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How the failure of Healthcare.gov kickstarted US government transformation
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The 2013 launch of healthcare.gov – the US government website that helps American’s find health insurance – is most often viewed as a failure. The website crashed on its first day, leading to batch of negative headlines as the US government scrambled to get it back online.
But this is only half the story. What is less remembered now is the recovery – how government changed how it worked to get the system working and then spread the lessons across the federal government.
In this episode of Government Transformed, Siobhan Benita speaks to Aaron Snow, faculty fellow at Georgetown University in the Beck Center for Social Impact and innovation, about what it means for governments to achieve digital transformation with public good at its core – from his work helping turn round healthcare.gov and beyond.
Aaron has been named one of the world's 20 most influential people in digital government. In this interview, he recounts to Siobhan his leadership journey through the digital public service landscape.
Starting as a Presidential Innovation Fellow (PIF) in 2012, Aaron became one of the founding members of 18F an organisation set up as a digital expertise arm of the General Services Administration (GSA) to transform public services across America after the problems with healthcare.gov.
In this candid conversation, Aaron shares his insight on what it is like to drive digital change across government from this organisation, as well as the day when an organisational restructure moved 18F from a discreet operation into a much larger outfit – and what this meant for its work. On a practical level Aaron details the daunting challenges he and his colleagues faced were dauting – like having to “design a plane while building it, while flying it”.
He says the stress of leading in such a high-pressure environment seems “pretty natural in retrospect”. “I didn't know what I was feeling [at the time] because I hadn't been through that before, not at that level,” he adds.
In this exclusive podcast, Snow shares his reflections on working in government – from the startup culture of 18F to the bureaucratic obstacles – what he calls the symphony of incentives and requirements that push on people who are trying to improve government service experiences for the public.
He emphasises the need for leaders to foster and protect a strong, innovative team culture. He highlights the importance of having regular conversations with people at every level of an organisation so that every competing need, incentive and requirement is fulfilled.
He also reflects on his time leading the Canadian Digital Service, and his work now as a fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University, where he divides his time between the Digital Service Network and the Intergovernmental Software Collaborative.
Listen to the episode in full here.
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Rewiring the state: Reflections on how to unlock government transformation
01:16:13|The UK government has set the directive for a “complete rewiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform”. It says that a “digital revolution” will underpin the move to a more “agile, effective and active state”, focused on delivering its missions: growing the economy, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, opportunity for all, and making Britain a clean energy superpower. It is also essential to simplifying how citizens interact with government to access more joined-up services.A new Global Government Forum study – which was led by Lord Gus O’Donnell and based on in-depth interviews with 12 UK permanent secretaries – pinpoints the barriers and enablers to transformation in government, with a particular emphasis on the role of digital technologies and data, and identifies four priority areas as key opportunities to accelerate change.In this podcast, Lord O’Donnell sets out the findings of the report with former senior civil servant and GGF’s global event and webinar chairperson, Siobhan Benita, along with their guests Yatin Mahandru, vice president, head of public sector and health, Cognizant UK & Ireland, and Faye Holt, director, UK public sector, Amazon Web Services – whose organisations were knowledge partners for the report.Together, they discuss the key findings from the interviews with permanent secretaries, covering:The role of leadership in driving change.How to build capacity in government for digital transformation.How to unlock the power of data and AI.Listen to this episode to get insights from government leaders on the opportunity for government transformation – and unique reflections from the experts featured in this podcast on how to make change happen.Read the Rewiring the State report here.This podcast is based on a Global Government Forum webinar, held on 4 November.
The opportunity for AI agents in government
46:29|In this special episode of Government Transformed, the executive editor of Global Government Forum Richard Johnstone speaks to Luukas Ilves, an advisor to the deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation of Ukraine who is also former undersecretary for digital transformation and CIO for the Government of Estonia, and Manuel Kilian, the founding managing director of the Global Government Technology Centre, about how agentic AI can revamp how government works.This conversation covers what agentic AI is; how it can be useful to governments, and how to build systems in public services that can make the most of it, looking at potential use cases across the different functions of government.Listen to this episode to help understand the elements of this potential government transformation and the potential for creating an agentic state.If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it to help other people find GGF’s content. And if you are new Government Transformed, please subscribe so you will get all of our conversations on government innovations as soon as they are published.Read the report: The Agentic State: How Agentic AI Will Revamp 10 Functional Layers of Public AdministrationLike this episode? Please share with your friends and colleagues, and if you have an idea you would like us to cover in Government Transformed, please contact: jack.aldane@pendragonim.com
How to improve government payments, with knowledge partners Visa Direct and J.P. Morgan
01:11:31|The development of digital tools has revolutionized many areas of people’s lives – from how they communicate, to how they plan their finances and book trips.In this special episode of Global Government Forum’s Government Transformed podcast, state and local officials join host Siobhan Benita and knowledge partners Visa Direct and J.P. Morgan Payments to discuss how technology can help transform government services to meet the growing expectations of users in the digital world.Listen to this exclusive conversation to hear from local government leaders on how they have made transformation happen – and how they can do so in a way that improves digital inclusion and creates government services with communities.Plus, find out from Visa Direct and J.P. Morgan how government can be transformed to provide more responsive services, and improve productivity, efficiency, and accuracy across government.This podcast is hosted by Siobhan Benita, moderator, Global Government Forum; and the participants were:· Scott Erickson, County Clerk & Recorder, Knox County, Illinois· Brian Page, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Chase· Curtis Webb, Senior Director, Head of Disbursements and Go-to-market Strategy, Money Movement Solutions, North America, Visa· Freda Richardson Taylor, Deputy Director of Finance/Comptroller, City of New Orleans· Kahlida Lloyd, Director, Office of Human Rights & Equity, Mayor’s Office, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, City of New OrleansFor further reading, please see J.P. Morgan's report: How fast bank payments are helping to modernize public sector disbursements.
How to get the right skills mix for modern government
01:15:01|Governments around the world are all faced with meeting skills gaps and talent challenges. Many services require digitally-savvy public servants to help deliver more citizen-focused services, while there is also a need for leadership and management skills to allow government to become more risk-smart and innovative. This Government Transformed podcast, supported by knowledge partner Skillsoft, looked at how governments can assess the skills they need; how they are working to quicken recruitment in key digital skills; and how artificial intelligence developments will change the skills that civil servants need.Join host Richard Johnstone and representatives from the governments of Belgium, Canada, South Africa and knowledge partner Skillsoft as we also discuss how governments can benchmark skills and performance, and how they are working to do more with less.This podcast is based on a Global Government Forum webinar, How to get the right skills mix for modern, digital government, held on 8 July and supported by knowledge partner Skillsoft.Click here to find out more about Global Government Forum’s training and development programmes.Read Global Government Forum’s Making Government Work report, which reveals five pillars of a modern civil service.How cities are using AI to tackle their most pressing problems
01:08:30|AI offers huge potential for cities to improve services for residents and make operations more efficient. Local governments also often have the agility to move faster than their national counterparts, offering early indicators of success and challenges.In this podinar, local government officials from Copenhagen, Toronto, London and North Yorkshire set out how their organisations are using AI. Listen to this conversation to understand these developments, and discussions of key milestones in deploying AI in government – including how to design effective AI pilots and projects, how to deploy AI tools and measure success, and the importance of human-in-the-loop approaches.This podinar is based on the How cities are using AI to tackle their most pressing problems webinar, hosted by Global Government Forum on 3 July. The participants were:Marie Hvid Damborg, Head of Digitalisation, Technical and Environmental Administration, City of CopenhagenMark Peterson, Head of Data and Insight, North Yorkshire CouncilSonia Brar, Chief Technology Officer, City of TorontoEddie Copeland, Director, London Office of Technology and InnovationConfident decision-making for better outcomes in government
01:10:16|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 how governments are streamlining the way they work to become more nimble. It looked at how governments are building systems that will provide more effective data on public service delivery – boosting effective decision-making and facilitating action.This session discussed:The data practices that are making a difference for decision-makers, and the value that can be unlocked from more timely and accurate data in government.The technology and operations that are improving decision-makers’ agility to react to changing and evolving conditions.The skills needed to make confident decisions in government.The role of AI and AI agents in better decision-making and action-taking.Understanding the fraud risk in the public sector – and how to tackle it
57:28|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, with a focus on saving £4.3bn by the end of the decade, while the International Public Sector Fraud Forum has published a revised framework that sets out key principles and processes for conducting fraud loss measurement exercises to better quantify the cost of fraud – and measure savings.The importance of unlocking these savings is demonstrated by the SAS research, which identified that tackling fraud, waste and abuse could release savings equivalent to around 16% of their government’s budget.This webinar session examined the scale and extent of the fraud challenge that governments around the world face – and how to tackle it.The session brought together public servants to discuss:The trends in the type of fraud threats that governments face now – and will face in future.How governments are tackling the threats they face now – and preparing for the threats that are on the horizon.The role for AI and analytics in tackling the fraud challenges that government face – and how these technologies can be embedded in current working practices.
How to deploy artificial intelligence in government: a step-by-step guide
01:14:18|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 cases, including business cases, for AI that demonstrate how it can be deployed in the most effective way. They also discussed the building blocks for making AI work, as well as recommendations on the AI tools and media that panellists themselves find useful.The ‘How to deploy artificial intelligence in government: a step-by-step guide’ webinar was originally held on 13 March 2025.
UK data leaders on delivering the government missions
01:05:37|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 data leaders on how data insights can be used to achieve these goals, as well as how to drive the changes that mission-led government requires.The challenges that organisations faced were also discussed, including foundational data constraints, and the limitations of legacy systems, funding and digital skills.Listen to find out from government leaders how data can help drive the government’s missions.This podcast is based on a webinar Real time insight for missions: how to measure progress on the government’s priorities, held on 6 May. Find out more about the session and watch it in full here.