Thursday 21 January 2021
12:00 – 12:15 UTC

Welcome Address

Hosted by Mr Leo Yip

Mr Leo Yip, Head of Civil Service (HCS) of the Singapore Government, welcomes participants and provides the context for this year’s Summit.

12:15 – 14:00 UTC

Tackling the pandemic: learning the lessons, planning the future

During 2020, governments around the world have learned a huge amount about how best to control infection rates and protect the vulnerable. This session will explore civil services’ approaches to key tasks such as designing contact-tracing and shielding services; introducing and monitoring physical distancing strategies; and intervening to strengthen COVID test and PPE supply chains.

Drawing out examples of best practice and identifying key principles, the delegates will then consider the next big service design and public communications challenges – such as managing mass vaccination programmes and squeezing waiting lists for elective treatments.

Presentations, as part of group discussion

Ms Hannah Cameron, Deputy Commissioner, State Services Commission, New Zealand
Ms Joyce Dimech, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government / Ministry for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination of Post Covid-19 Strategy, Malt

Friday 22 January 2021
12:00 – 13:50 UTC

Keeping one step ahead: creating more responsive civil services

In a world of complex, globalised change, one key challenge facing civil services is that of evolving as rapidly as the challenges they face. Faced with disruptions such as economic and political turbulence, emerging technologies and public health shocks, governments must act quickly to understand the risks and to reshape policies and services around them.

So how can we create more nimble, flexible and responsive civil services? To name a few of the capabilities required, public bodies must be able to rapidly alter policies, budgets and services; staff need the ability to work seamlessly across organisational, topical and professional boundaries; and systems of recruitment and promotion must carry talented, inventive and collaborative officials to the top. This session will explore how, rather than constantly building new systems, civil servants can begin to create systems that renew themselves.

Presentations, as part of group discussion

Mr Henry Kattago, Strategy Director, Estonia
Mr Samir Bedi, Asean Workforce Advisory Leader, EY
Lord Nick Herbert, Chair – Commission for Smart Government
Mr Ian Shugart, Clerk of the Privy Council, Canada

13:50 – 14:10 UTC

Refreshment Break

14:10 – 15:40 UTC

Things will never be the same again: adapting to the post-COVID world

During 2021, vaccines are expected to bring coronavirus under control; but meanwhile, the pandemic is causing structural changes with implications across many fields of policy. This session will seek to differentiate between temporary and permanent developments in national economies and societies, and to explore how governments should respond to the latter.

Should, for example, education, employment and spatial planning policies be reshaped around a new set of working patterns? Do economic changes demand new approaches to infrastructure provision and urban regeneration? And how can governments tap into spiralling demand for online services, supporting channel shift within public services? The pandemic has prompted huge changes in people’s behaviour, and many of those changes are irreversible: this session will consider the implications for policymaking and prioritisation in the post-pandemic world.

Presentations, as part of group discussion

H.E. Ms Alicia dela Rosa-Bala, Chairperson Civil Service Commission, Philippines
Mr Kok Kee LIM, Senior Vice President, Government Engagement, Asia Pacific, Mastercard
Ms Jacqueline Poh, Deputy Secretary – Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, Singapore

15:40 – 16:00 UTC

Summary and Conclusion