Weekly briefing: The new skills you need; GovTech for dummies

Top Stories

If you want to succeed in the government of the future, you’ll need these traits. In some countries, up to half of civil service positions are at risk of automation. From user-centricity to resilience, these are the 14 skills and qualities public servants need to stand out — and secure their jobs.
(Apolitical)

Quiz: How much do you know about the public procurement revolution? The global impact of the $8billion industry is huge, yet few understand how government contracting works. Learn more with our latest quiz, and find out whether you’re a procurement supremo or novice.
(Apolitical)

Forget autonomous cars — rural Japan is betting on self-driving buses. Though often overlooked, the countryside has better testing conditions for autonomous vehicles than cities: buses often run a fixed route, rarely change lanes and don’t have to deal with traffic.
(Apolitical)

What is the public health approach to violence — and does it work? More countries are treating violence like a disease passed from person to person, rather than as a moral failing. It’s helped Scotland cut its murder rate by 60% and a Colombian favela curb homicide by 94%.
(Apolitical)

Ranked: Where in the US do immigrants integrate best? Newark, New Jersey, Baltimore, Maryland and New York City top the index. The most surprising finding is that cities with highly rated migration policies don’t always score well on integration.
(Apolitical)

Top Writing From Our Members

What is GovTech? The $400billion market shaking up public sector procurement. Brought on by advancements in AI and blockchain — and some high-profile outsourcing failures — more startups are providing tech services to government. Many see them as a safer, more innovative alternative.
(Edward Elliott, Program And Marketing Manager, Public

Governance and Citizen Engagement

Hiring for neurodiversity is the next frontier in HR. The UK civil service is adapting its workplaces to people who think and function differently due to conditions like autism, dyspraxia and ADHD. It’s implementing staff networks, training and work experience programs.
(Civil Service World)

Evolving Cities

A small design change is saving pedestrians’ lives in New York. The city added rubber bumpers to its intersections, which slow drivers down by up to 40% by forcing them to make wider turns. Other US cities, including LA and San Francisco, are copying the innovation.
(Quartz)

A Spanish city that banned cars has gained 12,000 new residents. The mayor of Pontevedra barred cars from crossing the city, got rid of street parking and removed traffic lights. There are now no traffic deaths and emissions are down 70%.
(The Guardian)

Gender Equality

California banned all-male boards. The new law requires all publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on their board of directors by 2019. Norway, which enacted a similar law in 2006, found that companies whose boards are at least 40% female are more likely to retain workers during recessions.
(CNN)

Energy, Environment and Economic Opportunity

The UK’s first air-cleaning bus hit the road. A rooftop filtration system removes ultrafine particles and blows out clean air as the bus drives. Southampton was chosen as the test site because the coastal city has already hit its limit for unsafe air pollution.
(The Times)

Florida’s underwater nurseries are saving its coral reef from climate change. A marine farm grows young coral in controlled conditions — on anchored fibreglass trees — before they're planted on the barrier reef. Roughly half of the state’s reef, the third-largest in the world, has disappeared.
(The Guardian)

Health and Ageing

[Taipei is tapping the sharing economy to help its elderly citizens.](https://govinsider.asia/smart-gov/new-taipei-sharing-economy-for-elderly-eric-chu/?ct=t(GI_AllSub450.1_COPY_01%29&mc_cid=2a16dc26e2&mc_eid=91e7784a3a&utm_source=Unknown+List&utm_campaign=82e882c2e3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_02_01_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-82e882c2e3-) It recruits and trains volunteer carers — the majority of whom are seniors themselves. A time banking system gives credit for volunteer hours, which can be redeemed when carers eventually need someone to look after them.
(Govinsider)

And finally

UK civil servants use Slack to talk whiskey, board games and sex. A Freedom of Information request revealed how government IT workers use the messaging platform: alongside channels on cloud computing, AI and GDPR are 'pub o’clock' and 'polyamory'.
The New Scientist