Gov2020: A Journey into the Future of Government

The purpose of the Gov2020 is to help leaders from all sectors make sense of the rapidly changing demographic, societal, economic, and technological trends shaping our future. Gov2020 is meant to be a starting point for governments wishing to engage with the future. It provides policy makers with some provocative ideas about what is possible and a catalyst to evaluate whether they are ready to embrace a future that should be very different from today.

The Drivers of Change

The confluence of several factors—demographic, socio-economic, and technological—will influence what happens in the future and ultimately, how governments evolve to meet citizens’ changing needs. Understanding these factors or ‘drivers of change’ and their potential impact is the first step in preparing for the future.

The Seven Mega Shifts

Across the world, trust in government is at an all-time low, citizen expectations are rising, and government finances are under stress. The result: the gap between citizen expectations and government’s ability to meet them has never been greater. The current industrial age model of government needs to change radically to close this gap.

But how? What are the main features of a government better suited for our times? How will the forces identified significantly change government, and which of them have the greatest potential to make a positive difference and which represent the biggest threats?

The seven major trends have the potential to reshape government - in many cases from the outside - and transform the public sector.

Sector Trends

Changes or shifts in the way government operates as a whole will have implications for the various sectors within government. For example, what could data-smart government mean for law and justice? Or how could alternative forms of funding improve transportation? The following sector trends reveal how high-level changes could trickle down to individual segments of the public sector.

Conlusion

In 2020, the most agile governments openly embrace the new possibilities of technology and civic engagement as they reposition to affect better outcomes. Outside drivers will eventually force change within governments, but many will take steps today to proactively reshape their futures in ways that produce measureable benefits for society. We expect increasing numbers of partnerships organized around innovative solutions that ignore old pathways and divisions between non-profit, corporate, and government. Expect to see simplified interactions with citizens, more dynamic workforces, more accurate assessments of each program’s impact, and greater citizen participation in civic work and civic policy.