60th ICA Conference Programme

Registration | Hilton Tallinn Park

Board & PC Meeting | Hilton Tallinn Park - Sydney

Coffee Break

Annual General Assembly & Elections | Hilton Tallinn Park - Sydney

Welcome Dinner & Networking Event | Restaurant Peppersack

Opening & Welcome Remarks

Keynote

Mr. Lauri Luht, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs | Estonia

Social Challenges in the Digital Age: The Role of IT, Digital, and AI

Across the globe, governments are facing a convergence of social challenges that are intensifying in scale and complexity. Advances in IT, digital platforms, and AI are not only contributing to these challenges - but also offer powerful tools to address them.

In this session, we will discuss key topics and challenges in areas ranging from democratic resilience, climate change, building systemic resilience and aging population, analyse why they are becoming more acute, and learn how leading countries are responding.

Session Chairs

Mr. Nir Yanovsky, Head of Innovation Data and AI Unit, National Digital Agency | Israel

Mr. Tiago Mendonça, Senior Policy Officer of the State Technological Reform Agency (ARTE) | Portugal

Panel Experts

Mr. Lauri Luht, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs | Estonia

Mr. Shehzaad Ramjaun, Head of Infrastructure Services MIS | Africa CDC

Coffee Break

Country Reports | AI Practice in Government: Sharing Lessons on What Works, What Fails, and Why

This year’s country reports will share practical experiences using artificial intelligence to address specific public-sector challenges. Presentations should move beyond broad AI strategies and highlight concrete applications, giving equal attention to what worked, what did not, and why. Each country will present its most successful AI application and its most significant AI setback, with an emphasis on the lessons learned from both.

Objectives:

• Celebrate successful AI adoption and identify conditions for success.
• Discuss AI adoption failures, setbacks, and barriers openly.
• Share governance models and metrics used to determine success and failure.

Session Chair

Mr. Peter Bruce, Senior Associate, Leadership and Learning Institute on Governance | Canada

Lunch

Country Reports (cont.)

Coffee Break

GovTech and Public Sector Innovation in Practice: Strengthening the Digital Government Agenda

As governments scale AI and digital innovation beyond pilots, the real bottleneck isn't always technology—it's institutional capacity. The World Bank's GovTech program has identified emerging patterns in which institutional arrangements enable AI adoption and innovation at scale. This session will present the GovTech program and examine what's working, drawing on governance models from leading countries and lessons on scaling AI responsibly—including how to structure central coordination, design risk mitigation frameworks, and build the foundational data and talent infrastructure that determines whether AI projects scale or stall.

Panel Expert

Mr. Daniel Ortega Nieto, Program Manager, GovTech & Public Sector Innovation | World Bank

Round-Up and Closing of the Day

Site Visit

Moderator

Mr. Rannar Park, Head of Business Management, e-Estonia Briefing Centre | Estonia

Coffee Break | Öpik Conference Centre

Digital Sovereignty & Sustainable Infrastructure

At its core, digital sovereignty is the ability of governments, organizations, and individuals to shape and control their digital future, encompassing the data, hardware, software, and cloud-based technologies they rely on and develop, in accordance with legal and strategic priorities. Today, it stands as a pivotal milestone for governments, anchoring national security and economic strategy while reinforcing resilience and autonomy. This broad concept includes elements such as data residency, privacy, protection, operational control, resilience, survivability, independence, and transparency, often distilled into three key pillars: control, continuity, and compliance.

Within this context, governments must also address emerging challenges such as “sovereignty washing,” the realities of achieving true self-sufficiency, and the increasing impact of artificial intelligence, all of which add complexity to the pursuit of genuine digital sovereignty.

This session will explore the key dimensions of digital sovereignty implementation, sharing insights on current challenges, practical approaches, and emerging opportunities.

Session Chair

Mr. Paul N. Wagner, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Digital Service (CDS) | Government of Canada

Panel Experts

Ms. Natalia Aristimuño Pérez, Change Management and Resources Director | European Commission

Mr. Nir Yanovsky, Head of Innovation Data and AI Unit, National Digital Agency | Israel

TBC | France

Mr. David Hsiu, KPMG Advisory Cybersecurity | Taiwan

Lunch

The Agentic State: From Theory to Reality

The Agentic State is no longer a distant future vision; digital governments like Estonia, Portugal, Italy, and Ukraine are already exploring and implementing proactive, AI-driven public services. This session shifts the conversation from theoretical concepts to practical reality. Participants will analyze real-world case studies, implementation strategies, and the tangible lessons learned by frontrunner nations moving toward autonomous government operations

Panel Experts

TBC | Estonia

Mr. Dominic Chan, Chief Information Officer, GovTech | Singapore

Coffee Break

Measuring digital progress: the GovTech Maturity Index

More information coming soon!

Panel Expert

Mr. João Ricardo Vasconcelos, Senior Governance Specialist in the GovTech Global team of the Governance Global Practice | World Bank

Round-Up and Closing of the Day

Free Evening

RaRa Guided Tour

Welcome & Opening Remarks | RaRa Conference Centre (6th floor, Conference Hall)

Keynote

Mr. Indrek Õnnik, Senior Expert at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications | Estonia

Human Capital & Organizational Transformation

How can governments build the skills, leadership, and culture needed to thrive in a rapidly changing digital world? Moderated by the Ministry of Finance of Finland, with participation from the Ministry of Education and Culture, this panel brings together ICT leaders from multiple countries, to share practical experiences and emerging approaches.

Combining perspectives on workforce development and organizational change, the discussion explores how public sector organizations can strengthen human capital while adapting structures, roles, and ways of working. A dedicated track highlights AI literacy and capability building as a key enabler of transformation. We will explore how public sector organizations can evolve into adaptive, human-centric, and capability-driven institutions.

Key themes include:

• Developing future-ready skills and roles in the public sector
• Embedding AI literacy as a core capability across organizations
• Leadership, culture, and continuous learning in times of change
• Building trust, ethics, and resilience into digital transformation

Session Chair

Mr. Vesa Lipponen, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Finance | Finland

Panel Experts

Mr. Paul N. Wagner, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Digital Service (CDS) | Government of Canada

Ms. Birgit Lüüs-Jakobs, Head of the Digital Government Policy and Development Division at the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs | Estonia

Mrs. Tiina Kuoppa, Head of Information Management at the Ministry of Education and Culture | Finland

Mr. Dominic Chan, Chief Information Officer, GovTech | Singapore

Ms. Anna Mari Wallenberg, Cognitive Scientist and Philosopher of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Digital Humanities | University of Helsinki

Coffee Break

Human Capital & Organizational Transformation (cont.)

Lunch

Digital Ecosystems: (digital identity, RTE, public sector innovation)

Governments around the world have invested heavily in digital public infrastructure such as digital identity, data exchange, and trusted data platforms to enable more seamless, citizen-centric services. This session brings together leaders from Portugal, Estonia and Singapore to share how these foundational capabilities have been developed, what outcomes they have delivered, and the lessons learned in building vibrant digital ecosystems that support innovation, trust, and effective public service delivery.

As technologies such as AI reshape the digital landscape, the discussion will explore how government ecosystems must evolve to remain secure, interoperable, and future-ready. Panellists will examine emerging priorities—from data governance and cybersecurity to cross-border interoperability and digital credentials—and discuss where governments should focus next to unlock greater value for citizens, businesses, and society.

Session Chair

Mr. Dominic Chan, Chief Information Officer, GovTech | Singapore

Panel Experts

Joonas Heiter, Director General of the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) | Estonia

Mr. Tiago Mendonça, Senior Policy Officer of the State Technological Reform Agency (ARTE) | Portugal

Ms. Lynette Kwok, Deputy Director, GovTech | Singapore

Coffee Break

Looking Ahead to a Future of Collaboration!

Closing Remarks & Roundup of the Day

Closing Event & Museum Visit | Estonian National History Museum Maarjamäe Castle