Session
Classroom
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: This setup allows participants to work in groups, encouraging the exchange of diverse perspectives, which is essential for fostering creativity. Working in groups enables participants to challenge each other’s ideas, gain new insights, and develop innovative solutions together. Additionally, a classroom setup offers a comfortable and organized space for hands-on exercises and guided facilitation. It also allows for better communication between facilitators and participants, ensuring everyone remains engaged and benefits from shared learning experiences. This format supports both guided instruction and spontaneous idea generation, making it the most suitable choice for our creative workshop.
Please provide a short description of your session that can be included in the IGF schedule. Try to cover content focus and approach. If applicable, state what the issues, challenges and opportunities are related to the selected theme. With the rapid advancement of technology, rising public expectations for efficient services, and an ever-expanding pool of data, governments around the world are pressured to tackle complex societal issues with innovative solutions. Traditional methods often lack the speed and effectiveness needed to keep up with modern demands. To bridge this gap, governments are increasingly focusing on strategies to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies within the public sector, aiming to improve service delivery and address complex challenges more efficiently. The workshop dwells on the experience of GovTech Lab Lithuania and DFQ as well as and welcomes representatives from both public, private and academic sectors who are interested in practically testing new ways of finding innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by the public sector. Participants will be able to deeply engage with a variety of public sector problems and consider them critically. By exploring the junctions between these challenges and emerging technologies, attendees will gain hands-on experience on creating and refining the variety of potential solutions. The participants will create early-stage prototypes of innovative products by matching public sector problems (such as digital inclusion, bureaucratic inefficiencies, environmental sustainability, etc.) with emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence, big data, IoT, blockchain and others).
Your session should provide a rich, inclusive experience both for participants on-site and online. For information, the IGF Secretariat and the Host Country will provide the technical tools and virtual link to support the hybrid component of your session. Planning for an interactive session engagement is an important criterion for your proposal’s acceptance. Please respond to the following questions: 1) How will you facilitate interaction between onsite and online speakers and attendees? Yes, during the workshop, interaction between onsite and online speakers and attendees will be facilitated. Both groups will engage in joint presentations of the developed solutions, allowing for exchange of ideas. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from both onsite and online speakers, reflect on the ideas presented, and contribute their own thoughts, fostering a collaborative atmosphere regardless of location. Additionally, we will use interactive digital tools to ensure that all participants, whether onsite or online, have an equal opportunity to ask questions, share feedback, and contribute to discussions. 2) How will you design the session to ensure the best possible experience for online and onsite participants? The workshop will be facilitated synchronically onsite and online. Onsite participants will be seated around tables and online participants will work in breakout rooms online on the “Mural” tool. Workshop flow, 60 min.: • Welcoming remarks with the focus on tackling public challenges with emerging technologies (representative of Lithuania Government), 15 min. Workshop, 45 min.: • Each participant receives and familiarize himself/herself with public sector problem; • Every participant randomly picks 3 cards with the description of emerging technologies; • Participants are asked to create (write a short description and visualize it) 3 different ideas of innovative product while matching the cards of problem and emerging technologies; • Online and onsite participants will presents their best idea, and the voting session is facilitated to select the best idea of innovative product. 3) Please note any complementary online tools/platforms you plan to use to increase participation and interaction during the session. For online participation, the interactive tool "Mural" will be used, and for the Q&A session, "Slido" will be utilized.
Innovation Agency Lithuania, GovTech Lab
Magne Hareide, Senior Adviser, The Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFQ), EuroDIG
Andžej Trachimovič, Viceminister, Ministry of Economy and Innovation, EuroDIG Liucija Sabulytė, Manager of GovTech Lab unit, Innovation Agency Lithuania, EuroDIG Dovilė Gaižauskienė, Area Manager, Innovation Agency Lithuania, EuroDIG Magne Hareide, Senior Adviser, The Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFQ), EuroDIG Justas Paulikas, Innovation Expert, Innovation Agency Lithuania, EuroDIG
3. Good Health and Well-Being
4. Quality Education
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
Targets: The workshop is directly linked to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by addressing real-world challenges in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and urban sustainability. During the session, participants will work with specific problems from these SDG fields, carefully selected to reflect challenges faced by different social groups across various continents. By combining public sector issues with emerging technologies, the workshop will foster innovative, inclusive, and globally relevant solutions. For SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), participants may tackle issues such as unequal access to healthcare, digital health solutions, or emergency response systems. For SDG 4 (Quality Education), challenges might include digital inclusion, remote learning barriers, or skills gaps in underserved communities. SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) will focus on smart governance, connectivity, and public sector efficiency, while SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) will address urban sustainability, climate resilience, and mobility solutions. By engaging with these challenges, participants will gain a deeper understanding of global inequalities and technological possibilities, leading to a united perspective on potential solutions. The hands-on approach encourages collaborative thinking and pushes for creative, tech-driven ideas to improve public services worldwide. Ultimately, the workshop serves as a platform to bridge gaps between regions, sectors, and perspectives, fostering innovation that is both impactful and scalable.