Governments racing to modernise public services risk undermining trust and inclusion unless they rethink how digital systems are designed and governed.
That is the central message of a new World Economic Forum framework, The GovTech Compass, which sets out ten principles intended to guide governments through the next phase of digital transformation as AI, digital identity and data-sharing systems become increasingly embedded in public services.
Published by the Forum’s Global Future Council on GovTech and Digital Public Infrastructure, the framework argues that governments now face a more complex challenge than simply digitising services: ensuring technological innovation strengthens, rather than weakens, democratic legitimacy and public accountability.
Moving beyond digitisation
Writing for the World Economic Forum, Kelly Ommundsen said public sector leaders are entering a new phase of digital government.
“We know we need to move faster, but how do we make sure we are moving in the right direction?” she wrote.
The report arrives at a time when governments across Europe and beyond are accelerating investment in AI-enabled services while also facing rising scrutiny over algorithmic decision-making, surveillance risks and digital exclusion.
According to the Forum, the consequences of poor implementation are already becoming visible. Ommundsen points to “digital identity systems that exclude the most vulnerable”, alongside “AI-driven welfare decisions that entrench bias” and data partnerships that can “hand over public value”.
Rather than focusing primarily on procurement or technology adoption, the GovTech Compass frames digital transformation as a governance challenge, centred on trust, institutional capability and citizen participation.
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A framework for responsible GovTech
The Compass is designed as a practical decision-making framework for policymakers, delivery teams and suppliers working across GovTech and digital public infrastructure programmes.
The World Economic Forum says the model is intended to help governments navigate trade-offs between innovation, efficiency and public safeguards, particularly as AI systems become more deeply integrated into frontline public services.
Instead of prescribing a single digital maturity model, the framework encourages governments to assess whether new technologies are transparent, interoperable, inclusive and accountable before scaling deployment.
That approach is likely to resonate with UK public sector leaders attempting to navigate questions around AI assurance, digital identity interoperability and the role of automated decision-making in government services.
AI raises stakes for public trust
The report argues that AI and digital public infrastructure are becoming increasingly interconnected, making strong governance foundations more important than ever.
In a related article published earlier this year, the Forum described trusted digital infrastructure as essential if governments want AI systems to operate safely “at population scale”.
Added Ommundsen: “If digital government is to earn and sustain public trust, it must be built with people, not merely delivered to them.”
