Explore every episode of the podcast Government's Future Frontiers

Tech can help governments transform—by driving efficiencies, improving service delivery, and cutting red tape—and earn their constituents' trust.

The concept of the "smart city" isn't new—but artificial intelligence is changing the game. All of that data coming in from various sensors and connected devices can now be parsed, combined, and amplified to make something greater than the sum of its parts.

Guests:

Costi Perricos, global gen AI business leader at Deloitte UK

Michael Flynn, global infrastructure, transport and regional government leader at Deloitte Ireland

Bill Eggers, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Government Insights

Jumbi Edulbehram, global business development leader for smart cities and spaces at NVIDIA

Nick Holmes, director of sustainable infrastructure and transportation at ServiceNow to explore what comes next. 

Innovations combined with traditional production methods may help society fend off food challenges and bring on a more sustainable future.

Featured guests: 

Randy Jagt, senior strategy partner in Deloitte Netherlands' Consumer industry

PJ Rivera, Strategy & Growth leader for Deloitte Consulting LLP's Government & Public Services

Erika Thiem, chief supply chain officer, Feeding America

Danielle Nierenberg, president, and co-founder of Food Tank

Today's guests:

Michael Flynn, Global Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Government lead for Deloitte Ireland
Jamie Sawchuk, national leader for Government and Public Services Alliances and Ecosystems for Deloitte Canada
Carolyn Murnaghan, national leader for Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Deloitte Canada
Christina Crue, emergency manager and advisory principal for Deloitte & Touche LLP
Justin Dawe, founder and CEO of Earth Force Technologies

Communities across the world are feeling the effects of climate change. That's unlikely to change any time soon.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 was the hottest year on record. The National Centers for Environmental Information estimates there's a 97% chance that 2024 will break that record.

The result of this warming—an increasing number of extreme weather events. The world is seeing more of these events, and they are increasing in severity.

Governments, private sector innovators, and communities are working together to respond to, track, and mitigate the effects of extreme weather events. Solutions range from the tried and tested, like levees and spillways, to new and emerging technology, like AI and advanced sensing technology.

To discuss these solutions, Tanya Ott is joined by Michael Flynn, Global Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Government lead for Deloitte Ireland; Jamie Sawchuk, national leader for Government and Public Services Alliances and Ecosystems for Deloitte Canada; Carolyn Murnaghan, national leader for Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Deloitte Canada; Christina Crue, emergency manager and advisory principal for Deloitte & Touche LLP; and Justin Dawe, founder and CEO of Earth Force Technologies. They discuss the challenges communities face and the potential solutions that may make a difference.

Perhaps more importantly, they focus on the mindset shift that this new weather reality is bringing to communities all over the world.

"Traditionally. you buy insurance for something that might happen once every 30 years," said Sawchuk. "But when it's happening once every other year, once every five years, we need to respond differently. We need to build differently. We need to plan differently. So, we're getting ahead of the risk versus just responding to the risk. And I think that's foundational. We need to mitigate the risk versus just buy insurance against it."

The 'AI for Good' summit tackled topics of regulation, inclusion, and bias, while laying out a strong case for why AI is integral to the UN's sustainable development goals.

Today's guests:

Gustav Jeppesen, vice chair of Deloitte Denmark and Global lead in Central Government

Ines da Costa Ramos, Director at Deloitte Belgium and leader in the AI practice.

Audio from the UN's AI for Good Summit features excerpts from

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Costi Perricos, Global Generative AI Leader for Deloitte UK

Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of the ITU

Thomas Schneider, Director of International Affairs at the Swiss Federal Office of Communications

• Sara Siegel, global Health Care sector leader and partner in the Healthcare Strategy practice at Deloitte UK
• Maurice Fransen, partner at Deloitte Netherlands specializing in AI transformation
• Dr. Avi Tsur, director of the Women's Health Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv
• Renee Yao,  global healthcare AI startups business development lead at NVIDIA

The global health system faces rising costs, a workforce shortage, and increasing burnout rates, but AI and other technology may present new solutions for patient care

Digital identity verification and secure data exchange tools are accelerating service delivery and opening new possibilities for growth in India. Guests:

Dr. Pramod Varma, chief architect of Aadhaar, India's digital identity system

Jaimie Boyd, Digital Government leader at Deloitte Canada

NSN Murty, partner and consulting leader for Government & Public Services at Deloitte India

Bill Eggers, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Government Insights.

Climate change and tech evolution are increasing stress on global infrastructure, but innovation and an eye on the greater good can ensure asset effectiveness far into the future.

Data from space is fuelling growth across industries —and its influence is set to grow. How government and industry collaborate will likely play a role in just how far the industry can go.

Cybercrime against users, businesses, and even nations is growing, but governments and the private sector are pooling information and talent to prevent attacks.

Innovative new approaches and data-backed programs from both the public and private sectors show promise in finding solutions to homelessness and housing insecurity.

Digital tools and new technologies could have a massive impact on how government services are accessed and delivered—if governments can harness them in a way that benefits all citizens. That depends on more then just timely tech investments. Governments around the globe are rethinking how they communicate with citizens, how they handle data, and how they can make services more comprehensible across the board.

In this episode, we speak with Michele Causey and Jean Barroca about the promise and challenges of digital service delivery. Causey served in the US Department of Treasury for several years before joining Deloitte Consulting LP, where she leads the digital government transformation practice. Barroca worked on smart cities, mobility, and open data projects in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa for the World Bank, where he was part of the Innovation Lab team. He now serves as the global public sector digital modernization leader for Deloitte Technology SA. 

Barroca notes that thinking of digital service delivery as simply a tech issue could miss the point: "One of the things that is critical is for governments to stop doing digital and start being digital. And the way for that to happen is that the whole organization revolves around how to create the best experience taking advantage of technology."

 We look at governments that are making strides in providing digital services, from a state that transformed applying for a business license into a one-stop process, to a nation that brought its citizens together to plan for a postpandemic future. We consider how a life-event approach to service delivery could transform interactions with government, and we talk to someone looking at how to achieve that on a national scale. Finally, we consider the challenges associated with widespread adoption of digital government, and consider how to ensure that digital service delivery does not itself become an obstacle to obtaining needed benefits.