Inclusive governance in the new era of development: Major trends and system transformation requirements in the public sector

Attending Plenary Session 1 as speakers were Mr. Jayant Narayan, Lead of Digital, AI & Innovation, UNDP Global Centre, Singapore (participating online); Dr. Prabin Maharjan, Programme Management Expert, United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA); Dr. Xufeng Zhu, President of the Asian Association for Public Administration (AAPA) and Dean of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University (China); Dr. Vincent Wong, University of Hong Kong.

In his presentation titled “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Public Sector Delivery and Governance,” Mr. Jayant Narayan highlighted the current delivery challenge—the gap between policy ambition and actual implementation capacity within governments. He stressed the importance of fund delivery teams and continuous measurement alongside strategy formulation. To address this challenge, he proposed an operating model built on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for reusable identity, payments, and data exchange, combined with AI applications in public administration. However, this must be accompanied by robust governance, clear data permissions, and explicit oversight.

Practical evidence from Singapore demonstrates that shared capabilities—such as Singpass, MyInfo, the API Exchange (APEX) gateway, and the integrated LifeSG app—reduced birth registration application times from 60 minutes down to 15 minutes, supported by AI tools like Pair, AIBots, and the WOGAA analytics platform. Nevertheless, he affirmed that named public officers must remain ultimately accountable for decisions affecting citizens. Governments must also maintain non-digital and assisted channels for vulnerable groups and adhere to the UNDP Universal DPI Safeguards Framework to ensure inclusion and accountability.

Drawing from Singapore's experience, he offered actionable recommendations for Viet Nam: (1) selecting a priority service journey with a clear, designated owner; (2) reusing existing foundational identity and data platforms; (3) empowering a central digital function and agency product teams with adequate authority, skills, and maintenance funding; (4) establishing measurement systems (tracking time, cost, satisfaction, and exclusion) that actively drive service improvements based on evidence.

In his presentation titled “Public Governance with and of AI? Paradigm Shift of Public Administration in the Digital Age”, Prof. Dr. Xufeng Zhu provided a profound analysis of the paradigm shift in public administration amidst the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. In an era marked by increasingly complex and uncertain governance challenges—such as climate change, urbanization, and public health threats—alongside divergent demands for public administration training globally, the discipline is facing an urgent need for comprehensive transformation. Simultaneously, advancing digital technology driven by AI is serving as a major catalyst for policy and service innovation, fostering interdisciplinary integration across economics, political science, sociology, law, psychology, and data science.

Dr. Zhu explained that through advanced AI models (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Kimi, Gemini, or Doubao), digital technology is reshaping national governance across three core pathways: (1) Reshaping state governance capacity: Leveraging the permeability, substitutability, and synergy of digital tools across technical, economic, and social governance; (2) Driving innovative public services: Enabling data-based, algorithm-centered, and computing-power-supported digital governance to enhance efficiency, intelligence, and refinement; (3) Promoting innovation and development in public management: A rapid rise in AI-related bills passed into law and policy frameworks across various countries (e.g., Belgium, France, UK, South Korea, US) is gradually shaping global digital governance institutions.

This deep technological penetration requires fundamental reforms in public administration research and education. Regarding research, research ethics (data privacy, algorithm transparency, and sustainability) are paramount, while research paradigms shift toward Big Data analytics, simulation modeling, and network analysis. Regarding talent cultivation, public managers need updated skills in data analysis, technological adaptation (GIS, AI), strategic decision-making, and digital ethics. Teaching methods must evolve toward AI-driven personalized instruction, expanded MOOCs, and simulation-based practical learning.

Synthesizing the evolution of public administration paradigms - from Scientific Management to New Public Administration (NPA), New Public Management (NPM), and contemporary models, Prof. Zhu affirmed that the discipline is heading toward a dual paradigm: “Public Governance WITH and OF AI.” Public Governance WITH AI focuses on utilizing AI as a tool for decision-making, policy analysis, and public service delivery; Public Governance OF AI emphasizes the state's role in establishing legal frameworks, mitigating algorithmic risks, and safeguarding societal security. The harmonious integration of technological infrastructure, policy institutions, and a modern governance mindset is key to optimizing administrative effectiveness and national competitiveness.

From a foresight and policy planning perspective, Dr. Prabin Maharjan argued that 20th-century governance models—operating on annual budgets, short-term electoral cycles, and reactive administration—can no longer manage 21st-century volatility, uncertainty, climate change, and digital transformation requirements. With under five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda and SDG progress significantly off-track, the core bottleneck is not a lack of forecasting tools, but institutional structural weaknesses: foresight units remain isolated, episodic, and detached from resource allocation or policy-making cycles. To transition from reactive administration to long-term anticipatory governance, Dr. Maharjan presented a comprehensive Foresight Integration Framework across four dimensions: Governance Structures; Capabilities & Skills; Processes & Policy Cycles; Practice & Actionability.

He highlighted that institutionalizing strategic foresight enables public institutions to enhance anticipatory capacity, reduce crisis response costs, optimize resource allocation, and build long-term resilience beyond 2030. Key actionable recommendations for governments include: Designating a senior foresight official reporting directly to executive leadership with a formal SDG mandate; establishing early-warning dashboards connecting long-term scenarios with current SDG progress metrics; requiring major funding requests to demonstrate how long-term scenarios informed their resource allocation; piloting foresight integration on a few high-stakes policy decisions before rolling out a whole-of-government roadmap.

Dr. Vincent Wong presented on how AI, New Quality Productive Forces (NQPF), and Deep Technology are transforming education and public governance. NQPF is restructuring Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) via process and product transformations. This shift paves the way for 8 emerging NQPF-VPET sector groups, 27 breakthrough product lines, and 24 new job profiles across AI & Data Science, Low-altitude economy, Life and health technology, Property Technology (PropTech), New energy and green technology, High-end equipment manufacturing and industrial automation, Advanced materials, and Smart Tourism.

To adapt to these shifts, he introduced the HANDLE Model (6 necessary literacies: Human-AI Collaboration, Algorithm, NQPF, Data, Lean Robotic & Automation, Educational Entrepreneurship) alongside the APPEALING Model (9 human-centric professional skills). The rise of NQPF-VPET sectors is also shifting societal perceptions, elevating vocational education from a "secondary option" into a launchpad for the "Gold-Collar Era" (a highly skilled tech-industrial workforce)—where workers enjoy high social status, flexible entrepreneurial opportunities, and greater job security compared to some traditional "white-collar" jobs (office staff, administrative personnel, desk managers) that are easily replaceable by AI.

On this basis, Dr. Vincent Wong recommended 7 paradigm shifts for vocational training institutions and Universities of Applied Sciences. At the same time, he proposed phasing out or redesigning 14 obsolete traditional training programs (such as general IT lacking AI, manual accounting, and office administration) to focus on expanding 24 pioneering training programs (including AI Prompt Engineering, low-altitude air traffic management, EV battery maintenance, and smart factory cybersecurity).

Dr. Vincent Wong affirmed that smooth coordination between flexible public policy, modern technological infrastructure, and an spirit of "Educational Entrepreneurship" serves as the key to helping governments optimize human resources and enhance national competitiveness in the new era.

Under the theme “Inclusive Governance in a New Era of Development: Megatrends and Systemic Transformation Requirements in the Public Sector,” the speakers delivered multifaceted, profound, and comprehensive perspectives on the journey of public sector systemic transformation in the digital and artificial intelligence era. Specifically, they focused on identifying the trends shaping the future of public governance, while clarifying the requirements for systemic transformation across national governance, local governance, and the civil service. Plenary Session 1 highlighted key strategic directions and provided valuable practical policy implications for Viet Nam as well as other countries in the region. In doing so, it affirmed the vital importance of proactively innovating institutions, enhancing localized delivery capacity, and building a modern, agile, transparent, and citizen-centered public governance system in the new era of development.