What government leaders’ greatest challenge will be in the coming years – interview with Israel Pastor Sainz-Pardo
Release Date: 06/29/2023
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...
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How Government Works: Operations, activity and processes in policy development and delivery – in Whitehall and beyond
Leading Questions
In this third instalment of Global Government Forum’s How Government Works podcast series – which provides a guide to the UK’s corridors of power – we examine the scope of operations, activities and processes that are involved in the delivery of new policy initiatives. This episode explores the policymaking processes: what gets prioritised for legislation and how it is scrutinised and passed, and how does it move to delivery both in the public and private sectors. This is the third in a series of podcasts from Global Government Forum setting out how...
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How Government Works: governance, regulation and culture in Whitehall and Westminster
Leading Questions
In this second instalment of Global Government Forum’s How Government Works podcast series – which provides a guide to the UK’s corridors of power – we examine governance, regulation and culture of Whitehall and Westminster. Organisational cultures are key to how any operation functions, and this episode looks at everything from the civil service and ministerial codes, to ethics advisors and independent standards committees, and onto parliamentary scrutiny of the government. This is the second in a series of podcasts from Global Government Forum setting out how...
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How Government Works: demystifying the structures and responsibilities in Whitehall, Westminster and beyond
Leading Questions
Understanding how Whitehall and Westminster work can be a daunting challenge. Even those who have been interacting professionally with government for many years can find some of the practices, procedures, conventions and relationships complicated to navigate. This first podcast in Global Government Forum’s How Government Works series provides easy-to-digest information on who does what, and how, in government. Listen to this episode to get a simple summary of everything from constitutional frameworks to the organisational structures and interactions, and onto operational procedures, people...
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BONUS EPISODE: How the US federal government is getting ready for President Trump
Leading Questions
The US presidential election is the most consequential taking place in the ‘year of democracy’. This special episode of Global Government Forum’s Leading Questions podcast, taken from a webinar held on 19 November, looks at what public servants will be doing to prepare for the incoming presidential team led by President Donald Trump. In this podcast, webinar chair Siobhan Benita discusses the work that civil servants will be undertaking for the government transition with , non-attorney partner and director of government and public affairs, Shaw Bransford & Roth, and Richard...
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.