What government leaders’ greatest challenge will be in the coming years – interview with Israel Pastor Sainz-Pardo
Release Date: 06/29/2023
Confident decision-making for better outcomes in government
Leading Questions
Civil servants in government make many decisions every day. From policy officials working to develop responsive services that meet users’ needs, to frontline officials who have to make choices on what tax cases to prioritise, the work of government requires the skills to make effective decisions. This Global Government Forum webinar looked at how governments can build systems that help drive better decision-making – and how civil servants can develop the skills to make – and implement – confident decisions. This webinar brought together public servants from around the world to discuss...
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What is Everythingism, and how does it affect the way that governments work?
Leading Questions
In this conversation, the executive editor of Global Government Forum Richard Johnstone chats to Joe Hill, the policy director of the think-tank Re:state about his recent essay, Everythingism. There’s a link to Joe’s essay at the bottom of these notes, but Everythingism is what Joe Hill describes as the belief in government that “every proposal, project or policy is a means for promoting every national objective, all at the same time”. In this episode, Richard and Joe dig into exactly what Everythingism means, how it manifests in policymaking, and the impact that it can have in...
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Understanding the fraud risk in the public sector – and how to tackle it
Leading Questions
The threat that public sector organisations face from fraud is growing. In an era when technological advancements are rapidly transforming the landscape, public sector organisations face unprecedented challenges in combating fraud. According to a survey of public servants undertaken by SAS, all public sector agencies surveyed are currently experiencing some form of fraud and expect to see an increase in at least one type of fraud over the next 5 years. Fraud is also having an impact on public finances. In the UK, chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out a crackdown on fraud in the welfare system,...
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How to deploy artificial intelligence in government: a step-by-step guide
Leading Questions
The race is on, both within and among governments, to develop and implement artificial intelligence (AI) tools for greater productivity better public services. But the race cannot be run, let alone won, without systems changes and cultural reinvigoration among department workforces. Deploying AI technology at scale will mean changing delivery systems, long-term staff training and fluid yet secure and ethical data sharing within organisations. This webinar, supported by GGF’s knowledge partners SAS, discussed how to make AI work for government. Speakers discussed ways to develop use...
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UK data leaders on delivering the government missions
Leading Questions
In the UK, the government is focused on harnessing the potential of digital and data to unlock better, more responsive and effective services. In a recent conversation hosted by Global Government Forum, government data experts discussed the role, opportunities and challenges of using data and AI to deliver on its five missions. Those five missions include: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, making streets safer, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and finally, building an NHS fit for the future. In this podcast, you will hear from government...
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Building trust in AI to help government deploy it
Leading Questions
Governments around the world are focused on how to make the most of artificial intelligence in the way they work – and the government of Canada, which in March launched the first AI strategy for the federal public service, is no different. In this episode, three public servants from across the Canadian government spoke about the challenges that come with deploying AI to create more efficient public services and unlocking economic growth. Specifically, they discussed the challenge of garnering trust – both of Canadian citizens and the public servants they work with – on AI projects. This...
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The Top 10 Risks Governments Everywhere Face – and How to Address Them
Leading Questions
In this special podcast with our knowledge partner EY, former UK civil servant Siobhan Benita speaks to Catherine Friday, EY’s Global and Asia Pacific Government and Infrastructure Industry Leader, about the urgency of governments getting to grips with risk in the age of permacrisis. From external factors, such as finance and people, to external issues like geopolitics and climate change, EY has identified the top 10 risks that will impact governments throughout 2025. In this conversation, Catherine discusses these challenges and unpacks the steps governments must take to meet them. The top...
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What the UK government’s procurement reforms mean
Leading Questions
The UK government has set out a new National Procurement Policy Statement that will focus on ensuring that public procurement can support the government’s five national missions of boosting economic growth, building green energy, tackling crime, breaking down barriers to opportunity and build an NHS fit for the future. The podcast, based on a Global Government Forum webinar held on 4 March, sets out what the new rules, in the policy statement and the Procurement Act 2023, will mean for what public authorities will want to buy, and how they will do it. Listen to this podcast to discuss the...
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Innovation in government: opening up policymaking to people-powered insight
Leading Questions
Governments need to better join-up policy development with operational delivery to ensure they can meet the growing challenges they face – but such collaboration can be difficult to implement in practice. In this podcast, experts from the UK, Estonia and Brazil share best practice on harnessing people-powered insight in policymaking, examining how governments are working to understand citizens’ lived experiences and to turn their ideas into public services that really work. Co-creation isn’t always easy. It often requires the building of trust between a range of stakeholders with...
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How Government Works: How Labour is changing the way Whitehall works to focus on mission delivery
Leading Questions
Following the UK general election, Labour has formed a government with a large majority – and with a focus on delivering five national missions. These are: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower; take back our streets by halving serious violent crime; breaking down barriers to opportunity; and building an NHS fit for the future. Focusing on delivering these long-term missions requires, according to prime minister Keir Starmer, requires a different approach to government. It requires departments to work together outside traditional silos, as well as...
info_outlinePodcast host Siobhan Benita speaks know-how and knock-backs with the deputy director of learning at Spain’s National Institute of Public Administration.
Israel Pastor has more than 20 years’ experience as a senior manager in the Spanish state administration – including stints in the health, environment, finance and justice departments – affording him a broad perspective on leadership and what it takes to make the organisation you’re in charge of better.
Having studied hard to get through a rigorous selection process whereby people with no prior professional experience can become an executive member of the civil service – entering at grade 26 of 30 – Israel found himself leading a team in an unfamiliar organisation whilst still in his 20s.
He advises others who find themselves faced with such a baptism of fire, to “find your references, your mirrors and your mentors” and to have the humility to learn from less senior colleagues.
Entering any new high-ranking position requires vision, the ability to connect disparate projects and programmes, and the resources “in your backpack” to make improvements, he says. And as listeners will find out, it is these capabilities, along with a focus on shining a spotlight on the work of his teams and being attentive to colleagues’ needs, that epitomise his leadership style.
Also describing his current work leading the civil service’s learning and development programme, Israel shares his view on what leaders’ greatest challenge will be in the coming years and how to overcome it, and touches on much more besides: on frank discussions with political bosses; pushing back against the stereotype of the lazy civil servant; overcoming stress; the importance of institutional communication; and remaining faithful to your public service calling.
Don’t miss this episode featuring a man who has been determined from a young age to be the best public servant he could be.