Global: COVID-19

A summary report of the Government Beyond Recovery conference, which brought together over 2000 participants to reflect on the importance of innovation, co-creation, agile regulation and inclusion as the world emerges from a period of crisis and prepares for the complex challenges ahead.

As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, our governments are beginning to examine how to fill the gap in public finances this massive crisis has created. We are standing at a cross-road, facing difficult questions: are hard budget cuts inevitable or is it time to promote another way of doing things within government? How can we increase the value of our tax money and, at the same time, deal with government spending challenges? How can...

Virtual Conference – Government Beyond Recovery: Towards a future-fit public sector: 18-19 October 2021 As we hurry to buy plane tickets to the next tropical destination or catch the latest James Bond movie in theatres, the sudden and dramatic restrictions we all experienced in early 2020 can feel like a distant memory. In the early days of COVID-19, many of us reflected critically on the things that mattered most in our lives and work; committing...

“We create and re-create narratives throughout our lives to make sense of what happened, to process experience, to interpret and reinterpret our view of the world as life unfolds. I believe that beautiful and difficult process is what it is to be human.” Lauren Oakes For me, significant transitions in life prompt such introspection and recreation of narratives – to reflect on key moments that have shaped who I am and how I think. Recently,...

After Government After Shock we invited event hosts to share with us recordings of their events, any write-ups of their event or some after-the-event reflections on their event and what they learnt. This blog post provides an easy reference point to help interested people navigate between these. You can also find these materials on the relevant event listing on the Government After Shock site. Event recordings We have created a YouTube playlist where you can find a...

A summary report of the Government After Shock conference, which presented an opportunity for collective learning, thinking critically about the implications of the COVID-19 crisis and exploring how to steer government and society toward preferred futures rather than reverting to the status-quo.

Since 2016, OPSI and the UAE Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI) have worked in partnership to surface key activities and case studies in public sector innovation, resulting in a series of annual reports on key innovation trends. However, this year is not a normal year, with 2020 being one of the most challenging years in most of our lifetimes. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and drastically changed the daily lives of nearly...

In the lead up to Government After Shock we undertook a number of interviews with a range of leaders and practitioners to hear about perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic and what the associated crisis was revealing. The culminating event of Government After Shock was part of our collaboration with the European Commission through the H2020 programme, and these interviews helped provide us with a richer understanding of how innovation works in practice, with the crisis...

This OECD COVID-19 policy brief examines how and to what extent the crisis has served as a catalyst for government transformation. It draws these observations and analysis from over 400 cases and initiatives captured in the OECD’s COVID-19 Innovative Responses Tracker.

This year has been rich in learning. The terrible pandemic has provided a lot of insights and required all of us to do things differently. As part of the preparation for Government After Shock, OPSI has been pulling together examples and analysis about the innovative responses seen across the world, undertaking some sensemaking and doing some workshops with different communities about the crisis, and learning from other events and practitioners.  One thing we have…