Making digital a core part of government leadership and driving a culture of delivery.
- Building transformational capability at every level, including among senior leaders.
- Unlocking the full power of data and AI through reuse of proven tools, removing the blockers to data sharing, and smarter procurement.
Together the experts featured in this episode discuss these priorities in-depth and offer insights into:
- The role of leadership in driving change.
- How to build capacity in government for digital transformation.
- How to unlock the power of data and AI.
Listen to this episode to get insights from government leaders on the opportunity for government transformation – and unique reflections on how to make change happen.
Read the Rewiring the State report here.
This podcast is based on a Global Government Forum webinar, held on 4 November.
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