Innovation 2024 Articles
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Making hybrid working work for all, AI job ‘apocalypse’ could hit women hardest, and more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Global Government Women’s Network newsletter, rounding up the public policy and government workforce news from the last month. In this issue, we look back at the Innovation 2024 conference and ahead to this month’s GovernmentDX event in Washington, D.C. We also look at how AI could impact women’s…
AI takeaways from Innovation 2024; UK and US join up on AI safety; and more: GGF AI Monitor
Welcome to this month’s Global Government Forum AI Monitor In this edition AI takeaways from Innovation 2024 Global Government Forum’s annual Innovation conference this year delved deep into AI in government. The first session on the topic began bright and early on Day 1, and featured Susan Acland-Hood, permanent secretary at the UK’s Department for…
Don’t digitise a bad process – and other takeaways from Innovation 2024
Welcome to Global Government Forum’s new Digital and Data Monitor. Global Government Forum exists to help share information and ideas between public servants in different countries, and we’ve been thinking recently about how best to do that. This monthly newsletter will bring together all the news on how governments around the world are working to…
Incoming civil service COO Cat Little sets priority to empower Whitehall departments
The incoming chief operating officer of the civil service, Cat Little, has said she aims to help focus on “the things only the centre can do” in order to free up other departments of government to succeed. Little spoke with Sapana Agrawal, the director of modernisation and reform in the Cabinet Office, at the last…
‘Hope is not a strategy’: how to change how civil servants think about risk
For individual civil servants, it’s entirely rational to minimise risk-taking, permanent secretary Sarah Munby told Innovation 2024 – but organisations must innovate and experiment if they are to succeed. How can this awkward circle be squared? “We are right to be risk-averse about a huge amount of what we do,” said Sarah Munby, permanent secretary…
Innovation 2024 as it happened – day 2
Co-hosted by the UK Government, UK Civil Service and the Cabinet Office, Innovation is a unique exhibition and conference that brings together government leaders from across the globe to share how to transform public sector organisations and services. Find out what happened on day 2 of the 2024 conference, on 20 March 2024
Civil servants must take ‘long-term stewardship view’, says outgoing UK Cabinet Office chief
The chief operating officer (COO) of the UK Civil Service today urged civil servants to retain their focus on long-term goals and structural reforms, even as the new crises emerging in this “restless decade” threaten to blow strategic plans off course. “The risks of myopia are significant,” he said, warning that “quick and easy solutions…
Innovation 2024 as it happened – day 1
Co-hosted by the UK Government, UK Civil Service and the Cabinet Office, Innovation is a unique exhibition and conference that brings together government leaders from across the globe to share how to transform public sector organisations and services. Find out what happened on day 1 of the 2024 conference, on 19 March 2024
Innovation 2024 Events, Conferences & Summits - In-Person
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Innovation 2024 Research
Discover independent research reports, surveys and in-depth studies from Global Government Forum and knowledge partners, exploring the most important issues facing governments and the public sector. Our research provides practical insights and evidence-based recommendations for senior civil servants, policymakers and public sector leaders. Our reports combine exclusive survey data, expert analysis and interviews with government leaders from around the world to help public sector organisations improve performance, inform policy and deliver better outcomes for citizens.
Empowering Public Servants to Make Confident, Informed Decisions with Data and AI
Governments around the world are working hard to extract – and act upon – the insights held in their vast data stores, and to embrace AI and the promise it holds for innovation and transformation. At the same time, economic pressures and constrained budgets are compelling public servants to do more with fewer resources, while governments are called to respond quickly and effectively to complex challenges.
Against this backdrop, data and AI can help those working in government both to streamline their workflows and make fast, informed decisions. This in turn drives efficiency and can unlock productivity gains – and ultimately lead to improved performance and better services for citizens.
Global Government Forum surveyed over 600 civil servants worldwide to understand how data and AI are being used in government decision-making and where there are further challenges and opportunities.
Read this report for insight into how governments are using data and AI in decision-making today and the potential for the future; the major challenges to using data and AI in decision-making and how to overcome them; and how AI agents can be used in decision-making.
The report includes examples of data and AI in decision-making from countries including the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Singapore, the US, and more.
(Published September 2025)
Making Government Work: Five Pillars of a Modern, Effective Civil Service
Around the world, governments are dealing with substantial challenges – from economic stagnation to the transition to net zero, military conflicts and cyber threats. Governments are also grappling with shifting geopolitics and the rise of populism – and all of these factors are set against the emergence of new technologies, including generative AI, which have the potential to fundamentally transform every aspect of society, but which also pose huge ethical, security and regulatory questions for the public sector.
The Making Government Work: Five pillars of a modern, effective civil service report was undertaken to help identify the key characteristics needed in a modern public service, with priorities ranging across leadership, digital service delivery, workforce development, cross-departmental integration, and citizen trust.
This report has been covered by publications around the world including the Financial Times, BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Ottawa Citizen, Fed Manager, the Mandarin and the i newspaper.
(Published August 2024)
The Future of the Finance Ministry
From setting tax rates and financial regulations that create the ground rules for national economies, to allocating – and tracking – spending for public services, finance ministries occupy an essential role at the centre of government. Geopolitical crises have reinforced the importance of finance ministries, as they tackle both immediate shocks and long-term trends such as ageing populations, the digital transition, and the impact of moves to net zero.
Against this backdrop, this global research explores what the future finance ministry looks like and how to prepare for it.
Based on interviews with 10 senior leaders from finance ministries – led by John McCarthy, chief economist in Ireland’s Department of Finance, working with Ian Hall, editor, Global Government Finance, and Richard Johnstone, executive editor, Global Government Forum – the study identifies four key themes: the evolving role of the finance ministry in response to uncertainty; the shift to more flexible finance systems that support outcomes; digital transformation and the growth of AI; and the battle for talent and trust.
(Published May 2026)
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