How are governments adapting to the digital revolution?

Edition #71 In something different this week, we share a podcast interview with the interweave team...

Earlier this month one of the interweave team, Luke, featured on the Brubble podcast to discuss all things digital government. In this edition, we share host Simon Van Hoeve’s introduction to the episode, along with the link.

As we look ahead to the remainder of the year, with an exciting announcement due about the expansion of interweave in just a couple of weeks, we’d love to hear your feedback on whether you’d like to see the interweave team launch their own podcast. Feel free to get in touch via email or Substack.

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The digital innovations of the past year - from internet to smartphones to artificial intelligence - have fundamentally changed how we live our lives. But we're not the only ones who need to adapt to this revolution! Our governments also are constantly adopting and adapting to the newest digital technologies to improve not only their efficiency, but also the safety and security of their citizens.

This is a big issue - and so, today, Luke and I sat down to take a wide dive into the latest trends and topics in the field of digital government.

So, read below some of my key takeaways from our conversation - and check out the whole conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

What is digital government?

A paradigm shift is happening in the way governments operate, as they transition towards using more digital technologies. As Luke notes, the field of "digital government" is very broad, and often known by different names, such as Govtech. But at its core, here we look at how governments are handling the digital revolution. This can be governments adopting digital solutions built by the private sector, or even setting up their own units that create these solutions themselves.

And this can be quite innocuous as well - Luke mentions the thought and design philosophy that goes into something like the UK's government website which citizens can use to obtain information on a variety of government services.

What are the big themes in digital government?

We spent most of our conversation focusing on a few of the big trends that Luke has noticed in digital governments over the past few years...

• Generative AI. Of course AI is the key buzzword during the past few years - but the ability of AI to better and more efficiently serve citizens has been noticed by governments. For example, we're seeing a lot of governments experiment with offering AI-powered chatbots. But Luke also notes that one of the big things AI can do is better connect different datasets and see ways to optimize in patterns we might otherwise not have seen.

• Collaboration. As evidenced by the AI example, a key theme in digital government is how governments collaborate with each other to share insights and advancements - and not only just between the public sector. For instance, examples from London showcase how companies can share data to optimize infrastructure projects. In many local examples, digital technologies are allowing for a transition from a top-down approach to a collaborative approach.

• Inclusivity. We all know that not all governments are equal in their resources. But, many smaller countries are embracing digital technologies and becoming leaders. A great example is Moldova, who recently received international recognition for their frontline digitalization platform.

• Trust. Finally, digital government is impossible without trust from citizens in their governments ability to handle this transition. Here we find difficulties where the rare failings receive much more publicity than the common but unseen successes.

What's the potential?

The World Economic Forum's projection of a $1 trillion global Govtech market by 2028 underscores the monumental transformations underway. Be sure to check out the interweave.gov newsletter to stay on top of all the developments!

Listen to the whole conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!