Are civil servants ready for digital transformation?

Artificial Intelligence is at the core of some of the most important socio-economic challenges and opportunities of the 21^st century. The question is how governments can equip themselves with the necessary competencies to adapt their national visions, missions, and strategies in the digital age. The development of digital competencies is one of the top priorities of many governments worldwide. With the accelerated development and use of digital technologies, the stake is high to develop not only technical expertise, but also adapt cultural, organizational and management practices that foster experimentation, iteration and innovation in the public sector.

Civil servants need not become technical experts. Rather, they need to understand new technology trends and develop a basic understanding of the societal implications of technologies to direct digital transformation and governance initiatives. Digital planning and design, data use and governance, digital management and execution are three essential competency domains that civil servants need to acquire depending on the digital transformation needs of their countries. Nested within these competency domains are competencies, such as data-driven policy making, respecting legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks and agile execution, which empower civil servants to adapt and develop digital strategies and action plans for the trustworthy, inclusive and human rights-centric implementation of AI technology.