This article is written by Pedro Tavares, Former State Secretary of Justice in Portugal, 2022−2024.

  • The problem: Public administrations often face the challenge of lacking the internal skills necessary for digital transformation, leading to an over-reliance on external consultants. This dependence frequently results in a lack of ownership of reforms by public servants, causing changes to be unsustainable. In Portugal's justice sector, where the Recovery and Resilience Facility is crucial for transforming access to justice and improving efficiency within a short time period, these challenges require an accelerated digital transformation that should encompass not only the recruitment of new digital specialists but also the reskilling and upskilling of an ageing workforce.
  • Why it matters: Sustainable digital transformation in the justice sector is crucial for enhancing efficiency, service delivery and aligning with societal demands. Investing in public servants' skills for digital transformation — such as leadership, project management, service design, process reengineering, impact measurement, but also developing broader change management programmes — helps ensure that changes are owned by the organisations. This approach fosters better collaboration with both large companies and the GovTech ecosystem, including academia, leading to faster and more fit-for-purpose results.
  • The solution: Prioritising workforce training and cultural change through initiatives like the Skills Programme for Innovation in Justice enables public servants to drive sustainable digital transformation from within.

In today's rapidly evolving society, innovation, technology and digitalisation play crucial roles in reshaping organisational processes within the justice sector to enhance efficiency and service delivery.

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Amidst efforts to leverage resources from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility for impactful change, questions arise regarding the sustainability and acceleration of reforms, especially within a public administration facing challenges like an ageing workforce and limited digital skills.

By engaging in collective reflection and co-creation processes, public servants were empowered to shape the sector's future, ensuring alignment with societal demands and fostering a culture of innovation.

Effectively initiating, maintaining and evolving these reforms requires investments in people and organisational culture alongside technological advancements and external services. To tackle these challenges, the Portuguese government prioritised enhancing workforce training through the Skills Programme for Innovation in Justice – Capacitar para Inovar. This initiative, part of a Govtech for Justice strategy, aims to ensure the continued effectiveness of implemented measures and accelerate innovation within the justice sector, emphasising internal transformation alongside technological advancement.

A collaborative effort

The Skills Center for Innovation and Digital Transformation, overseen by the Secretary of State for Justice and coordinated by The Institute of Financial Management and Justice Equipment (IGFEJ) in Portugal, served as a pivotal hub within the justice sector. Working closely with the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and other key bodies like the Registries and Notary Institute (IRN), it engaged over 5,000 participants from both within and beyond the justice sector. These participants were drawn from 18 agencies involved in various initiatives, including LAB Justiça, a leadership and project management mini MBA programme, as well as the Justice Forum, monthly events aimed at alignment and sharing best practices, change management programmes and town hall workshops. This collaborative effort fostered knowledge exchange, strategic alignment and capacity building, driving forward innovation and digital transformation initiatives within the justice sector.

Initiatives implemented to address obstacles and foster innovation

In the realm of justice, navigating challenges such as effective project management, citizen-centric approaches and measuring the success of public initiatives posed significant hurdles, particularly for an ageing public service accustomed to legacy policies and projects. To address these obstacles and foster innovation and solution-oriented responses, three main initiatives were developed:

  1. LAB Justiça — Innovation and Culture Programme: Launched as a flagship initiative of the Capacitar para Inovar (Skills for Innovating) project, LAB Justiça represents a pioneering effort to address contemporary challenges within justice bodies and entities. Developed in partnership with prestigious management universities, such as Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG) and Nova SBE, this intensive advanced training programme — a 'mini MBA' — focuses on strategic management, digital transition and leadership amidst change. The first edition, held between October 2022 and April 2023, trained 100 leaders and project managers from 18 justice bodies, emphasising key areas of development. A second edition commenced in January 2024 in Porto in collaboration with a third school from the north of Portugal, Porto Business School, offering an expanded and refined interaction based on feedback. Additionally, the initial cohort of leaders attended a complimentary deep dive training featuring specialised sessions on change management, performance measurement, AI and data-driven decision-making.
  2. Innovation workshops: Complementing the Skills for Innovation programme, a series of 16 innovation workshops were held at the Justice HUB (a shared innovation co-working space for all the justice bodies). These workshops, covering themes like organisational and technological innovation, leadership and project management, provided practical insights and tools. As of April 2024, more than 200 workers from justice bodies and entities enrolled in a hands-on training approach, with both in-person and also remote participation.
  3. Alignment and change management programmes: The Justice Innovation and Technology Forum, held monthly since May 2022, facilitates strategic alignment and knowledge sharing among representatives from different justice bodies, fostering coordination in digital transformation projects and also welcoming best practices and case studies from the private sector. Additionally, town hall initiatives such as Somos Registo (We are all Registrars) and BUPi Envolve promote organisational alignment and innovation through sessions open to all workers, enhancing service provision and professional development. The BUPi Envolve initiative, targeting technicians from municipalities and other relevant entities, serves as a pivotal training platform, facilitating knowledge sharing and capacity building for the success of the digital land registry and cadastral initiative. Since its start in October 2021, it has engaged over 4,300 participants across various locations in comprehensive training sessions.

Furthermore, the change management programme, spearheaded by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, fosters a culture of innovation through collective reflection on organisational models. This initiative has led to the creation of a behaviour framework, marking significant milestones in change management and mobilisation efforts.

Overall, these programmes aim to enhance internal cohesion, improve service delivery and cultivate a forward-thinking approach within the justice sector amidst significant changes and challenges.

Lessons learned

The Skills for Innovation programme emphasises that effective change and impactful innovation in justice cannot solely originate from external stakeholders, namely citizens, companies, professionals, governments or contractors, but must primarily stem from public servants themselves. Through various initiatives, public servants learned to play a central role in driving meaningful transformation within the sector, with advanced training in strategic management, digital transition and new service delivery for better access to justice.

LAB Justiça fostered knowledge sharing, problem identification and strategy alignment, and the programme's expansion and adaptation further empowered professionals to delve into specialised areas like change management and AI.

Additionally, alignment and change management programmes promoted cross-collaboration and knowledge sharing and participation between bodies that traditionally worked in silos. By engaging in collective reflection and co-creation processes, public servants were empowered to shape the sector's future, ensuring alignment with societal demands and fostering a culture of innovation from within.

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