Special Interview
Interview with Barbara Ubaldi, Acting Head of the Public Governance Directorate of the OECD

Digital Governments – How to Design Themto Meet the Needs of a Data-Driven Economy
By Japan SPOTLIGHT
We are moving towards a digital economy at an unimaginably rapid pace as the pandemic crisis hascaused the widespread adoption of teleworking. In the public sector especially, administrations, whether
central or local, will need to digitalize their functions as promptly as possible to stay in line withbusinesses and individuals. Otherwise, a nation could lose its competitiveness and fall behind the trendsof the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The opportunity to take advantage of the potential of digitaltechnologies and data that could bring enormous benefits to our economies and societies should not beignored.
The OECD, an interdisciplinary international think tank, is well positioned to survey the digitalization ofnational governments. Japan SPOTLIGHT held the following interview with Barbara Ubaldi, a key OECD
official responsible for this issue.
(Interviewed on Dec. 16, 2020)

Introduction

Ubaldi: I agree with you that evidence showsthat in the context of the pandemic, theJS: Could you briefly introduce
digitalization of the public sector and use ofyour work at the Publicdata has proved to be a very valuable tool for
Governance Development
governments to deliver services and maintain
Directorate of the OECD?
the operations of the public sector. Within theOECD we have been working with member
Ubaldi: I should clarify that the name of thecountries to see how ready they felt to use
directorate is now the Public Governancedata and digital tools when the pandemic
Directorate, without the territorial
exploded; how capable were they of usingdevelopment part. I am the acting head of thethese tools in their responses, and how they
division and also the head of the Digitalare embedding data and digital into their
Government and Data Unit. For over 11 years,
recovery strategies as part of long-term
I have been responsible for the digital andreforms. The governments that had a higher
data work for governments, including openlevel of digital maturity were able to use data
data within the OECD. I am responsible foras an asset, in an efficient and strategic way,
the work on measurements, meaning the twoand therefore were more able to react in anBarbara Ubaldi
indexes we have on digital government andagile way. This requires good governance andopen data, and I am also responsible for peer reviews andso the work Japan is doing to establish an agency is a reflection thatcomparative cross-cutting analytical work in our flagshipJapan is ensuring that the governance of the digitalization of thepublications. I am also the acting head of a division that covers thepublic sector is supported by identifying the key roles andwork on open government and public sector innovation.
responsibilities, and assigning the right resources to thecoordinating body. In that sense, the OECD Recommendation on
Digital Government Strategies that was adopted by the Council in
Updated Work of OECD2014 was reviewed in 2017 and the member countries agreed that
JS: We would like to focus on the OECD’s work on
the recommendation was still very important and valid and so it was
this issue, because the OECD is the frontrunner in
not changed in 2017 in terms of content. The recommendation is
this area and your directorate createdessential because it conveys the key message on the need to moverecommendations on digital government strategies
from an analog government approach to a digital government
five years ago. Could you explain the updated statusapproach. In the latter approach, governments are trying to transferof this work on digital government strategies?
online whatever existed on paper, which in many cases meantinefficiencies and bureaucracies were transferred online. However,https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/

Japan SPOTLIGHT • March / April 2021

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digital government is in fact about using tools and data to change
processes and how services are designed, so the recommendation is
focused on helping governments not only to use technology but tochange the paradigm that they adopt if they decide to use technology
and data and for what purpose.
So it’s about nudging governments towards the use of digital tools
and data to change how they function. The first set of principles
focuses on the actions that governments should take to make surethat the use of digital tools and data fosters governments that are
more open, more transparent, and more participatory. The second
set of principles is about the governance that needs to be in place tosupport the shift; for example, the type of coordinating body in somecountries is an agency, and in some countries is a ministry or adepartment. Whatever the shape or the form, the mandate of thecoordinating body needs to be adequate to the specific context. The
recommendation does not call for centralization, but it does call for
coordination of actions, as digital government needs to break down
silos and foster horizontality and the governance needs to support
this change. The third set of principles looks into the environment
and the context that you need to put in place to support an effective
implementation of the strategy. This includes identifying the key
elements that you need to have in place like people, talent, theregulatory framework, procurement process, and the capacity toformulate value propositions to make sure that the digital
government strategy can be implemented to deliver results.

Developing Data-Driven Culture inGovernments

recognize the importance of having data as a key strategic asset. The
cultural change comes with the fact that leaders need to be awarethat data is a key resource, and that needs to be accompanied by achange in regulations, such as those that impede the sharing
between different ministries. There are technical obstacles related tointeroperability of data across many public sectors, as meta data
used for collection and storage are not the same. Different parts ofthe public sector need to understand that it is more important toshare and integrate the data rather than own the data, and in many
governments data is still seen as a powerful tool, so in many
countries data is often sold by the different ministries so there is arevenue model linked to the fact that data is sold to other ministries.
So there is a need to create a business case to convince theministries that by sharing the data they can get implicit and explicit
value that they could not get if they kept the data for themselves.
Third, you need to have the right skills in place. You need to haveleaders who recognize the value of data and who can support thechanges in regulations, but you also need civil servants with thetechnical skills such as data analysts. You also need to create anawareness of the importance of data. There are civil servants who do
not have the technical skills to manipulate and crunch the data, butthey need to understand that data is a key resource for them to seeresults. It is important to create awareness among civil servants who
are not technicians that data can help them to monitor their results.
For too long, governments did not recognize the key value of data as
an asset.
JS: In that sense, education will be necessary to

JS: In this recommendation, you mention theraise awareness of the importance of openness andtransparency by using data.

Ubaldi: It is very difficult for many governments to create a datadriven culture quickly because for many years governments did notrecognize the value of data as an asset as being similar to people andmoney. Leaders, ministers and top managers know that the public
sector functions well if you have the right people and the financial
resources. But you also need to be able to use data in the right way
as a key resource, and for many years before the big data wave thatwas brought about by the digital economy, governments did not

Ubaldi: I couldn’t agree more. One of the key characteristics fromthe OECD point of view is that governments should be open bydefault. Not just data, but also opening up policy-making processes
and service design processes by default. By opening up, we mean
making data available as open data. In terms of processes, we talkabout engaging society in the policy-making and service designprocesses. Often, for reasons of willingness not to share internally,
governments do not think about being proactively open and opening
their policy-making processes. So it is very important to haveinitiatives on more open and transparent government; by opening up
the data you can get big value, because you can show what is goingon inside the government and you increase transparency andaccountability while also enabling people to do something with thedata, for example to create economic value through the production ofimportance of creating a data-driven culture in thepublic sector. This would be key to achieving all thethings you mentioned. In Japan the public sector is
not yet accustomed to a data-driven culture. How doyou think governments could create a data-drivenculture in the public sector?

34 Japan SPOTLIGHT • March / April 2021

new services. It can also be used to create reports on decisions
made by the government and its performance. Open data is part ofthe cultural change that will make governments more transparent
and accountable.

Protecting Privacy of Government-Datafrom outside of the administration. We also published the digital
government index which measures the advancements made bygovernments in the six dimensions, with a ranking on how digitally
mature governments are. We think that this has helped governments
to move away from the idea that using technology is abouttransferring a process onto an online platform.

JS: Lots of private information is contained in public-Effectiveness of Government Data Agencies

sector data. Should we create strict regulations tosafeguard privacy?

Ubaldi: As we move towards more data-driven approaches, it isimportant to secure privacy. There are three sets of actions needed.
First, adequately reviewing the regulatory framework, such as theGeneral Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe that has been
adopted broadly to secure data privacy. Second, it is important toadopt the consent models, which recognize the right of the individual
to give permission to access sources of personal data. There aremany governments such as Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium thathave focused on these mechanisms that give the right of consent to
the individual. Third is awareness – we need to raise the awarenessof civil servants on key actions that are needed to protect the privacyof the personal data they manage. It is not sufficient only to haveregulations; the civil servants need to be aware that they are handlingsomething that is extremely important and confidential.

Following Up on OECD Recommendations
JS: Could you tell us about your personal views, orOECD views, on the impact of theserecommendations on the policies of OECDmembers?

Ubaldi: In October we released two papers. The first describes thedigital policy framework. The recommendation adopted in 2014 wasused for over six years in a number of national projects and also in
an international comparative analysis that we did. Based on therecommendation, we developed the OECD digital government policy
framework that identified six key dimensions of a digital government.
A digital government is open by default, digital by design, datadriven, proactive, user-driven and is capable of acting as a platform.
In a way, the implementation of the recommendation has enabled thecountries to change some of their internal processes and culture, butalso helped them to strengthen these six dimensions – by being
digital by design and more open by default and to connect people

JS: Do you think that creating a government dataagency would be effective for promoting thedigitalization of the public sector, including local
governments?

Ubaldi: It depends on whether the agency in the country has a clear
mandate, a clear role and responsibility and sufficient resources.
They need people, financial resources and instruments – and also
powers to be able to operate in a certain way. It is better to not havean agency than having an agency that cannot fulfill the role that weexpect it to play. If the agency is empowered and enabled and given
the instruments it needs, then yes, it can have a very strong
supportive role for the digital transformation, provided that there is avery strong foundation to do its work. For local governments, itdepends on the administrative culture of the country. We have somefederal systems which cannot have centralized authorities
determining what the local government does. There are more
centralized countries where the agency has powers at the local levelsof government and in that sense can really help to connect thecentral with the local. The agency needs to support advancements on
the local level in a coherent and cohesive manner so that the wholecountry can grow in a similar way in terms of digital maturity.

New Work Planned on the Subject at OECD
JS: The importance of the digitalization of theeconomy has been accelerated by the pandemic. Do
you have any plans for new work on this subject?

Ubaldi: On the measurement level, we will issue a new open dataindex in 2021 and will keep measuring the efforts made bygovernments to increase the availability, accessibility and re-use ofdata. Second, we will also issue the second edition of the digital
government index, which has one indicator on data-driven public
sectors. We hope that in 2021, a new recommendation of the OECDwill be approved that complements the recommendation on digital
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government strategies, and the new recommendation is called anEnhanced Access and Sharing of Data. It will focus on making surethat the public sector opens up the data and does whatever needs tobe done to increase the sharing of the data with the wholeecosystem. Third, we are working on the ethical principles of the useof data in the public sector. There is a higher use of data due to thepandemic demonstrating its value, but it is also extremely important
to ensure that governments use data ethically especially regarding
securing of privacy and non-biased use of data. AI is an emerging
trend in the public sector, and we know that AI is not valuable unlessused with data, so it is important to show that the data sets and theuse of algorithms and AI are not biased. We also need to strengthen
the capacity of regulators to have innovative approaches, and the useof data in integrity and anti-corruption efforts, and also the use data
for supporting more gender-balanced and gender-inclusive
decisions.
JS: Sharing this information on best practices withOECD countries must be very useful, but in addition
do you have any plans to promoteinternationalization of digital government
administration among OECD nations?

Ubaldi: The OECD has an official body on digital government whichis called the Working Party of Digital Government Officials, and it
decides on our actions. We have been leveraging this Working Partyto ensure that countries work together all year round. Not only thegeneral sharing of practices but coming up with tool kits that canhelp them take concrete actions. We want to be not only a think tank
but also a “do” tank, to support the implementation of actions bygovernments and to strengthen collaboration with other internationalorganizations such as the United Nations. We look forward to joining
efforts on measurement. Also, we are working with the Interamerican
Development Bank in Latin America, where we will increase doing
joint measurement work. We also work with another regional bank inLatin America, where we are doing a regional report on going digitalacross Latin American countries.
JS: There could be enormous benefits for member

countries from exchanging data on public healthpolicies for example. Do you have any plans topromote such kind of public sector informationexchanges among OECD countries?

Ubaldi: This is an effort that goes beyond the OECD at the moment;
36 Japan SPOTLIGHT • March / April 2021

there is an ongoing discussion in relation to the pandemic in termsof the role the OECD can play in facilitating mobility of people acrossborders, but this goes a bit beyond the mandate of the OECD. We willcontinue supporting the dialogue and decisions on the interest forgovernments to open up similar sets of data because we can do thatfrom a policy point of view. If countries open up the same sets ofdata in the protection of privacy and security, those two data sets canbe used to compare what is going on and how they can jointly deal
with a global challenge like a pandemic.

Possible Impact of Digitalization on
Employment in Public Sector
JS: Many people are concerned about the impact ofdigital technology on employment in the public
sectors. Should they be concerned?

Ubaldi: We should recognize that as much as there is some risk ofsome jobs no longer being needed due to automation or a datadriven approach making it less necessary, it is also true that new
professions will be needed. Not just data analysts and manipulators,
but around new human resources for emerging technologies such as
block chain or AI. The right question to ask is to what extent
digitalization of the public sector will have an impact on the talent,skills and professions that we need. Some will no longer be needed,
but some new ones will be needed. We need to attract the skills that
we need and retain people but also to retrain people. People don’t
need to be laid off; they can be retrained to cover other functions.
There are civil servants who are no longer needed in the role thatthey had for years, but these are the people who need to be retained
because they know about the core business of the public sector.
So it does not necessarily mean that there will be a loss of
employment – we need to understand what kind of competencies
and skills we need in place among leaders and public servants. We
also need multi-disciplinary teams that bring together data scientists,psychologists, and researchers. The digital transformation will notnecessarily only lead to unemployment – the key question is how will
governments need to adjust. We have a working paper that we will
publish at the start of 2021 about the digital talent needed to drive
the digital transformation.

Written with the cooperation of Joel Challender who is a translator, interpreter,
researcher and writer specializing in Japanese disaster preparedness.