Ukraine's 2030 Innovation Strategy, UK's AI Opportunities, and bridging the digital divide in Mongolia
Edition #102 As governments ramp up for the New Year, it has been a week of ambitious strategies for some of Europe's leading digital governments...
In our previous edition, we explored how governments were using technology to enhance citizen engagement, despite their differing systems of governance. Examples included Beijing’s forum on responding to public complaints and attempts to develop human-centered government in Montenegro and Moldova, while elsewhere we also covered the launch of the world’s second GovTech Center in Kyiv.
This week, Ukraine is again front and center of the digital government world, launching their 2030 WINWIN Innovation Strategy. But they are not the only ones. As governments kick back into gear following the New Year, the UK has also launched a new AI opportunities plan, while the UN has shared a list of 10 high-level tech events to watch this year.
Our main stories this week:
Digital development in 2025: ten moments to watch
UK government promises to revolutionize public services through AI
WINWIN: Ukraine has approved its Global Innovation Strategy until 2030
As a reminder, we have recently begun to expand our digital government coverage away from just Substack and onto Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram. For original content, audience engagement, and roundups of all our pieces, feel free to follow us over on those channels. Also check out our sister newsletter, interweave.africa.
Digital development in 2025: ten moments to watch - Megan Roberts, UNDP Digital
For the UN, 2025 is a year of important milestones, including the five-year countdown to the SDG “due date” and the 20th anniversary of the World Summit on the Information Society. With this in mind, the UNDP outlines ten high-level digital events to watch out for.
The Paris AI Action Summit will build on AI safety work in the UK and Republic of Korea, including on public interest AI and global governance.
The World Bank’s Global Digital Summit comes a year on from them launching a Global Challenge Program to accelerate digitalization. At the summit, a global audience will be able to judge the first year’s work of the institute’s first Vice President of Digital Transformation.
Following the success of the Global DPI Summit in Cairo last year (which we covered here), expect to see another conference in November to explore whether the event made good on its seven big bets for the year ahead.
UK government promises to revolutionize public services through AI - Christine Horton, Think Digital Partners
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled Britain’s new “AI Opportunities Action Plan,” which promises to utilize AI to revolutionize public services.
The strategy includes plans for a “new digital center of government” inside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
The purpose of this center is to research and pilot new digital initiatives in the public sector.
The initiative coincides with £14bn of AI infrastructure investment by private sector partners, including plans for one of Europe’s largest data centers (which will be located in Wales).
Our Take: The UK government appears to be all-in on the AI train, with recent initiatives also announced to roll out AI to areas as eclectic as bakeries and road construction.
WINWIN: Ukraine has approved its Global Innovation Strategy until 2030 - Odessa Journal
The Ukrainian government has approved a digital development strategy until 2030, setting the country’s vision across fourteen sectors (including digital government).
Ukraine’s real-term digital development has been nothing short of remarkable in recent years, with its flagship Diia app now forming a template for other countries looking to replicate it.
Within GovTech, the strategy’s explicit aim is to have Ukraine create the best digital governance system in the world, with a focus on process automation, decision-making and data analysis indicative of the government’s doubling down on AI.
For each of the strategic areas, WINWIN Centers of Excellence will be developed, exploring the best international practices and developing new innovative solutions.
Our Take: With this new strategy, Kyiv is staking its digital government credentials on a global stage. Following on from successful events like the Diia summit, with a focus on the right priorities we could see Ukraine’s digital government model exported around the world in the same vein of Estonia’s X-Road or Singapore’s Smart Nation.
GovTech News in Brief
Vietnam proposes major government restructuring to streamline bureaucracy - Vu Nguyen Hanh and Melissa Cyrill, Vietnam Briefing
Vietnam has unveiled a plan to help its government be more streamlined, reducing the number of top-level agencies by almost 25% in an effort to improve operations.
NAO calls for a “cross-government” revamp of IT procurement to improve “big tech” project outcomes - Caroline Donnelly, Computer Weekly
The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has issued recommendations to tackle government procurement service deficiencies, including a “cross-government sourcing strategy”.
Malaysia launches digital kiosks to provide the public with access to essential government resources - Sarah Gideon, Human Resources Online
The kiosks will bring together more than 90 government and private sector services, increasing access for those who cannot easily use them at home.
Our Take: Digital kiosks have proved successful elsewhere, as interweave covered in the context of Thailand and Bangladesh. However, they should be pursued in conjunction with - not in lieu of - capacity building and connectivity programs for those otherwise unable to access the services. In less positive news this week - Biometric Update covers delays in Malaysia’s digital ID.
South Korea introduces digital residence cards to foreigners - Paypers
South Korea has introduced the ability for foreigners aged 14+ to apply for digital residence cards that will serve as ID for institutions such as hospitals and convenience stores. Beyond this, the plan is for the government to eventually partner with banks to allow the IDs to be used in financial transactions.
The Philippines is creating a ChatGPT rival that speaks Filipino and Taglish - Angel Martinez, Rest of World
The Philippines’ Advanced Science and Technology Institute is launching iTanong, a local ChatGPT that speaks Filipino and Tanglish and will be deployed in government agencies.
An interview with HE Huda Al Hashimi, Deputy Minister for Cabinet Affairs UAE - Yogesh Hirdaramani, GovInsider
GovInsider looks as digital transformation in the UAE - including plans to reduce bureaucracy and look towards the future with AI.
Our Take: The UAE has positioned digital transformation as a key pillar in the country’s transformation over the past few decades, which can be seen increasingly in e-government services, smart cities, and now AI.
Will President Prabowo prove to be a digital messiah for Indonesia? - Mochamad Azhar, GovInsider
President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia aims to continue his predecessor's digital transformation efforts, but faces challenges in balancing populist policies with digital advancement.
Bridging the digital divide in Mongolia - UN Sustainable Development Group
Following a pilot in Darkhan-Uul province, where the Mongolian government is setting up its first Digital Training Facility, Ulaanbaatar is seeking to roll out digital skills and training through a network of schools.
UN Tech chief on digitally transforming a legacy organization - Si Ying Thian, GovInsider
The UN’s Chief Information Technology Officer talks priority services, public-private alliances, and the challenges of digitizing a multilateral organization.
The Theory Behind the Practice
Digitizing the public purse: the next generation of G2P payments - Mastercard
Mastercard has published the first section of a two-part white paper on the future of government payment systems, looking at how the digitalization of welfare, pensions and tax refunds could serve as an economic multiplier.
India can be a global pathfinder in digital health - here’s how - Shobana Kamineni and Shyam Bishen, WEF
The World Economic Forum highlights how India is well positioned as an emerging e-health leader on account of its robust digital public infrastructure, private sector innovation and diverse population, allowing it to develop scalable, cost-effective solutions for healthcare systems worldwide.
Digital fortresses: why states must embrace digitalization to bolster their resilience - Craig Turp-Balazs, Emerging Europe
This thought-piece in Emerging Europe argues that digital transformation is a crucial step in making nations more resilient in times of hardship - most notably exemplified by Ukrainian digitization efforts during war - but warns that it is not a panacea.
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