1Digital transformations are continually changing the way people live, work and interact in society. The rapid development and use of information and communication technologies is also changing the way governments operate internally and engage with citizens.
2Digital transformation has become a top priority for public organisations worldwide. While governments are increasingly digitising their services in response to rising public expectations, they are being asked to do more to create an enabling environment in which green and equitable digital transformation strengthens economies and societies.
3However, studies have revealed critical digital skills gaps in the public sector. It is therefore important to identify and address these digital transformation gaps so that the public sector can act as a catalyst for growth in the digital age.
4What’s missing from the digital transformation?
5According to the needs assessment survey, most governments indicated that they could engage in digital transformation by building digital capabilities and adopting rights-based digital policies. In all three branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial - there is still room for improvement.
6The results of the African AI Needs Assessment Survey show that :
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27 out of 32 governments have not taken direct action to build the knowledge and capacity of staff within government to meet the challenges of AI.
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31 out of 32 governments have not taken any steps to build the knowledge and capacity of members of parliament or other legislative bodies to meet the challenges of AI.
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More than 22 countries have requested support for knowledge exchange, training of civil servants and policy development in the three branches of government.
7These gaps can be filled using the skills and recommendations presented in this article.
8Digital transformation in the public sector can strengthen public services and governance. Thanks to digital technology and AI, policymakers can support the SDGs more easily and effectively. For example, using predictive analytics, the Flemish employment agency has digitised and automated its job search system (OECD, 2020). Jobseekers can receive personalised job recommendations more quickly, which helps them in their job search and helps to achieve MDG 8: Decent work and economic growth.
9The survey reveals that most African countries have AI priorities, which they see as urgent and important areas of work. For example, 27 out of 32 countries consider it important to build human and institutional capacity by updating education, skills and training systems. Similarly, 23 out of 32 countries consider the use of AI for the protection of human rights to be important, and 14 of them consider it to be urgent. In addition, some African countries have implemented or planned promising initiatives to support AI education, research and training.
10Governments’ aspirations and their existing digital transformation plans and initiatives are excellent springboards for pursuing their country’s digital transformation journey.
11For digital transformation to succeed, governments need to change the way they lead and manage. Currently, they can be held back by fear of failure, rigid hierarchical governance structures and infrastructural barriers, such as lack of IT infrastructure and access to data. In addition, the lack of digital skills among civil servants can hinder the effective and consistent implementation of digital government policies.
12These digital skills gaps are particularly pronounced in lower-middle income countries, which tend to have fewer resources and fewer digital skills. According to the survey, all 32 countries report that there are no financial resources available and/or there are gaps in human resource capacity to develop standards for the development of AI products and services.
13To overcome these obstacles and take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital transformation, public sector leaders need to develop new skills to meet the complex challenges of governance in the digital age. These skills include developing enabling frameworks, mitigating ethical and human rights risks, understanding the development and use of digital platforms and anticipating technology trends.
14This competency framework identifies three key competency areas for policy makers in the digital age. These are digital planning and design, data use and governance, and digital management and delivery. Figure 1 presents the framework with its competences, mastery levels and cross-cutting attitudes.
Figure 1. The competency framework for AI and digital transformation
Data source : Authors
15For the first competency area of digital planning and design, the competencies support the identification of problems faced by public servants in digital transformation and the development of the vision for the design and implementation of green and inclusive digital transformation policies or projects. It encourages the development of skills related to problem and solution identification, systems thinking, strategic foresight and agile strategy.
16Technological improvements are continually changing the landscape of technological governance. For example, strategic foresight can anticipate and cope with rapid change and uncertainty, support innovation by revealing options for experimentation, and help protect the future by testing existing or proposed strategies.
17Competence in strategic foresight involves.
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Develop dynamic policy recommendations, underpinned by data and an understanding of policy impact
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Identify trends and patterns to understand and make decisions based on the strategic drivers of the digital age
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Thinking laterally and applying lessons learned from other fields and geographies
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Learn about the best current solutions and future developments in relevant AI tools.
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Be able to develop contextualised AI strategies and action plans
18For example, directors of public administrations can use strategic foresight tools (i.e. scanning the horizon for emerging changes, analysing megatrends and developing multiple scenarios) to anticipate how major emerging technologies might develop, what effects they might have on all spheres of life, and how to seize the opportunities that will arise. Policymakers working on education policy can also use strategic foresight to identify the opportunities and threats that could arise in the years and decades ahead, and possible strategies for dealing with them.
19By 2025, the global data universe will reach 163 ZB (zetabytes) and is expected to double every two years. The availability of digital data and the creation of computer algorithms to analyse this data will offer new ways of solving complex problems and delivering services. However, policymakers must be prepared to use these technologies. A Data-Driven Public Sector (DDPS) recognises that data is an asset, that it is essential and integral to policy development, service delivery, organisational management and innovation.
20The second competency area, data use and governance, encourages civil servants to understand the fundamental role and value of data, as well as the inherent risks, and the ability to use, analyse and share data, taking into account ethical, privacy and security issues. This is essential if civil servants are to meet the challenges of governance and the growing expectations of the public, while using data effectively and responsibly.
21For example, competence in data-driven decision-making is a matter of assurance and enables :
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Use data effectively to support evidence-based policy development and informed decision-making
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Integrate a data culture into the organisation
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Managing the data value chain
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Exploit the potential of existing data sets for the development of AI systems
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support the collection, organisation and use of data for AI applications, while respecting human rights and sustainability
22The potential for harnessing this skill is immense. Civil servants who can make data-driven decisions to inform public policy, digital transformation or decision-making processes can maintain the integrity and quality of data used in the public sector and create use cases for existing datasets. For example, a Chief Data Officer has the knowledge and expertise to use and manage organisational data in accordance with policy and regulation. He or she can use data for predictive analysis and to generate ideas to improve public services.
23In addition, the public sector must be prepared to revise legal, regulatory and ethical frameworks with the emergence of digital technologies.
24Skills related to legal, regulatory and ethical frameworks are more or less the same.
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Understand whether digital transformation initiatives comply with existing human rights standards and legal frameworks.
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Anticipating the legal implications of new technologies
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Develop and implement legal, regulatory and ethical frameworks that take account of digital technologies and their impact on society
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Carry out regular assessments and remove ineffective managers
25Thanks to this skill, civil servants can develop legislative frameworks that take account of the emergence of new technologies. In addition, experts in ethics, cybersecurity and privacy can carry out data impact assessments, privacy assessments and AI ethical impact assessments before, during and after the development of AI systems. This ensures that AI systems are developed with respect for human rights.
26The third competency area, digital management and delivery, enables civil servants to understand innovative project management and collaboration practices. It involves applying working methods and tools to use data and technology to solve complex problems and foster new ways of civic participation.
27Developing an inspiring vision and an appropriate ’culture’ is at the heart of digital transformation. Digital teams need an environment that fosters cooperation, collaboration and innovation. Another important skill is digital leadership. Leaders who can do this are prepared to lead in the digital age. It is also a skill that should be developed by all public servants who work in teams to help create environments conducive to innovation.
28In the context of AI, digital leadership skills consist of
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Influencing and motivating others by defining a clear vision and objectives, and structuring the team to promote experimentation.
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Creating a culture of collaboration and empowerment
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Encouraging AI-based innovation within the organisation and supporting change through AI technologies
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Identify the skills and competencies required for specific AI projects
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Support training and education opportunities that enable staff to develop AI skills
29With digital leadership, service design leaders in government are well equipped to develop a clear vision and goals for the team, and to coach members on how to achieve them effectively.
30For all the recommendations in this section, UNESCO advocates a human rights-based approach that respects equality between men and women. Gender equality is a global priority. It is essential to empower women through the equal participation of men and women and the inclusion of measures against potential gender bias and stereotypes in the inclusive and multi-stakeholder development of policies and standards.
31The framework provides five recommendations for digital capacity building for all stakeholders:
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Raising awareness of artificial intelligence and digital transformation skills.
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Contextualising, localising and adapting AI and digital transformation skills.
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Sharing learning resources for capacity building in AI and digital transformation.
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Monitor the impact of AI and digital transformation projects.
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To facilitate the exchange of knowledge and mutual learning through multilateral cooperation.
32Four recommendations were made by the stakeholder groups:
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Governments :
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Take a holistic approach when using the framework. Start by developing a national AI and digital transformation strategy, then develop digital action plans on building specific skills.
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Develop digital transformation capacity-building programmes and training as part of national digital transformation initiatives.
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The academy :
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Leverage the framework to establish curricula and interdisciplinary programmes to develop skills related to AI and digital transformation.
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Private sector :
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Working with governments to implement capacity-building initiatives by providing expertise and knowledge based on experience of digital transformation.
33Competency domains are best implemented when they are contextualised, localised and adapted to their specific context, based on analysis of existing capacity levels and capacity building needs at individual, team, departmental and government levels. The competency levels embedded in all the competencies of this competency framework can guide this contextualisation process.
34It is also recommended to advance digital transformation initiatives through multi-stakeholder cooperation (UNESCO, i4Policy, 2022). For example, the creation of coalitions and platforms is useful for the exchange of best practices on AI and capacity building related to digital transformation at national, regional and international levels. This also helps to achieve SDGs 16 and 17 by creating strong institutions for action and promoting partnership for the goals.
35This article is based on two UNESCO reports.
36The first is the Artificial Intelligence Needs Assessment Survey for Africa, with insights distilled from the survey responses of 32 Member States. The 32 Member States are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The authors of the report are : Prateek Sibal and Bhanu Neupane.
37The second is the report Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Competencies for Civil Servants produced by the United Nations Broadband Commission Working Group on AI Capacity Building. The working group was co-chaired by UNESCO and Nokia. The authors of the report are : Tommaso Balbo Di Vinadio; Colin van Noordt; Carlos Vargas Alvarez del Castillo; Renata Avila.
38For all correspondence relating to this article, please contact Prateek Sibal, Programme Specialist, UNESCO, at p.sibal[at]unesco.org.