Effects of Covid-19 on digital public services

A roundtable discussion under Chatham House Rules with senior leaders in government and the non-profit sector held in August 2020 focused on the lessons learned from the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and what a post-covid-19 New Zealand public service needs to look like. The paper provides a summary of the arrival of Covid-19 in New Zealand and digital public service developments during the lockdown (Alert level 4). This is followed by an overview of the policy context within which digital public services in New Zealand operate. Based on research undertaken by the research team of the Chair in Digital Government, some evidence of how well digital government is performing is presented together with opportunities and threats associated with the Covid-19 pandemic,. These lead into a set of learnings that could guide public debate. Please note that the document below is a 31 March updated version of the paper, including contributions from the Ministry of Health.