Global Trends in Government Innovation 2024: Fostering human-centred public services

Public services are the main point of contact between government and people, businesses and organisations. The quality of public services has a profound impact on people’s lives and is often pivotal in ensuring citizens have access to opportunities and realise their full potential. As shown from the results of the OECD Survey on the Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions, improving the reliability, responsiveness and fairness of public services bolsters trust in national governments, local governments, and the civil service. Yet, to earn trust and effectively address people’s evolving needs, public services must continuously innovate in ways that deliver value and improve lives.

Major global events in recent years, including the 2008 economic crisis, global conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic, have shown the critical need for public services that can swiftly respond to the changing needs of citizens. Governments have demonstrated that they are taking these lessons to heart by adapting to changing expectations and investing in a new generation of public services that are more proactive, resilient and inclusive.

This report is the result of the analysis of nearly 800 case studies of innovation in public services from 83 countries. The cases were collected through the OECD’s annual Call for Government Innovations, which in 2024 focused on innovations in public services.The examples show that a focus on people’s needs and expectations, open collaboration between service providers and users and human rights, is crucial to driving change in public services. This report is a first attempt to build an evidence base of innovative government practices that illustrate and promote the principles of the OECD Recommendation on Human-centred Public Administrative Services.

The findings illustrate how governments are improving and adapting their public services to respond to current and future needs, delivering cost-efficient and cost-effective solutions that generate a positive impact on intended beneficiaries and society as a whole. The report identifies five trends in innovation for better public services:

• Future-oriented and co-created public services: Governments are working with users and stakeholders to co-design solutions and anticipate future needs, creating public services that are flexible and responsive to change, and are therefore more resilient and sustainable in the long term. For instance, Norway is leveraging foresight techniques to build migration services that can meet the needs of today and tomorrow.
• Digital and innovative foundations for efficient public services: Governments are investing in scalable digital infrastructure, experimenting with emergent technologies (such as automation, AI and modular code), and expanding innovative and digital skills to make public services more efficient. Italy’s national social security institute is using AI to sort and classify messages, improving response times and empowering public servants to focus and prioritise urgent citizen needs.
• Personalised and proactive public services for accessibility and inclusion: Governments are making public services more personalised and proactive to better meet people’s needs and expectations, reduce psychological costs and administrative frictions, ensuring they are more accessible, inclusive and empowering, especially for persons and groups in vulnerable and disadvantaged circumstances. The United States made assistance for disaster survivors more accessible, reducing the administrative burdens and cutting assistance registration times by over 15%.
• Data-powered public services for better decision-making: Governments are drawing on traditional and non-traditional data sources to guide public service design and execution. They are increasingly using experimentation to navigate highly complex and unpredictable environments. In Korea, sensory data in urban spaces are being used to improve the quality, safety and attractiveness of public transportation.
• Public services as opportunities for public participation: Governments are seeing public services as an opportunity to engage citizens in exercising their rights, building trust, and holding governments accountable for upholding democratic values such as openness and inclusion. France is improving public services by collaborating with citizens to identify avenues to improve and engage civil society organisations in the development of better services.