• Experts: Technology can enable better policies, but not replace good policies
• Experts: Innovation enables governments to address citizens’ needs 
• 500 out of 540 local governments in Indonesia implement e-governance solutions

Dubai-UAE: 13 February, 2017:  The future is often defined in terms of technology. However, while technology can enable better policies, it cannot replace good ones, according to panelists at a session themed ‘Global Platform: Innovation and the Future of Governance’, held in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the opening day of the fifth World Government Summit (WGS 2017).

Rolf Alter, Director for Public Governance and Territorial Development of the OECD, who opened the session, asked panelists how governments can successfully leverage technology.

Maria Manuel Leitao Marques, Minister of Presidency and Administrative Modernization, Portugal, highlighted the importance of innovation for governments to deliver public services more efficiently.

She said: “Without innovations, it is not possible to do more and do better, through using less resources. It’s time to stop guessing what our citizens want. Let’s find out what they really want and co-create solutions. Let’s experiment with these solutions to ensure they really address citizens’ problems before implementing them.”

Marques continued, “In Portugal we have already implemented a participation budget, which encourages citizens to be a part of the decision making in public policies. As part of this process, the citizens attend meetings in which their ideas are passed on to local services.”

According to Boris Koprivinikar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration at the Ministry of Public Administration, Slovenia, innovation is simply about adapting better to new circumstances and the interconnected world that we live in. “We are all becoming part of one ecosystem.  We don’t need to do things faster, but we do need to adapt and share these new resources and costs.”

Speaking about Indonesia’s growing culture of innovation, His Excellency Asman Abnur, Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Republic of Indonesia, said: “Approximately 500 out of the 540 local governments have implemented e-government strategies.” He added: “Many innovations come from the local government, using a bottom-up approach and are being used as a role model for the central government.”

The roundtable represents the second meeting of the OECD Global Platform on “Governance of the Future”, a new initiative formed from the MENA-OECD program. Launched at the 2016 WGS, the roundtable serves as a framework for world experts and political leaders to converge annually and maintain the dialogue on future governance and its challenges.

The World Government Summit has attracted more than 4,000 personalities from over 139 countries. The attendees include VIPs and senior experts from the public and private sectors globally, ministers, decision makers, CEOs, innovators, officials, experts, entrepreneurs, academics, and university students. Several initiatives, reports and studies are set to be launched during the summit and throughout the year. The summit runs from February 12 to 14, 2017 at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.