The UNESCO Conference on Digital Capacity Building in Paris was an absolutely amazing experience. With the aim to highlight the challenges and define the path forward to close the digital capacity gap in the public sector, the event was attended by representatives from schools of public administration across the world.
Discussions focused on strategies, actions and solutions to build capacity and empower civil servants to lead the digital transformation.
Our key takeaways:
- Civil servants’ ability to apply and regulate AI and tech is crucial, but today there is a huge capacity gap in the public sector that needs to be addressed
- Lack of skills and competencies, data and infrastructure, political & leadership support, and funding are some of the challenges
- Bridging the capacity gaps will require collaboration between public and private sector, global cooperation, change in mindset and processes.
- Governments need to invest in human capital as a strategic resource to become efficient, agile and resilient
