How the Govtech Leaders Alliance came into existence

This article is written by Enrique Zapata, principal specialist of the digital innovation in government department at CAF, Development Bank of Latin America

• **The problem: **Govtech is a key component of governments of the future - but few understand it well.
• Why it matters: A world in which technology is at the forefront is a world ready for the future.
• The solution: Better education - and a cross-governmental alliance - can help build best practices.

(This is part one of a series of three blogs about the Govtech Leaders Alliance)

Govtech has emerged all over the world as a new mechanism to create delivery capacities and accelerate innovation in the public administration through technology, unlock the economic potential of data-driven startups and SMEs, and bring a new kind of patient capital and impact investment into the works of the public sector.

This kind of new public-private innovation ecosystem, which we call govtech, is more than just hype. It is a space that is aimed at systematising a new relationship between the public and the innovative private sectors for the benefit of both.

This space is relevant to both developed and developing countries alike, and holds great promise for the delivery of public policies aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially at the local and city levels.

How to build a govtech world

Nonetheless, as in any nascent space, there is still a great need to align understandings of what govtech is, what it means for the public sector, and how to operationalise the interlinkages that comprise the ecosystem, from regulation and innovation teams at the center of government, procurement and regulatory frameworks, to venture and impact investors and, of course, innovative startups.

Because of these reasons, in 2020 CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, decided to explore the appetite and potential of an intergovernmental network around govtech. Building on the author’s experience of the Contracting 5 and the Open Data Charter, and on efforts such as the Digital Nations and the OECD’s Open Data Expert Group, the decision was taken to build a global Govtech Leaders Alliance.

Establishing best principles

With the participation of representatives from the governments of Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia; Colombia; Córdoba, Argentina; Jalisco, México; Lithuania; Madrid, Spain; Medellín, Colombia; Monterrey, Mexico; Poland; São Paulo, Brazil; Scotland and Serbia, the Govtech Leaders Alliance is the first global government-to-government cooperation. The alliance will support a common understanding of the term govtech as an ecosystem through which governments cooperate with the innovative private sector to solve public problems through data, exponential technologies and open innovation.

As stated by Carlos Santiso, Director of the Digital Innovation in Government Directorate in CAF “govtech is a new type of public-private partnership aimed at rebooting the public sector in a startup mode”.

Through the creation of a biannual working plan, the Alliance will work in general areas related to: (i) common principles and high-level political support for the govtech agenda; (ii) promoting international commitments on govtech in international forums and organizations; and (iii) generating knowledge and exchange of best practice of what govtech “looks like” in real-world implementation. The time is ripe.

The Alliance held its inaugural meeting on October 7th, 2021, with the Government of Colombia as its first Chair and CAF as its Permanent Secretariat.

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