Strategic, systematic, sustainable: the new era of GovTech

The GGTC Berlin is part of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network and is the first-of-its kind center in Germany for public sector innovation and digital transformation. Its formation was announced at the #WEF24 in Davos which gives an indication of just how important the topic of GovTech is for governments around the world.

That’s why I’m excited about the key role we’re playing, not just as a participant in the GGTC but as one of the primary founding partners of a growing GovTech ecosystem. Because GovTech is huge. And it’s becoming bigger, more transformational, and more important for society and global economies day-by-day. Indeed, the WEF believes that government technology is expected to become the biggest software market in the world by 2028, hitting more than $1 trillion.

GovTech has the potential to spark a reinvention of the social contract between the state, citizens and business. And, as this new era in its evolution unfolds, we need a debate about how to do this in a way that aligns with the 21st century’s core democratic and participatory values.

Understanding GovTech

Let’s recap what we mean by the term GovTech: it embraces the adoption of all technological products and services in public institutions to transform the relationships between citizens, the private sector, and the state. It is a large and dynamic market that is growing fast, creating an opportunity to make digital technologies serve the public good with improved outcomes and a better quality of life for all.

Of course, GovTech is not just about software. It also focuses on the strategies being developed to transform how governments and public authorities approach the digitization, innovation and collaboration needed to modernize what they do and how they do it. All players in the GovTech ecosystem must now consider what kind of digital public infrastructure they want to have.

With the official opening of GGTC Berlin marking an important milestone in this evolution, the following explores three GovTech pillars: Strategic, Systematic, Sustainable.

Strategic – taking GovTech from an IT topic to the C-suite

When GovTech began to emerge as an enabler for the transformation of public systems and service delivery, it was largely something that ‘IT did’. Ultimate responsibility rested with the chief technology officer (CTO) or chief digital officer (CDO). That’s all changed.
The huge potential of GovTech as a lever to create better social outcomes has made it a strategic topic, not purely an IT one. All government leaders, everywhere, should be thinking about GovTech. The question is no longer “what new technology will we invest in?” but “what strategic outcomes are we seeking and how will GovTech enable them?”.
There’s also the question of what strategy governments have for working with startups and small businesses to bring innovative technologies to the table. This plays to the ethos of the GGTC concept which, along with governments, academia, and major tech players, engages with startups and SMEs in a true innovation ecosystem to foster improved societal and economic outcomes.
One sought-after outcome is digital inclusion. GovTech has a huge role to play in this. Products from innovators are already being embedded in the strategies of government bodies, for example to help authorities quickly and easily translate online content into simple, understandable language, and to check web interfaces for conformity with web accessibility guidelines (WCAG).

Systematic – ensuring interoperability and collaboration by rote

We know full well that public sector organizations face similar challenges globally. Yet, instead of systematically working on these challenges together, the rule of thumb to-date has been to undertake transformation initiatives in isolation. Often, this is not just on a country-by-country basis but also nationally within siloed departments working on their own change programs. The cost, resourcing, and interoperability ramifications are obvious.

In the ecosystem model expounded by the Global Government Technology Centre, we see a more systematic approach to GovTech development, with new methods of cross-sectoral co-ideation, co-creation and co-learning. The aim is to systematically connect a global network of experts and practitioners to inform and inspire GovTech agendas around the world.

With GGTC Berlin now officially open, a second is on the cards, this time in Ukraine. A letter of intent was signed earlier this year between the WEF and the Ukrainian authorities to set up GGTC Kyiv. This will systematically link with players in the GovTech ecosystem including GGTC Berlin.

This systematic approach to sharing knowledge and co-creation will also help to resolve challenges with interoperability, whereby projects with broad-ranging regional benefit fail to deliver expected outcomes because platforms built for them in one country are not interoperable in another. A case in point is the rollout of electronic ID in Europe, where siloed development has hindered progress towards seamless cross-border trade and social mobility.

Sustainable – an opportunity for global digital parity

The GovTech ecosystem has the potential to create a more inclusive and sustainable development opportunity in terms of public sector digital transformation across the world. Countries lagging behind – through lack of finances, technology know-how and resources, or geo-political instability – have an opportunity to leapfrog on the back of more technically advanced nations and catch up with the transformations of their own administrations.

In this context, the United Nations (UN) also recognizes the value of GovTech. Its World Food Programme has teamed up with our own organization, along with Tilburg University and Johns Hopkins Center, for a Liveable Future in a GovTech initiative aimed at tackling global food poverty. The project team has developed ENHANCE, an open access, analytical platform to identify dietary patterns that are healthy, affordable, environmentally friendly, and context-specific.

The ENHANCE platform uses generative AI and has been piloted in Cambodia where 22 percent of children under five have impaired development due to malnutrition. Other countries can now learn from this early use of ENHANCE to bolster their national food programs and tackle food poverty in new ways. This reinforces the GovTech ecosystem concept whereby those countries eager to harness new tech, but struggling to do so, can collaborate within a global community to accelerate their own transformations.

Capgemini – bringing the GovTech ecosystem together

Facilitating international collaboration around the GovTech agenda is a core raison d’être of the Global Government Technology Centre. Having started in Berlin, soon extending to Kyiv, and with plans for further GGTCs around the world, it reflects the new, more open and collaborative approach to GovTech.

I believe that our role in this ecosystem plays to our strengths in many ways. As a founder and supporter of the GGTC Berlin, Capgemini is committed to facilitating the exchange of use cases and success stories, and creating a collaborative platform that connects GovTech leaders, startups and innovative SMEs.

Of course, innovation isn’t new. We have been bringing innovation to our private sector clients for many years. Now the GovTech movement can benefit from the lessons learned and proven advances in the fields of GenAI, data-based decision making, collaboration technology and other emerging tech.

As GovTech becomes ever more strategic, what next? From my perspective, continuing to grow and orchestrate the global GovTech ecosystem is first and foremost about the societal impact it promises. This is hugely important to us as an organization.

That’s why we will stay at the forefront of the GovTech evolution, helping to scale innovation, enable collaboration, and share thought leadership shaping the future of government technology.

Find out more about GGTC Berlin on their website.