Building a mission-ready government

18 July 2024 | The 20th edition of The Apolitical View by Apolitical CEO and Co-Founder Robyn Scott. Subcribe to the newsletter

In this week's edition:

• How to get government mission-ready
• Using AI to speed up your work in government
• "Car spinning": the next Olympic sport?

Britain is on a mission (or more). The UK’s new government has embraced a comprehensive missions-based approach to challenges spanning prosperity to climate action. Governments everywhere will be watching with interest: as many have learned, falling in love with missions is easy, but making a long-term relationship work is altogether more difficult.

Missions are everywhere. The case for missions in government is compelling. Amidst complex systems, they create clarifying, lighthouse-like goals that focus the complicated, sprawling institutions of government. In the last decade, governments around the world have embraced the concept. The EU’s €100 billion Horizon Europe is one of the grandest examples, with ambitions to develop 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030, support 3 million people with cancer to live better lives and enable 150 regions to become climate resilient by 2030; Germany’s Energiewende is a mission to power its energy transition; Australia’s science agency is taking a mission driven approach to tackle health and food security — to name just a few.

But most governments aren’t mission-ready. As is often the case in government, implementation is where bold goals stumble and there’s a growing focus on what it takes to enable governments to deliver on missions. Three areas of opportunity that are likely to be explored and tested by the UK’s embrace of missions are AI, institutional structures and organisational culture.

1. An AI-enabled state could help deliver missions. Last week, I attended the Tony Blair Institute’s annual conference, where AI took centre stage. Even if you adjust for the hype around the topic, it’s clear that any public missions launched now will take place as economies and societies are being rewired by AI. It’s also clear that AI presents substantial opportunities for more efficient governments and more effective public services. To cite just one of the many eye-popping estimates, the Turing Institute recently shared that AI could help automate 84% of repetitive service transactions. Whatever the exact figure is, it’s unlikely to be small. Importantly, to reap the potential rewards teased in headlines, governments must remain focused on building a robust foundation of digital and data infrastructure and competencies running through every department. Almost every government has some catching up to do here.

2. Institutional structures matter for missions. Sir Geoff Mulgan, a former senior advisor in the UK government and member of Apolitical’s Advisory Council on 21st Century Government, has been reflecting on the institutional adjustments required to deliver missions. His central insight is that while cross-government collaboration and breaking down silos is essential for the success of missions, the exact mechanisms of that collaboration should vary depending on the task. The new UK government has talked about ‘Mission Delivery Boards’. Mulgan stresses the need for additional measures, including integrated digital platforms and shared data systems that support seamless and flexible coordination.

3. Mission-led bureaucrats. And let’s not forget the critical people element. Dan Honig, associate professor of public policy at UCL, underscores the importance of this in his new book: Mission Driven Bureaucrats. Honig makes the case for unleashing the purpose-driven potential of public servants, something anyone working closely with governments appreciates. To do that, he argues, governments need to embrace a more trusting relationship with employees. Instead of tightly regulating their work, they should promote more autonomy, cultivate competence and support them to make meaningful connections with peers.

Speaking of purpose-driven public servants, our team was pleased to spend time with many of them at Civil Service Live in London on 3 July — the largest public sector learning event in Europe.

Robyn Scott

Apolitical CEO & Co-Founder

In the diary

Wed 31 July

The next edition of this newsletter will mark the release of our report and framework on AI governance and adoption for leaders in government, as part of the Government AI Campus. It’s designed to be a practical checklist to support public sector bodies on their journey from experimenting with AI to using it at scale.

Thurs 1 Aug

Our next event for our AI in Government Community of Practice: How to Use AI to Speed Up Your Work in Government. It’s open to all Apolitical members. Join the event to discover practical advice for implementing strategies for task automation.

And finally...

Sports policy doesn’t always grab headlines. But South Africa’s newly appointed Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, vowed to make ‘spinning’ the biggest sport in South Africa. Rather than involving bicycles, car spinning involves a driver spinning a car at top speed while the passenger performs dangerous stunts. A former bank robber, McKenzie explained, “Our kids love racing and motorsport. It’s not a crime.”

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