Major policy players are doubling down on digital - globally, structurally, and strategically. Digital Nation insights from June spotlight the latest developments and what it signals for public sector leaders shaping the next phase of transformation.
🔹 1. The EU unveiled its new International Digital Strategy
The EU has published its new strategy to shape its digital engagement with the world - advancing EU’s global tech competitiveness, strengthening cybersecurity, and promoting democratic digital governance.
➡️ Why it matters: “The Strategy provides a basis for EU’s approach to shaping the global digital order, anchored in trust, openness, and shared values. With over 100 targeted projects, it positions the EU as a pivotal partner for regions like Africa, Asia, and Latin America in building a secure, open, and values-driven digital future.” Helena Lepp, Director of Service Transformation
🔹 2. Latest eGovernment Benchmark shows steady digital gains
The eGovernment Benchmark provides a rigorous assessment of digitalising public service delivery across key life events (like moving, family, or starting a business), and the digital components that enable this development.
➡️ What it matters: “The 2025 Benchmark reveals both momentum and gaps - 93% of Single Digital Gateway services are now online, and AI support is growing, but full cross-border interoperability remains a challenge.” Maksim Ovtsinnikov, Director of Interoperability
🔹 3. From data exchange to data understanding
Estonia solved interoperability at the transport layer with X-Road, but aligning data meaning still required domain-specific adjustments. The semantic architecture approach being implemented in the US, described by ECS (private entity working with federal agencies) in their article, tackles this by introducing machine-readable vocabularies that allow systems to interpret and govern data consistently.
➡️ Why it matters: “This approach matters for next-gen interoperability as it focuses on the shared logic layers in digital government, where AI, governance, and reuse are designed into the architecture from the start.” Kristo Vaher, Director of Technologcy
🔹 4. Report Highlight: OECD - OCDE launches new AI Capability Indicators
The OECD’s new indicators offer senior civil servants and policymakers a clear, non-technical way to assess AI capabilities across 9 domains - like language, reasoning, and social interaction - benchmarked against human abilities on a five-level scale.
➡️ Why it matters: “This tool is beneficial because it provides a clear, evidence-based method to possibly anticipate or at least understand AI's (future) impact on the economy and society, thus allowing for proactive strategy development.” Sigrit Siht, Director of Data and AI
🔎 Whether it’s interoperability, AI, or strategy, these moves are building the future of public service delivery. Watch this space as we continue to track momentum and bring relevant insights to life in our work.