‘Sharing, learning and getting inspired’: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
As we approach this year’s Innovation conference and exhibition, taking place on 24 and 25 March 2026 in London, we asked the event’s speakers to tell us what innovation-related topics they’re most looking forward to discussing – and the insights that will help drive their priorities forward in the months ahead.
Here, in the third article of the series, we pull together responses from civil service leaders from Australia, the UK and Canada, covering topics such as human-computer collaboration, rewiring governance structures for an increasingly digital world, and the breakdown of traditional distinctions between technologists and generalists.
Lucy Poole is deputy chief executive of the strategy, planning and performance division of Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency.
She’s most looking forward to conversations at Innovation about how Australia is stepping into the next phase of AI adoption across government, and the challenges and opportunities that come with the momentum it’s now seeing.
“We are moving beyond isolated experimentation and into a more coordinated, system‑wide approach, grounded in shared learning and practical delivery,” said Poole. “That shift raises important questions about how we strike the right balance between trust, risk and adoption as AI capability accelerates, including the emergence of agentic AI.”
She said she is most excited about the opportunity at Innovation “to learn from each other as we work through this transition; putting clear guardrails in place, while maintaining the confidence to move forward, adapt, and continuously improve based on real implementation experience”.
Leadership, she highlighted, will be central to getting this right.
She noted that as AI becomes embedded in how government operates, digital and AI literacy are no longer specialist concerns. As such, she is “particularly interested in how leaders from a wide range of backgrounds are lifting their capability, as we move away from traditional distinctions between technologists and generalists towards a more agile, adaptable leadership model where all leaders have a technical edge”.
Her priority for the year ahead is “ensuring I stay clear on both the why and the how”.
She explained: “In a fast‑moving space like AI, I’ve seen how easy it is to lose sight of one or the other, or to assume that what we’re doing exists in isolation as we navigate new territory. I’ve found that the real challenge is less about keeping up with the technology, and more about making thoughtful choices about where it can add genuine value”.
She added that as governments around the world grapple with AI, there is a growing recognition that access to more tools does not automatically mean they can do more. Resources remain finite and expectations continue to rise, which means the Australian government’s – and others’ – approach to innovation “needs to be clear and focused on enabling our people to work smarter”.
She said that used well, AI can help stretch capability, improve productivity, and support better services – “but only when it is grounded in reality and practice, rather than the hype that so often surrounds it”.
Therefore, the insights she would most like to gain at Innovation are practical ones: “What has been tried, what has worked, and what hasn’t. As AI adoption increases across Australia, there is a real opportunity for us to learn from each other, reduce duplication, and build confidence together by sharing experience and lessons learned.”
More about Innovation 2026
Innovation is a unique exhibition and conference that brings together government leaders from across the globe responsible for the transformation and acceleration of their public sector organisations and services.
Held on 24 and 25 March 2026 at Excel in London, the event is co-hosted by the UK Government, UK Civil Service and the Cabinet Office. It covers innovation across a range of topics, including data, digital transformation, workforce, culture, sustainability, and much more. This year for the first time, as well as the central government agenda, Innovation will include a dedicated programme for the defence, security, cyber and resilience industries, and the health sector.
Find out more about Innovation 2026 and register to attend here
Carla Groom is head of human-centred design science at the UK Department for Work and Pensions. Given her role, she has a more specific focus when it comes to artificial intelligence: human-computer collaboration.
“Like everyone else, I’m spending more and more time talking about AI,” she said. “With my background in psychology, I am musing heavily not on the tools themselves, but on the role humans play in their adoption. Whether that is the ‘human in the loop’ for semi-automated decision-making and making sure that those humans have the capability, opportunity and motivation to effectively check and manage those outputs, or whether it is a human working with a large language model (LLM) on original content such as policy submissions or other creative and strategic outputs.”
At Innovation, she said she’d love to hear how colleagues are thinking about the role of humans in AI applications, and what they are finding helps or hurts the success of that implementation.
“I think some consequences will emerge over time so those who are further up the ‘early adopter’ scale than me will have plenty of insights to share,” she said.
In terms of what she’s most looking forward to discussing at Innovation, preventing groupthink is top of the list.
“Last year’s discussion [in the Innovation session Tackling groupthink in government: how to build diverse teams] with fellow panellists and a packed auditorium was incredibly energising and it felt like we had an open, grounded conversation about the benefits of diverse perspectives and practical ways to turn that into better decision-making,” she said.
She would also like to discuss the findings of the Public Design Evidence Review, a piece of work she and her team prepared for publication last summer, under joint Cabinet Office/Policy Profession branding.
“This gets into both practical examples and the academic description of public design,” she explained. “One paper in particular – Reflections from the Human-Centred Design Science Team – also offers a scientific explanation of why diverse voices, harnessed properly through public design practices, really can lead to better outcomes.”
For Scott Jones, deputy minister of Shared Services Canada, hearing “concrete stories” of business transformation in a period of fiscal constraint – “particularly where jurisdictions have successfully driven innovation to improve service delivery and move beyond traditional ways of delivering services to achieve better outcomes for citizens” – is what he’s most looking forward to discussing at Innovation.
His priority for the year ahead is to “advance modernisation and enable new, innovative solutions within the Government of Canada, while moving beyond ‘like‑for‑like’ replacements”.
“I’m keen to learn where others have driven meaningful transformation in government in ways that are ethical, responsible, and citizen‑focused – especially examples of building new capabilities and delivering services differently, more efficiently, and more sustainably,” he said.
Marie-Chantal Girard, who is another of the Canadian speakers at this year’s Innovation, is president of the country’s Public Service Commission.
She is looking forward to “sharing, learning and getting inspired”, noting that “innovation is nurtured by ongoing and timely discussions with those that are also motivated by and paying attention to it”.
This year, she hopes to discuss “how others are adjusting their governance to foster the right integration of digital in their structures to generate results and assess risks adequately”.
Looking ahead, she said she is continuing to focus on identifying and implementing automated, digital and AI solutions to improve service delivery, as well as emphasising data literacy, management, and protection.
“We must equip ourselves with complementary talents to build the wide-ranging teams we need,” she said.
Fiona James, director, data growth and operations, and chief data officer at the UK’s Office for National Statistics, is one of the sponsors of the Civil Service AI and Data Challenge – a partnership programme run by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Cabinet Office, Global Government Forum, and NTT DATA UK&I. Her focus at Innovation will be discussing some of the ideas to have emerged from the Challenge.
“As one of the sponsors of the Civil Service AI and Data Challenge, I can say with confidence that this year’s entries have been truly inspiring. Many of the proposed solutions address cross-cutting challenges with significant public benefit. I’m particularly looking forward to hearing what others think about these innovative ideas and discussing them further at the conference,” she said.
As for the year ahead, her priorities include rewiring data governance and optimising data operations within the Office for National Statistics. “I am eager to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among colleagues and peers to understand best practices in terms of driving quality and efficiency and maximising data reuse. Insights from others at the conference will be invaluable in helping to achieve these goals.”
The Innovation speakers quoted in this article will feature in the following sessions at the event:
Lucy Poole, deputy CEO, strategy, planning and performance division, Digital Transformation Agency, Australia, will be on the panel for ‘In action: Harnessing AI for streamlined government’.
Carla Groom, head of human-centred design science, Department for Work and Pensions, UK, will be on the panel for ‘Breaking the mould: Overcoming groupthink in government’.
Scott Jones, deputy minister, Shared Services Canada, will be on the panel for ‘Digital innovation: Joining up change across government’.
Marie-Chantal Girard, president of the Public Service Commission of Canada, will be on the panel for ‘Empowering civil servants to deliver’.
Fiona James, director, data growth and operations, and chief data officer, Office for National Statistics, UK, will be on the panel for ‘How government can crack data sharing’.
Find out more about the agenda and register for Innovation 2026 here
Read the first and second articles from this series and look out for our next batch of insights to be published soon.
Aligning digital innovation with the needs of public administration: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
Rising to challenges by exploiting technological advance: Innovation 2026 Bitesize Insights
We have also published a ‘Five minutes with’ interview with Matt Philpott, executive director of technology, NHS England, who will be speaking as part of Innovation’s health agenda. You can read his interview 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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