Selling to Government in China, Algorithmic Discrimination in Amsterdam, and Web3 in the Public Sector
Edition #10. A Dutch university has weeks to prove that it didn't algorithmically discriminate against one of its students. Meanwhile, Singapore experiments with an AI teaching assistant platform...
Last week, our focus was on capacity building in digital government. We learnt how in the UK, civil servants feel most inhibited by legacy technology and a lack of training when it comes to building digital services. Simultaneously, aPolitical reported that some 80% of public servants lack the tools and training to make a meaningful positive difference to the climate.
This week, we shine a light on digital education. At UNESCO earlier this week, world education leaders called on countries to adopt new indicators measuring the implementation of green education and digital access to learning for all. Investors have taken note - venture capitalists invested over $20 billion in the EdTech sector globally last year (more than 40x the amount invested in 2010), with India emerging a leader in the EdTech race. This edition looks at how countries like Singapore, China and the Netherlands have navigated the development (and complications) of digitization in public education.
Our main stories this week:
It’s tough working for the government: China’s education startups after the crackdown [interweave.gov original piece]
Is this the future of Singapore’s education in AI?
Exploring public sector personal data benefit sharing
Don’t forget to check out our GovTech news in brief and upcoming GovTech events.
It’s tough working for the government: China’s education startups after the crackdown - Luke Cavanaugh, Fil Lekkas, and Chengkai Xie; The China Project
One year on from Beijing’s crackdown on private tutoring and extra-curricular education, this article explores how China’s education companies have attempted to survive by starting to sell directly to Government.
In the wake of China’s so-called ‘double reduction policy’, some of the country’s biggest EdTech companies made global headlines for their desperate attempts to pivot into new sectors. New Oriental began to sell steaks alongside their livestreamed English lessons, while Beijing-based Xueda Education launched its own coffee brand.
Less dramatically, some companies pivoted away from selling to consumers and found a new customer in the government themselves. But many of these pivots have stalled or failed. Even as the central authorities are encouraging digital government, rolling out projects from smart cities to local government websites, practical barriers remain for startups looking to sell to the state.
These companies face three main challenges: fragmented and bureaucratic public procurement; well entrenched and politically-aligned incumbents; and conservative users.
Our Take: One of the most common buzzwords in GovTech is ‘whole-of-government’. This makes the dissonance between China publicly extolling digital government, and its EdTech companies finding it so hard to sell to government, interesting to witness. Whole-of-government is not just a mantra for public service design; consistency in setting digital government policies is crucial too.
Is the future of education in AI? - Rachel Teng, GovInsider
AI Singapore - a national program to "catalyze, synergize and boost Singapore’s AI capabilities" - is freeing up more time for teachers by furthering EdTech innovation and adoption.
In September last year, more than 80% of teachers in Singapore reported having their mental health negatively impacted by their job. For many, personal relationships and physical health also suffered from the intensity of the teaching profession.
Singapore’s Ministry of Education has developed a centralized Student Learning Space (SLS) that aggregates teaching and learning resources as well as other academic materials. By 2028, every secondary school student will be equipped with a personal learning device.
Assist, not replace: AI will never fully replace the jobs of teachers, which remains one of the most humanized professions in the world. Instead, by automating away mundane tasks, it will allow teachers to focus on providing personalized attention to students.
Our Take: With the buzz of ChatGPT proliferating through social media, there has been growing concern about how AI could automate slews of jobs away. While this may be true in some instances, pieces like this remind us that AI, when designed thoughtfully, allows us to focus on the best parts of our roles and aid, rather than hurt, our careers.
Exploring public sector personal data benefit sharing - Digital Scotland
The topic of balancing the public benefits and privacy considerations of using citizen data is a theme that has come up time and again in this newsletter. Anna Berti Suman and Stephanie Switzer, authors of a literature review commissioned as part of the Unlocking the Value of Public Sector Data program, share their two cents in this piece. Their findings include:
Public-sector bodies generally lag behind in developing and implementing data sharing regimes compared to the private sector, but there are good practices in policy areas such as public health that currently exist.
Ordinary people are supportive of health and social care data being used for public benefit, but want those benefits to outweigh private profits and interests. What complicates things is a lack of a standard definition for public benefit, which can lead to the exploitation of government-held personal data.
Creative personal data sharing schemes are sprouting between civic organizations and private actors for certain citizen science activities.
Our Take: While guiding principles can help design frameworks for public sector personal data sharing, the devil really is in the details. Operationalizing these exchanges remains a key bottleneck and takes time, trust and careful experimentation to unblock.
GovTech News in Brief
Karnataka, India: Google Cloud, eGov to connect ICU healthcare in remote hospitals - IANS
Google Cloud and eGovernments Foundation, an open-source civic tech platform, launched the first Tele-ICU hub in the state. Set to cover over 40 hospitals in Karnataka, the 10BedICU program was conceived during COVID's early days to create ICUs in government hospitals across the country, especially rural ones.
Delayed myGov app launches sans Medicare card - Justin Hendry, InnovationAus.com
The Australian Federal Government’s myGov app has finally launched, giving users a new form of digital ID verification but missing several key features.
Our Take: The app has been in development for 18 months, only to be launched without a promised Medicare card or integration with linked services from the Australia Taxation Office or ‘My Health Record’. As Australia waits for an audit of the project that Labor MP hopes “will chart a path from this confusion into a world-class service”, the app shows the dangers of designing government in a non-agile manner.
India’s data localization pivot can revamp global digital diplomacy - Anand Raghuraman, Atlantic Council
With its latest draft data privacy bill, India has opened up possibilities for a shift in global digital diplomacy — a new alignment between New Delhi, Washington, and Brussels that could reshape the rules of the road in the digital economy.
First Suspicion of Algorithmic Discrimination successfully substantiated [In Dutch]
VU University uses facial recognition software to prevent students from cheating during exams taken at home. One of its students with a darker skin complexion could not log in to take her exam despite several attempts to do so, with the software unable to detect her. Her case has raised suspicions of algorithmic discrimination, which the university has 10 weeks to disprove.
Web3 and the Public Sector - Fil Lekkas and Ryan Shea, PUBLIC
Amidst the noise of news stories about cryptocurrency bankruptcies, PUBLIC explores how Web3 might be used in digital government
Our Take: The framework that concludes this report, together with a glossary of key concepts, is an invaluable guide for those of us still trying to wrap our heads around the difference between permissioned and permissionless Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) networks.
International Meet-up for Product Teams in Government - beta.gouv.fr
France's Digital Government arm recently hosted product teams from various countries in Europe to engage in workshops and discussions on developing innovative digital public services, from property tax calculators to a child-birth grant service.
Web Accessibility Implementation Guidebook [In Japanese] - Japanese Digital Agency
The Japanese Digital Agency has launched an accessibility guidebook for users to learn from scratch, with commentary video material to follow.
Ukraine Joins GovStack - Ukraine Business News
As GovStack moves from its playbook design to its pilot phase, Ukraine has formally signed the Declaration of Intent to join the multilateral project.
Our Take: Iterating on the open-source building blocks that GovStack has created will be crucial to ensuring the project’s success, and Ukraine will provide a useful sandbox for doing so.
Data can transform London’s built environment - as long as we share - Eddie Gibb, Future of London
There are over 600 apps using Transport for London’s open data as part of its commitment to data-sharing, such as transport app Citymapper. Now, the Mayor of London has created a ‘Data for London board’ to advise on the opportunities of sharing data elsewhere.
Bridging the Gap between technical & non-technical teams - Oleksandr Khivrych
Gaps between technical and non-technical folks are largely a product of soft skills deficits amongst tech employees, argues Oleksandar Khivrych. Bridging the gap requires support and training inside and outside working hours.
The Value of Horizontal Services: Tell Us Once - Tom Loosemore, Public Digital
The UK’s Tell Us Once service, which automatically notifies the various parts of government that need to know once somebody dies, is used here as a prime example of horizontal government services.
Our Take: Horizontal services - those that work across government departments vs. within them - are simultaneously the most important and most difficult features of digital government. This blog provides reassurance that sometimes all that is needed is serious persistence.
What’s next for how governments use FinTech? - Ian Hall, Global Government Forum
Following increasing government attention to FinTech across Europe, including Belgium and the UK’s engagement with Quantexa to help tackle fraud and Germany’s regional ‘Fintech Hubs’, the Global Government Forum hosted a panel to explore the challenges and possibilities of using FinTech in the Public Sector.
Clear focus on digital missing in Albanese government - Justin Hendry, InnovationAus.com
Paul Fletcher, former Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, emphasized how the digital economy must become a clear national priority for Australia and articulates five immediate priorities to “regain that focus”.
Upcoming GovTech Events
The EU-US Trade & Technology Council: Expectations are High for the 3rd Summit - Digital Europe
The EU and US’s Trade and Technology Council will see a number of crucial conversations take place, from cooperation on the governance of AI to how to make more resilient supply chains.
How to connect with underrepresented communities - aPolitical
Much of our material has covered digital accessibility. This aPolitical event explores how governments can better represent fully all of the communities that they serve.