In our previous roundup, we were thinking about how governments were responding to and adopting AI, focusing in particular on Poland and the Netherlands’ renewed sovereignty responses when it came to domestic digital infrastructure. This was a particularly pressing issue in the aftermath of the Anthropic cutoff by the US government, and will remain so in months to come.
This week, there are new digital bodies springing up in governments across the world, including ongoing work in Japan to set up a new AI reform team to review rules that could slow the testing and deployment of emerging technologies (the UK AI Growth Lab is poised to do something similar). We also look at the progress on the German Federal Modernization Agenda, and the UAE’s dedicated Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority set up to boost its bid to “build the government of the future”.
Our main stories this week:
OECD’s Digital Government Outlook 2026
Indonesia’s largest AI experiment barely has a safety net
Germany plans to make public administration fit for the digital age
From digital government to digital transformation
As a reminder, we have recently begun to expand our digital government coverage away from just Substack and onto Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram. For original content, audience engagement, and roundups of all our pieces, feel free to follow us over on those channels. Also check out our sister newsletter, interweave.africa.
Recognizing the increasing expectations from citizens that governments act quickly, adapt to change and respond effectively, the OECD have released a global Digital Government Outlook - presenting results from their multiple digital indices.
92% of OECD countries now have an AI-in-government strategy, but this is not always applied critically. 75% of countries do not evaluate whether investments in digital technologies and AI deliver the intended results.
There is a widening gap between rising expectations and institutional pace - citizens and businesses expect speed, adaptability and responsiveness, which traditional institutional bodies are struggling to keep up with.
The report identifies five priority shifts needed to move from ambition to performance, including scaling uptake of digital public infrastructure (DPI) and strengthening data governance for coherence and reuse.
Since 1st June, Indonesia's GovTech platform has integrated data from eight ministries, covering 270 million citizens with a single AI-powered system. But it has done so without any binding AI risk taxonomy, mandatory pre-deployment safety standards or independent audit mechanisms.
Indonesia’s National Economic Council has confirmed that the GovTech platform has achieved 80% connectivity across eight ministries and agencies, integrating their data into a single AI system for the first time in the country’s history.
However, a lack of governance around the integration has created concerns relating to accountability and legal responsibilities in the event of something going wrong.
Such a challenge is far from a mere hypothetical. A previous ransomware attack in June 2024 on the country’s Temporary National Data Center compromised data across more than 200 government institutions for days, and no single ministry or agency was ever held legally responsible. This new architecture will be 10 times the size.
Germany's digital transformation has gathered pace over the past couple of years, largely thanks to its new(ish) digital ministry. A couple of weeks ago, its Federal and State governments reached a new agreement in Berlin on a comprehensive state modernization program.
The Federal Modernization Agenda, with more than 200 measures, sets out to digitize correspondence, ID and passport applications, address changes, and vehicle registrations by default.
A “Germany app” will consolidate services in one place, with a voluntary digital wallet holding a “digital twin” of the ID card from 2027, later expanding to birth certificates and driving licenses.
There are further planned reforms around the justice system - with permits and payments set to become more digital.
Aguilera writes up an IIPP Forum conversation between David Eaves and Emily Middleton (Interim Director General for Digital Transformation in the UK Government), which looks at the role of the UK’s Government Digital Service today.
Digital government is the thinnest, newest layer of the state. Eaves’s framing for the conversation is that digital teams often overstate their centrality, with older layers of the state resisting change more than the digital reformers assume.
Within the UK government, GDS plays three distinct roles as architect (setting standards), builder (of platforms like the UK’s One Login) and reformer (of culture and roles). Progress will depend on translating that digital work into the “older language” of the state, especially money.
The hardest barrier, says Middleton, is cultural rather than technical. Middleton refers to it as “dark matter”: procurement rules, pay frameworks and career paths.
Our Take: This is the clearest articulation yet of what "GDS 2.0" is actually trying to be. This framing matters beyond the UK as it's a template that other digital ministries (Germany's BMDS included) will probably borrow from.
Estonia intends to recognize AI agents with digital IDs - Thomas Claburn, The Register
Estonian PM Kristen Michal has backed a proposal from the Eesti.ai advisory board to issue "AI ID codes", state-recognized digital identities for AI agents acting on behalf of people, companies or institutions. The codes would define scoped, auditable permissions under which agents no longer need to borrow their owner's full credentials to act.
The West can learn from Ukraine’s AI vision beyond the battlefield - Andrew D’Anieri, Atlantic Council
Ukraine is bringing its AI ambitions into public services, with Diia.AI showing how governments can make services more proactive, accessible, and responsive.
Tasmania removes 468,000 driver’s license photos from national facial recognition database - Pulse Tasmania
Tasmania has recalled hundreds of thousands of driver’s license photos from a national facial recognition system as it reviews the privacy and legal basis for sharing biometric data.
Japan to launch AI regulatory reform - Oh Kuemin, The Asia Business Daily
Japan is setting up a new AI and digital reform team to review rules that could slow the testing and deployment of emerging technologies.
Taiwan’s first digital minister on building a trustworthy public system in the digital era - Sol Gonzalez, GovInsider
Taiwan’s Audrey Tang argues that digital government should be designed around civic participation, social trust, and transparent systems rather than top-down tools.
UAE creates dedicated artificial intelligence and data authority to “build government of the future” - Jack Aldane, Global Government Forum
The UAE is set to establish an Artificial Intelligence and Data authority, consolidating its current AI, data and digital transformation portfolio across departments.
AI tool to slash planning decision times as government accelerates push to build 1.5 million homes - The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP and Matthew Pennycook MP, Gov.UK
The UK government is currently trialing AI-native solutions that will halve the time spent on planning applications. Extract, an AI solution that digitizes planning documents, providing planning officers with relevant data points, is currently being rolled out across the country’s local authorities.
From AI assistants to AI agents: a new operational layer for digital government - Yanez Rodriguez, Fabricio Lenin, IADB
Agentic AI presents a step-change for the public sector. While early movers like Estonia have already started trialing Agentic AI for effective data sharing, other governments need to rethink & evaluate their existing processes and infrastructure to move beyond simplistic adoption.
Public sector AI is advancing faster than public sector data - Will Lowe, The Observer
Governments need to prioritize the development of high-quality, accessible and integration-ready data infrastructure for building the next generation of digital public services, argues Will Lowe.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.