GovMesh @ Festival of Innovation 2025
GovMesh is a by-invite-only event that convenes a group of emerging digital governments. It aims to facilitate candid discussions between a group of countries that may not usually meet. The dynamic format allows countries to be selected based on their specific complementary strengths and weaknesses.
GovMesh's agenda
Tue, Mar 25
11:00 - 11:15(GMT+08)
Interweave and GovInsider: Introduction
Speakers:
1- Thian Si Ying, Senior Reporter, GovInsider
2- Luke Cavanaugh, Co-Founder and Author, interweave.gov
11:15 - 11:30(GMT+08)
Digital ID and wallet trends
Speakers:
Peter Parycek, Member of The Supervisory Board, DigitalService; Head of Center of Competence Public IT, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Germany
11:30 - 12:00(GMT+08)
Azerbaijan: Driving digital change through cross-government coordination
Speakers:
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Kanan Akparov, Director of the DOST Digital Innovations Center, Agency for Sustainable and Operative Social Provision (DOST), Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, Azerbaijan
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Sabina Huseynova, Advisor to the Director of the DOST Digital Innovations Center, Azerbaijan
12:00 - 12:30(GMT+08)
Bhutan: Building a decentralised, self-sovereign digital ID
Speakers:
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Jampel Ngedup, Deputy Chief ICT Officer, GovTech Bhutan
12:30 - 13:00(GMT+08)
Japan: Transforming government digital products, services and organisations
Speakers:
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Sota Mizushima, Chief Product Officer/ Chief Strategy Officer, Japan Digital Agency
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Chikako Masuda, Head of Intelligence Research and International Strategy, Japan Digital Agency
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Sara Takamatsu, Associate Policy Researcher, Japan Digital Agency
13:00 - 14:00(GMT+08)
Lunch & networking
Speakers:
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Participants will join main exhibition hall for lunch.
14:00 - 14:30(GMT+08)
Indonesia: Simplifying a complex digital government landscape and enabling access with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
Speakers:
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Setiaji Setiaji, Senior Advisor to the Minister on Health Technology, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (pre-recorded video)
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Pandu Putra, Special Advisor for Digital Transformation to the Minister, Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform
14:30 - 15:00(GMT+08)
From California to Montenegro: Leading civil service modernisation reforms and digital transformation initiatives
Speakers:
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Tamara Srzentić, Former Minister of Public Administration, Digital Transformation and Media, Government of Montenegro
15:00 - 15:30(GMT+08)
South Korea: The government's generative AI policies and use cases
Speakers:
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Yoo Jae-sin, Executive Principal, National Information Society Agency (NIA), South Korea
15:30 - 16:00(GMT+08)
Coffee break
Speakers:
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Participants will join main exhibition hall for coffee break.
16:00 - 16:15(GMT+08)
UN DESA: Effective governance and AI transformation
Speakers:
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Ana Cristina Thorlund, Governance and Public Administration Expert, United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), South Korea
16:15 - 18:00(GMT+08)
Roundtable discussion: Emerging tech applications in public services
Moderators:
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Cherie Lim-Tseng, Chief Operating Officer, Secur Solutions Group; Editor, The Birthday Collective, Singapore
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Lim Hui Nan, Consultant, Empire Eats, Singapore
Discussion questions:
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What emerging technologies (e.g. AI, blockchain, RPA, etc.) are you thinking of integrating in your government? What use cases are these for?
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What are the biggest challenges (technical, bureaucratic, cultural) in doing so?
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What's the role of public-private partnerships?
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How are you keeping pace with the rapid changes of emerging technologies and balancing "hype" with genuinely impactful use cases?
All participants will join the roundtable discussion.
17:59 - 18:00(GMT+08)
