2023’s bright spots

20 December 2023 | The 2nd edition of The Apolitical View by Apolitical CEO and Co-Founder Robyn Scott. Subcribe to the newsletter

I’m delighted by the early interest in the Apolitical View. It’s only the second edition and we're almost at 1,000 subscribers already. As we grow, I’m particularly interested in your insights and feedback; I read all replies to this email.

This week, I want to reflect on 2023 before looking ahead to 2024 in next week's newsletter.

What stood out for me in 2023

With generative AI, you only learn by doing. As ChatGPT captivated the world early this year, it became immediately clear that you can’t begin to understand the potential of generative AI without using it. That’s why every team at Apolitical has incorporated it into their work and our products — from writing code, to AI search on the platform and new content in our courses. Governments get accused of overthinking and under-delivering, but we’ve seen individual public servants and whole departments experimenting with alacrity. To see this in action, join our new 'AI in Government' community. I’m excited by the possibility that the speed of AI normalises agility and learning by doing in governments everywhere.

The dynamism of Canada’s public servants. In November, I was in Canada for the first time since the pandemic and had the pleasure of giving a keynote at FWD50, which has become a crucial conference globally for public sector innovation. I’m always struck by the dynamism and ambition of Canadian public servants. It’s striking, too, how open Canada’s senior leaders are to making time for a coffee to hear about innovations around the world. It was inspiring to spend time with thought leaders like Neil Bouwer — now a visiting professor after an illustrious career in government (and leading our AI community — and Jennifer Pahlka whose book 'Re-coding America' should be compulsory reading for every public servant.

Welcoming our 200,000th member to Apolitical. Growing a startup is always a leap of faith. It was not so long ago that we were small enough to work around a kitchen table (which we did!) with a community of just a few hundred. So to reach 200,000 community members connecting and learning on our platform earlier this year was a hugely motivating milestone. We can’t wait for the 2 million mark!

I won’t rehash what I wrote in the first edition of this newsletter about climate. But I’m delighted that “transitioning away from fossil fuels” made it, however tentatively, into the COP28 agreement. This certainly was a standout in 2023.

Finally, a personal 2023 highlight for the year was welcoming my third child in June!

I’ll see you on January 10, when I’ll share some of the trends I’ll be watching out for in 2024.

Robyn Scott

Apolitical CEO & Co-Founder

My recommendations

It’s fun to see how a viral column I wrote nearly 10 years ago on how to capture key insights in meetings is still sparking ideas. Two apps have already been developed, and now this nifty Chrome extension.

Apolitical was recently invited to make a submission to the UK’s Liaison Sub-Committee on Scrutiny of Strategic Thinking in Government. As the speed of change accelerates, strategic thinking can only become more important for government.

What's in my diary this week

A number of government departments have come to us wanting to allocate unspent budgets towards high quality learning. If you, too, find yourself in this position and want to shore up your team's learning for 2024, please get in touch.

I’m also following up on the many exciting connections made at COP28. And of course wrapping up all manner of loose ends so I can have some proper time with family and friends over the holidays.

Got thoughts, feedback or ideas for what you'd like to see in this newsletter? Send them directly to me or leave a comment below.