June 2014

Government as a Digital Disrupter

Convening under the timely theme Government as a Digital Disrupter: Driving Public Service Innovation and Transformation, this high-level roundtable brought together a dynamic group of heads of digital agencies, e-government practitioners and experts to discuss the future of government and in particular the role that digital technologies can play in the delivery of modern public services. Robert Madelin, director-general for communications networks, content and technology at the European Commission, provided a report card of the performances of the Digital Agenda, especially as it applied to government. In interactive working groups, participants compared and shared best practices on digital government in, inter alia, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Mike Bracken, executive director of Digital for Government at the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom, kicked-off the debate with a visionary address on key digital trends that hold the most potential to transform governments over the next years. Gian Luigi Albano, head of research at Consip, the Italian national purchasing body; Linda Liukas, digital champion for Finland; Henri Verdier, director of Etalab in France; and Marijke Verhavert, CIO of the public governance department and head of monitoring systems and crisis management at the Flemish Government in Belgium, delivered special presentations.