Civic Punks

Tokyo was already special. Getting to spend time with Chika Masuda made it even better. Chika is Head of Intelligence Research at Japan’s Digital Agency, and one of those rare public servants who seems to connect people, ideas, and institutions with real care. In this conversation, we talk about her journey into government, what she has learned from working inside the system, and why relationships...

What does it look like when a city council takes both AI and community engagement seriously — without making either feel like a corporate strategy exercise? In this episode, I talk with Jared Griffith, a senior leader at Hutt City Council in Greater Wellington, New Zealand. This conversation follows a chat Jared and I had when I was in Wellington a few months ago, where I became really intrigued b...

Leg two of the Civic Punks World Tour is here. I’m heading to Europe — with stops in Kyiv, London, Berlin, Tallinn, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Tbilisi — to look for the people, places, and ideas shaping the future of government. The heart of the trip is Kyiv. Ukraine feels like one of the most important places in the world to understand democracy, resilience, digital government, trust, and public s...

Governments around the world are trying to make sense of AI in real time. Some are experimenting, some are regulating, some are cautiously poking it with a stick from a safe distance. In this episode, our global government innovation panel compares what we are seeing across different countries and systems. We talk about how AI is changing public sector innovation, why digital sovereignty is becomi...

Civic Punks is starting to come into focus. In this short solo update, I’m back at Queen’s Park — where I filmed the original launch video — to share where the project is going next. Over the last few months, I’ve been travelling across East Asia and the Pacific, meeting people, recording conversations, going to events, and trying to understand what the future of government looks like from the gro...

In this episode of the Future Government series, I sit down with Sir Geoff Mulgan, one of the people whose work has deeply shaped the field of public sector innovation — and, personally, someone I remember studying back in grad school. So this was a bit of a special one. We talk about why governments need to get much better at using intelligence, how history can help us make sense of the moment we...

Thea Snow is one of those people I love talking to because I always leave our conversation feeling a little more grounded and wise. At the time of this recording, Thea was Director at the Centre for Public Impact for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She has since stepped back from that role and is taking time to enjoy life, reflect, and explore what comes next. In this conversation, we cover a...

What if one of the problems in government is that we keep using the wrong pattern for the work in front of us? In this conversation, I sit down with Suhit Anantula to explore his framework of Lines, Loops, and Vibes. Vibes are about instinct, intuition, and sensing what is emerging. Loops are about iteration, experimentation, feedback, and learning by doing. Lines are about structure, process, and...

Public sector innovation was supposed to help government change. But what happens when innovation becomes part of the system it was meant to challenge? In this conversation, I sit down with Nicholas Gruen, a longtime voice in public sector innovation, to talk about why the field may have lost some of its edge. We get into perpetual pilots, reform work that never quite lands, and the strange way in...

Roger Watson has been one of the leading voices shaping the practice of design in government in Australia — as a practitioner, teacher, author, and long-time champion of better public services. I sat down with Roger in Sydney to talk about how he found his way into this work, the personal experiences that shaped his interest in government design, and why he believes the field needs to evolve. We a...

There’s a lot of pressure right now to be more efficient, more effective, and somehow keep up with a steady stream of new tools—especially AI. In this conversation, I sit down with Michael Baskin, Chief Innovation Officer for Montgomery County, to talk about how he actually approaches that challenge in his work and life. This isn’t just a conversation about tools. It’s about process, judgment, and...

Derek sits down with Shannon Salter, Head of the Public Service for the Government of British Columbia, to explore BC’s vision for redesigning government around life events instead of programs and departments. They talk about what that shift really means, how you make it real inside a large public system, and what it takes to work across silos and levels of government.

This is part of a series I’m calling Rent Free. The idea is simple. I ask people about a concept that’s living rent-free in their head. Something that’s shaping how they see the world and how they show up in their work. This time, I sat down with my good friend, and someone who consistently inspires me, Almero Oosthuizen. For Almero, what is living rent-free is the quote: “I participate, therefore...

I think we’re still designing policy for a world that doesn’t exist anymore. Last week I was in Canberra for the OpenFisca and Policy Innovation Conference, right after Government Innovation Week in Melbourne. Two very different conferences… and honestly, it felt like they were talking about two completely different realities. At OpenFisca, the conversation went deeper. Less about “what’s new” Mor...

There’s a tension at the heart of government that we don’t talk about enough. On the front lines, everything feels urgent. You’re dealing with real people, real problems, right now. You see what’s broken. You feel the pressure to act. Then there’s the center. The place where resources sit. Where decisions get made. Where the stakes are bigger, the scale is wider… but the urgency isn’t always there...

We might be starting to see the future of government take shape… and I’m not sure we’re ready for it. In this video, I unpack Ukraine’s latest roadmap on the Agentic State — one of the first real attempts to move from theory to practice when it comes to AI in government. This builds directly on my recent conversation with Manuel Kilian, where we explored the idea of the Agentic State. But this tim...

Last week I was in Melbourne for the Public Sector Network Government Innovation Week. I’ve got a full series linked below from the trip, so check those out if you want the full picture. But there’s one idea in particular that’s been stuck in my head ever since. After the conference, I broke out of the usual crowd and spent an evening with a small, eclectic group of civic punks. Less stage, more c...

I finally had a chance to sit down and process last week’s Public Sector Network Government Innovation Week in Melbourne… and there’s a lot that’s still rattling around in my head. From Minister Danny Pearson’s take on the “middle path” for AI, to the growing sense that Agentic AI is about to change the game (for better and worse), this week felt like a glimpse into where government is heading nex...

I recently had the chance to spend a couple of days with one of my favourite Civic Punks, the author and public servant Amber Guette in Wellington, New Zealand. We talked about what public service means to her and what inspired her to write her well-known book: Dear Minister - Letters From a Public Servant. She also gave a sneak peek into her next book that she is currently writing. You can learn...

Have you heard about Agentic AI? If not, you will, it is shaping to be the next major frontier for AI. What is it? How can we be ready for it? These are the questions I posted to Manuel Kilian, the author of the highly influential white paper: The Agentic State. Read it here: https://agenticstate.org/

For this week's Rent Free, I sat down with Brenton Caffin, the founder of States of Change, to learn more about the book that has most shaped his thinking. He chose "Reimagining Organizations" by Frederic Laloux and shared how he has worked to apply its principles in both States of Change and Government.

I’m on a bit of a mission right now: find government projects that actually worked. Not theory but Real impact. And in Adelaide, I think I found one. The Thinkers in Residence program did something pretty unusual… it brought in some of the world’s leading thinkers to work directly with government and help tackle big challenges. I sat down with Brenton Caffin, who saw it up close, to dig into what...

Right now, it feels like we are in a moment focused on austerity. Governments everywhere are cutting their workforce, but is there a danger with this? Nick Scott thinks so. In his recent article, "Why Budget Cuts Without Resource Reallocation Rarely Transforms Systems" he argues that when cuts are rushed or made across the board we end up not with more efficient government but with crappy governme...

Darwin, Adelaide and Sydney are now in the books. Lots of great conversations with super-inspiring Civic Punks. What is sitting with me? Temples, Cuts and Farmer! What does that mean? You will need to watch to find out.

Victoria is at a turning point. Before Government Innovation Week begins, here’s what actually matters: the forces shaping the agenda and what to watch for. Featuring Ross Ashman (PSN Co-Founder) on why this moment matters.