Digital Public Services

Australia ❤️ is good at digital govt. But in a world of rapid change, good isn’t good enough 🤷♂️ When people think of world-leading digital nations, they point to Singapore, Estonia, and increasingly, the UAE. Yes - they’re small, agile, and highly coordinated. But size is no excuse. 🇺🇦 Ukraine (pop. ~40 million) is racing toward Gov 3.0 maturity via its Diia platform - even during a war. 🇮🇳 India (pop. 1.5 billion 🤯) is delivering digital transformation at national scale. The India Stack, anchored by Aadhaar, is enabling inclusion, innovation, and economic uplift for over a billion people. ✳️ Why does this matter? One word: Productivity As population growth and participation rates flatten, productivity becomes the key to prosperity. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is right ✅ to put it front and centre - he’s convening a national productivity roundtable on 25 August to build consensus for reform. Last year, I co-led a productivity roadshow across Australia and New Zealand, asking: Which govt services would deliver the biggest productivity dividend if digitised at scale? The result? The GX5 : Five digital initiatives with the biggest productivity upside We assessed 24 govt digitalisation opportunities and filtered them through three lenses: 1. Citizen-facing – high visibility and public benefit 2. Deployment-ready – proven globally, good to go 3. High productivity impact – across govt, business, and individuals The top five: 🟦 Digital ID – secure, streamlined identity verification 🟦 Digital Skills Wallet – verified, portable credentials 🟦 Digital Front Door – one-stop access to govt services 🟦 Digital Health Record – accessible, coordinated medical data 🟦 Digital Licences & Permits – instantly verifiable credentials 📊 According to the attached GX5 report, Digital ID alone could unlock $19–32 billion per year in economic benefits - up to 1.2% of GDP - based on results from Singpass (Singapore) and Aadhaar (India) . Importantly, the Federal Govt passed legislation last year 🙏 to enable an opt-in digital ID system - a critical reform that will boost security, privacy, and service delivery across the country. This attached report was a collaboration between Ember Advisors and ServiceGen, with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS). If we want to stay globally competitive, we must build and embrace public digital infrastructure. It’s how we move from good to great 🙏🏼

What if you could build a world class AI. Without ever seeing real data? For years, this has been the catch 22 of public sector transformation. We want to use AI to solve huge challenges like fraud, but the risk of exposing real citizen data has been a hard stop. Progress has been trapped between the promise of innovation and the duty of privacy. A new white paper from HM Revenue & Customs, however, offers a brilliant solution They are training advanced fraud detection models without ever using real taxpayer information, all thanks to synthetic data. It's artificially generated information that mirrors the statistical patterns of a real dataset, a high fidelity, privacy safe replica that allows teams to build, test, and innovate with complete freedom. This is a true game changer for government delivery. → It unlocks innovation, allowing teams to build models without navigating months of complex data access approvals. → It guarantees citizen privacy by design, building the public trust needed for wider AI adoption. → It accelerates project timelines, moving from theory to a functioning model in a fraction of the time. This update from HMRC sets out a new blueprint for responsible innovation across the public sector. It proves we can be both data driven and privacy centric. #AI #DataPrivacy #HMRC

Big players have resources. But speed? That’s a different advantage. A country smaller than New York City just did it again. Not with power. Not with wealth. But with execution. While others hesitate, they act. While complexity slows most down, they simplify. This is Estonia. And it’s moving faster than the rest. Here’s how they built the world’s most advanced e-society: 1️⃣ AI is in schools from age 7. Students learn coding before algebra. No, really. 2️⃣ 99% of public services are online. Marriage and buying a house? The only things done on paper. 3️⃣ Starting a company takes 15 minutes. One form, one click. No lawyers, no waiting. 4️⃣ Filing taxes takes five minutes. No accountants. No paperwork. Just done. 5️⃣ Digital IDs power daily life. Banking, voting, healthcare—all secured, all digital. 6️⃣ E-Residency fuels global business. 50,000+ companies run from Estonia by non-Estonians. 7️⃣ Blockchain secures government records. No lost files, no corruption—just instant verification. 8️⃣ AI slashes bureaucracy. Permits, applications, approvals—processed in minutes. 9️⃣ Internet access is a legal right. Rural, urban, remote—everyone gets connected. 🔟 Voting has been online since 2005. No lines, no delays. Just click and cast. They didn’t just adopt digital tools. They rewired and reprogrammed a nation. The question isn’t if it’s possible—but how fast it will happen. When will your country take the digital leap?

The G7 Toolkit for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector, prepared by the OECD.AI and UNESCO, provides a structured framework for guiding governments in the responsible use of AI and aims to balance the opportunities & risks of AI across public services. ✅ a resource for public officials seeking to leverage AI while balancing risks. It emphasizes ethical, human-centric development w/appropriate governance frameworks, transparency,& public trust. ✅ promotes collaborative/flexible strategies to ensure AI's positive societal impact. ✅will influence policy decisions as governments aim to make public sectors more efficient, responsive, & accountable through AI. Key Insights/Recommendations: 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬: ➡️importance of national AI strategies that integrate infrastructure, data governance, & ethical guidelines. ➡️ different G7 countries adopt diverse governance structures—some opt for decentralized governance; others have a single leading institution coordinating AI efforts. 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 & 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 ➡️ AI can enhance public services, policymaking efficiency, & transparency, but governments to address concerns around security, privacy, bias, & misuse. ➡️ AI usage in areas like healthcare, welfare, & administrative efficiency demonstrates its potential; ethical risks like discrimination or lack of transparency are a challenge. 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 ➡️ focus on human-centric AI development while ensuring fairness, transparency, & privacy. ➡️Some members have adopted additional frameworks like algorithmic transparency standards & impact assessments to govern AI's role in decision-making. 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ➡️provides a phased roadmap for developing AI solutions—from framing the problem, prototyping, & piloting solutions to scaling up and monitoring their outcomes. ➡️ engagement + stakeholder input is critical throughout this journey to ensure user needs are met & trust is built. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐬𝐞 ➡️Use cases include AI tools in policy drafting, public service automation, & fraud prevention. The UK’s Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) and Canada's AI impact assessments serve as examples of operational frameworks. 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 & 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: ➡️G7 members to open up government datasets & ensure interoperability. ➡️Countries are investing in technical infrastructure to support digital transformation, such as shared data centers and cloud platforms. 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 & 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ➡️ importance of collaboration across G7 members & international bodies like the EU and Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) to advance responsible AI. ➡️Governments are encouraged to adopt incremental approaches, using pilot projects & regulatory sandboxes to mitigate risks & scale successful initiatives gradually.

#AI in the public sector? And yet it moves! And it’s a prime example of how technological advancement requires the highest social and ethical standards. “Ethical Integration in Public Sector AI”: the new IAB X Center for Responsible AI Technologies study is out. It addresses the ethical design of AI in the public sector, with a focus on #PublicEmploymentServices (PES). While AI is increasingly employed to streamline administrative processes and improve service delivery, its application in employment mediation raises fundamental concerns regarding #fairness, accountability, and democratic legitimacy. The EU AI Act has further underscored the urgency of addressing these challenges by classifying employment-related AI systems as high-risk. We examine how ethical and social considerations can be systematically embedded in the development and implementation of public sector AI. Using the German PES as a case study, we introduce the “Embedded #Ethics and Social Sciences” approach, which integrates ethical reflection and practitioner involvement from the outset. Qualitative insights from interviews with caseworkers highlight the socio-technical challenges of implementation, particularly the need to reconcile efficiency with citizen trust. We propose concrete design elements emerging from the integration of ethical and social considerations into system development: data ethics, bias, fairness, explainable AI. The approach supports compliance with new regulatory requirements but also strengthens human oversight and shared decision-making.

It surprises me how underestimated the concept of secure data collaboration still is in business discussions, especially in the context of cyber risk mitigation. In recent years, we have seen a growing interest in technologies that allow companies to extract value from data without compromising its integrity or exposing sensitive information. From privacy-preserving machine learning to secure multiparty computation, the focus is shifting toward architectures that embed protection directly into the operational layers. This change does not come from fear alone. It comes from the awareness that trust is built not only through policies, but also through infrastructure choices. Secure cloud processing, encrypted analytics, and even data monetization models must be designed with transparency and resilience in mind. These solutions go beyond the technical layer and contribute to a deeper cultural change in how digital assets are managed and valued. Cybersecurity is no longer a separate concern. It is becoming an essential design principle that shapes how we innovate, interact, and grow in a connected world. #CyberSecurity #DataPrivacy #DigitalTrust

🔍 I've been thinking deeply about what makes data-powered governance truly effective. After some observation and some experience, I've identified three critical ingredients – what I humbly call the "Three D's". 📊 Data Exchange Platforms: The foundation that enables innovation through open data sharing and collaborative models. Estonia's X-Road has revolutionized public services by creating a secure data exchange layer connecting government databases. Citizens can access nearly all government services online, with 99% of public services available digitally. Singapore's Smart Nation Sensor Platform integrates data from sensors and IoT devices across the city to optimize everything from traffic flow to energy consumption. 📜 Data Policies: The essential guardrails that establish trust. The European Union's GDPR has set a global standard for data protection, enhancing citizen trust while creating a framework for responsible innovation. Closer home, the DPDP will start to set benchmarks for data-centric guardrails for a massive, diverse, and data-rich country like India. 🧩 Decision-Support Systems: The mechanisms that transform data into action. South Korea's COVID-19 response leveraged their Epidemic Investigation Support System to enable rapid contact tracing while maintaining transparency with citizens. Also, New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure connects data across government agencies to inform policy decisions with robust economic analysis, resulting in more targeted and effective social programs. 💡 When these 3D's are combined deftly by the public-sector, citizen-centric governance becomes the cornerstone for any government. For the scale India operates at, it's a very good opportunity to show the way for the Global South. 🤔 I think we're at that inflection point with the recent announcement of AI Kosha and the DPDP, and they can help safely incubate innovative solutions that will optimize the delivery of government schemes, thereby ensuring timely, targeted assistance for citizens. Thoughts? #DigitalTransformation #PublicSector #Innovation #DataStrategy

#DPI : Digital Public Infrastructure can drive a sustainable increase in #revenue collection and build trust in government. -India's adoption of digital public infrastructure has helped reduce the country's income tax return processing time. Trust in government and government effectiveness have a reciprocal relationship. Trust is enhanced when political institutions are strong and governments implement policies and initiatives that are aligned with the public interest and improve people’s daily lives. And governments can be effective only when their citizens trust them enough to comply with laws, thereby creating the space for reforms. Of course, trust in government needs more than just robust digital platforms. But the building of India’s digital platform infrastructure has laid some of the foundations for increasing trust by creating an inclusive platform for citizens to transact digitally and empowering users to have more control over their data. Good digital infrastructure can create trust between any two counterpart actors by introducing tamperproof components for identity, #payments, and #security , which allows citizens and businesses to be certain of the #identity of their counterpart and of the legitimacy of the transaction. This allows the reduction in explicit and implicit costs to citizens when they interact with their government, and for businesses in their transactions with individuals, other businesses, and the government. -Kamya Chandra, Tanushka Vaid, and Pramod Varma's article in  International Monetary Fund 's September 2024 F&D (Finance & Development) Edition

Governance gaps arise when laws, institutions, or oversight fail to keep pace with fast-moving realities. They delay progress, erode accountability, and weaken public trust—especially in health. Today’s health frontiers—AI in diagnostics, mobile health apps, genomic medicine, climate-driven migration, and FemTech—are advancing rapidly, but governance is often outdated, fragmented, or missing entirely. Public-private partnerships lack transparency, cybersecurity in health systems is fragile, and displaced populations face care barriers. We need to map under-governed spaces, build smarter, rights-based governance, ensure inclusive participation, and enable global cooperation. Governance is not a bureaucratic side issue—it’s a public health imperative. Under-governed spaces are not inevitable. They’re governance failures waiting to be fixed. #GovernanceRx | #HealthGovernance | #PublicPolicy | #DigitalHealth | #WomensHealth | #AI | #FutureOfHealth | #Leadership | #UHC

When your country's trust in its leaders has collapsed, how do you rebuild it? You don’t hold another conference. You build tools that let citizens watch power in action—live. In Chile, public trust in democratic institutions has cratered. Trust is “very, very damaged,” as one developer put it. People just don’t believe their voices matter anymore. Then came Del Dicho al Hecho – from said to done. A digital platform built to track every official proposal: from introduction in Congress to real-world implementation. Education, healthcare, immigration: you watch promises go from line to law in real time. One in ten Chileans used it last year. That's what digital accountability looks like. Until the tech got old. Enter Tech To The Rescue: we matched Ciudadanía Inteligente with pro bono backend expertise from Alio IT Solutions. We moved from spreadsheets and guesswork to scalable power without bureaucracy: --> Django-powered backend, with clean, secure, scalable architecture --> Real-time dashboard, replacing manual updating every legislative cycle --> Instant CSV uploads, replacing convoluted PDF workflows This isn't about flashy tech. It’s about civic tech that works: tools that restore trust, reshape democracy, and scale across borders. Today’s reminder for nonprofits: 1. Your domain isn’t the only one broken. 2. Your tools don’t just serve; you deserve scalable systems. 3. Accountability doesn’t wait for reports; it needs real-time tools. Big thanks to Ciudadanía Inteligente and Alio IT for showing how civic tech actually scales. The future of democracy isn’t speeches. It’s pixels that speak truth to power. #CivicTech #TechForGood #FutureOfDemocracy #NonprofitInnovation