Zombie Portals, Singaporean Therapy Bots, and Digitally Upskilling the UK Civil Service
Edition #9. In a recent survey, UK Civil Servants cited legacy tech and a lack of training as barriers to Digital Government. Meanwhile, France experiments with a new kind of diplomatic telegram...
Last week, the main focus of our edition was on the importance of talent in getting GovTech right. In looking at different examples from Romania and Armenia, we thought about what they were doing to counteract migratory brain drain and work with outside experts on building digital government services respectively. We also recapped the GovTech Summit 2022, an international event which underscored the importance of Digital Government in the world today.
This week, on a related note, our main articles take a look at capacity building in digital government. If last week’s pieces shone a light on how the right talent is imperative for GovTech, this week takes a step back and thinks about how to develop it. With a new report (and one of our main articles) finding this week that 78% of Civil Servants in the UK would like to receive more digital skills training, it is clear that even amongst highly developed economies, there exists a digital skills gap at the heart of government. And despite the interest in Digital Government that the GovTech Summit 2022 demonstrated, the “Data Digital and Technology” track of the UK Civil Service graduate program attracts fewer applicants than any other.
Our main stories this week:
UK Civil Servants Highlight Barriers to Digital Transformation in Government
aPolitical launch the Government Climate Campus
GovTech against corruption: What are the integrity dividends of government digitalization?
Don’t forget to check out our GovTech news in brief, the theory behind the practice, and upcoming GovTech events.
UK Civil Servants highlight barriers to Digital Transformation in Government - Richard Johnstone, Global Government Forum
New independent research from the Global Government Forum has found that UK Civil Servants feel most inhibited by legacy technology, budget constraints, and a lack of training when it comes to digital government.
50% of surveyed Civil Servants named technology that is no longer fit for purpose as their biggest barrier to work, with the same proportion feeling themselves equally hindered by a lack of funding and budget constraints.
When it came to training, Civil Servants were confident in their ability vis-a-vis spreadsheets, data compliance and cybersecurity. But when asked about next-generation technologies, more than a third of respondents had very few or no skills in how AI, Machine Learning, Automation and Cloud Infrastructure could be used to improve public service delivery.
78% of respondents stated that they would like to receive more digital skills training, but 19% have not received any form of digital training in the last two years.
Our Take: There are pros and cons to this research for the British Government. While there exist blockers to digital service transformation, there is also a clear interest in digital upskilling amongst civil servants. Existing programs such as the GDS Academy and the Data Science Accelerator are likely to be complemented at the implementation stage of the government’s “Transforming for a Digital Future” strategy, closing the digital skills gap in years to come.
aPolitical Launch the Government Climate Campus - aPolitical
Following the recent COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, aPolitical, which describes itself as a “private community for public servants and policymakers”, has launched a Government Climate Campus to bring experts, technology and resources together to train public servants on tackling the climate crisis.
Some 80% of Public Servants lack the tools and training to make a meaningful positive difference to the climate, according to aPolitical.
The Government Climate Campus was launched with the ambitious goal of teaching 50,000 public servants how to cut government emissions by 50% by 2030.
In practice, the campus offers flexible online learning for public services, including peer learnings; events; and online eLearning courses.
Our Take: While initiatives like these are excellent in bringing awareness and skills to addressing society-wide problems like climate change, the continuity of learning is what will determine whether meaningful impact is seen. Both the crisis and the skills required to tackle it will evolve, and public servants will have to adapt accordingly.
GovTech against corruption: What are the integrity dividends of government digitalization? - Carlos Santiso, Cambridge University Press
Government digitalization can be an implicit yet effective anticorruption strategy, but there needs to be greater synergies between digital reforms and anticorruption strategies.
The correlation between government digitalization and corruption reduction is well established. However, little is known about the specific policy channels through which digitalization reduces corruption i.e. which types of digital reforms impact which types of corruption risks.
Government digitalization can have three integrity side effects: 1. Reducing arbitrary interference by public officials who abuse their discretion by asking for bribes to speed up administrative procedures; 2. Expanding digital public services that are directly accessible on-line and end-to-end; 3. Reducing information asymmetries between government, businesses, and citizens.
Santiso emphasizes that the impact of digitalization on public integrity is contingent on policy choices by policymakers and politicians, and that digitalization can also create new corruption risks.
Our Take: This article reminds us of what we learnt during our conversation with Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor to Bangladesh’s Flagship Digital Transformation Program: context is everything. In Bangladesh’s case, blockchain use for land registration, which was initially touted as an anti-corruption panacea, led to new forms of corruption. Digital tools ought to be adapted to the local context and the broader political economy in which they operate.
GovTech News in Brief
Singapore’s free AI Therapy-Bot is as problematic as you’d think - Meerie Jesuthasan, Rest of World
Singapore’s Mindline at Work, a government-supported mental health chatbot, has come under fire with accusations of gaslighting and a one-size-fits all model that struggles to meet specific employee needs. As well as its generic advice, it has prompted concerns that employers will use it to outsource their responsibility for their employees mental health.
Thailand’s Digital Government Awards 2022 [In Thai] - Digital Government Development Agency
Thailand's 2022 Digital Government Awards were held earlier this week, where Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha oversaw the granting of 53 awards to outstanding government agencies; local government departments; and individuals.
UK to expand digital trade relationship with Ukraine - Oscar Hornstein, UKTN
The expanded trade relationship will allow Ukraine to benefit from international commerce at a time when the war is curtailing its physical trading capabilities, and an increased number of technology partnerships will provide a pathway for the two countries to share best practice on the responsible development and use of emerging technologies.
France switches its diplomatic telegrams to post-quantum [Twitter Thread]
One hundred years after the first transatlantic telegram between the French Embassy in the US and Paris, the embassy has sent its first post-quantum diplomatic telegram.
UK Government strengthens Cybersecurity Laws for Public Services - City AM
The UK Government has strengthened its cybersecurity laws to protect essential services like water, energy and transport from online attacks. The now-revised UK NIS regulations were first implemented in 2018 to improve the cybersecurity of firms providing critical services, with fines up to £17 million for non-compliance.
More than 500 accredited people from 50 countries will attend the first OECD ministerial meeting on the Digital Economy in Europe in Gran Canaria [In Spanish] - Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation
50 Ministerial Delegations are set to discuss how to promote long-term recovery and economic growth by building a trustworthy sustainable and inclusive digital future.
Accelerating Digital Accessibility of Government Channels [In Dutch] - ICTU
The Dutch Government has released a Dashboard to inform Government organizations of whether their online channels meet the legal requirements for accessibility, in an effort to support the 4.5 million Dutch people who have difficulty understanding digital services.
Our Take: This is the latest in a series of accessibility efforts we have covered from the Dutch Government, led by Digital Minister Alexandra van Huffelen. Their success in this area reiterates the important of leadership in digital government coming from the top with political champions.
The Theory Behind the Practice
Six Questions to Protect Your Transparency Portal from “Zombie” Status - Mia Katan, Open Government Partnership
So-called ‘Zombie Portals’ - websites with broken links or devoid of useful content - have become all-too-common in digital government products around the world. Open Government Partnership discusses potential solutions, from closing zombie portals & focusing on tools better aligned with policy objectives to providing a legal mandate to ensure long-term maintenance of the websites.
Our Take: One of our first thought pieces talked about the redundancy of Malaysia’s hundreds of government apps. Zombie Portals are another example of overabundant development, where the focus is on quantity and initial fanfare rather than long-term maintenance. This article is a reminder of the need to set KPIs and success metrics based on long-term improvements, rather than quick and visible wins.
Data and Digital Maturity for Disaster Risk reduction - UNDP
This report from the UNDP analyses the current generation of disaster loss and damage databases, and makes recommendation for the next generation of services.
Three factors to effectively implement ambitious Open Procurement Reforms - Andreas Pavlou and Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), Open Government Partnership
Governments across the world spend more than $13 trillion (12% of Global GDP) on Public Procurement, but studies show that 10-25% of the value of a government contract can be lost to corruption. With the number of commitments to Open Government around the globe growing, this article provides a pathway to thinking about further reform of open procurement.
“It’s a break from the norm”: How Moonshot Approaches can drive government innovation - Richard Johnstone, Global Government Forum
During a Global Government Forum, experts discussed how mission-based approaches in government help unlock progress by enabling more focus and changing narratives on innovation. According to one participant, missions are “always about bringing science and technology together with a problem".
Upcoming GovTech Events
OECD Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting - OECD
Learn about digital enablers of the global economy and how to build a sustainable and inclusive digital future.
An Introduction to Blockchain in Public Service - aPolitical
If you're a public servant or policymaker, join this event to learn about what blockchain means in a public service context, identify ways that blockchain is currently being used in governments, and recognize the benefits and risks of blockchain use in the public sector.