DigitalGov Hack

Announcement: Finale

Over the years, technology has revolutionized our world and changed our daily lives where everything is connected and accessible with clicks. Either Artificial Intelligence, the Internet Of Things, or Augmented or Virtual reality, are all enhancing the quality of life and making it much easier by putting tools and resources at our fingertips.

Those emerging technologies are also reshaping the government and public services of tomorrow making a shift in the way governments around the world are embracing their mission.

By integrating those emerging technologies, we are highlighting the “GovTech”, a whole of government approach to public sector modernization. The EU-Startups magazine estimated the global market of GovTech to be around $ 430 billion in 2022.  (The rise of GovTech: Why startups should work with governments (Sponsored) | EU-Startups)

According to the International Telecommunication Union, countries seeking to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the next 10 years are increasingly looking to digital government strategies and technologies to “transform" themselves and the way they do business, to improve how to operate, how to deliver public services, how to engage stakeholders and how to provide impactful citizen-centric solutions leaving no one behind. This holistic system change may vary in detail from country to country but underpins any successful digital transformation approach. (Digital Government (itu.int)).

Needless to mention that the Covid-19 pandemic pushed some countries to start thinking about GovTech and accelerated those who are already into it to adopt more solutions. But it is never enough! Because GovTech is playing a pivotal role in ensuring a better future for us all, emerging technologies are solving the most pressing challenges governments face.

A recent report (Chapter 1 • Global Trends in E-Government.pdf (un.org)) from the United Nations on E-Government Global Index EGDI - Global Trends in E-Government 2022, clearly stated that overall progress is being made in e-government development globally but at a slower pace than anticipated. The number of countries providing the online services assessed in the EGDI Survey 2022 has risen by an average of 5 percent since 2020. The number of countries offering services that allow users to apply for social protection programs such as maternity care, child subsidies, pensions, and housing and food allowances has seen the most significant increase (17 percent), which may have occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 90 percent of the countries in Europe provide e-government services relating to a number of priority areas namely public distance learning support, telehealth services, and online scheduling for vaccinations and other medical tests. Over 70 percent of the countries in Asia and the Americas provide such services, and the corresponding proportions for Africa and Oceania are only 41 and 40 percent, respectively.

The use of those new solutions to modernize the public sector — could be an excellent way to realize the promises of the information era and advance the digital economies by leveraging Emerging Technologies. According to the “ Emerging Technologies Introductory Guide” published by the Digital Government Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2022 (Emerging technologies Introductory Guide and DGA role), over 50 million new jobs will be created globally by 2030, and employees’ productivity is estimated to increase by almost 40 percent as a result of using these technologies.