As the summer winds down and holidays come to an end, the fourth annual GovTech Summit is quickly approaching. This event represents an unmatched opportunity to engage with other leaders in the GovTech space within the Netherlands and across the globe.
The GovTech Summit is the world’s premier GovTech event, connecting Europe’s leading decision makers and brightest innovators, and providing an unparalleled opportunity for public servants, startups, technologists and investors to ignite conversation and connect with the people who can unlock their potential: improving public services and empowering citizens. First launched in 2018, the annual event has previously gained over 3,000 attendees, including speakers such as Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron and Armin Laschet. This unique platform convenes the world’s brightest innovators and policy-makers to re-think how governments operate in a digital world and shape the public services and markets of the future.
GovTech comes to The Hague
This year, we are enormously excited to be taking it from Paris and launching it in The Hague. PUBLIC has partnered with the City of The Hague and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to deliver this year’s iteration of The Summit with a hybrid event based in The Hague on 13th & 14th October. We’re so excited about this: we have been running the GovTech Summit for four years now, and bringing it to The Hague is the perfect step to grow it even further. Over a year ago, The Hague and the Ministry of the Interior approached us and asked us how we can make The Netherlands the world leader in GovTech. We immediately got to work with them to map the amazing ecosystem of GovTech startups across the country and to shape their first ever GovTech strategy.
With one of Europe’s leading startup and venture ecosystems, a strong pedigree in smart cities, and a national propensity for innovation, The Netherlands has all the right ingredients to lead the world on GovTech. And as the international city of peace and justice and home to so many government touch-points and research centres, The Hague is the natural centre.
We would be delighted if you could join us this year - in The Hague or virtually - as we work together with the Dutch government to deliver a major step for GovTech in The Netherlands. Emphasising this year’s unique Dutch character, the Summit will include a dedicated panel focused on “The State of GovTech in The Netherlands”. This panel will bring together a diverse group of leaders and innovators in the Dutch GovtTech market ranging from Ministers to GovTech startup founders to drive a discussion around the current state of the Dutch GovTech market. Supporting the mission to develop The Netherlands as a world leader for GovTech, this panel will explore how the Government, investors and innovators can collaborate to propel the Dutch GovTech market forward. As a follow-on to the panel, we will be running a larger, collaborative workshop focused on what can be done to accelerate the growth of GovTech in The Netherlands with attendees ranging from policymakers, innovators, investors and other key stakeholders from Dutch GovTech market.
‘Build Back Digital’
In addition to shining a spotlight on the world-leading Dutch GovTech market, this year’s Summit is being developed with a keen eye towards the Covid-19 pandemic and how this global crisis has influenced technological innovation. During the pandemic, citizens, governments and businesses have embraced digital transformation like never before. As governments across Europe develop their Covid-19 recovery strategies, it will be crucial to build on this momentum to create truly digitally-enabled societies.
This year’s GovTech Summit edition - ‘Build Back Digital’ - will provide access to some of the most prominent political and public figures leading Europe’s digital transformation across the public sector. From tackling climate issues and boosting citizen engagement, to improving health services and redesigning our cities, expert speakers will share insight into how technology can help Governments create more universal, accessible and inclusive societies across Europe.
Join us in The Hague (or virtually)
We are genuinely thrilled to welcome you all to this year’s GovTech Summit where we know you will find a stimulating environment of GovTech leaders and innovators across the public and private sector collaborating to shape the public services of the future. We strongly encourage anyone interested in speaking (in-person or virtually) at one of our panels covering a wide range of topics (climate tech, the future of healthcare tech, AI and ethics, etc.) to email Adam in our Events Team (speakers@public.io). He will be more than happy to chat and provide more information about the Summit, panel topics, and answer any other practical questions you may have. Otherwise, if you are simply interested in joining the Summit as a virtual attendee please do register here for your complimentary pass: https://www.govtechsummit.eu/register. Looking forward to seeing you all in October!