## Notes from 08 May 2025 [[2025-05-07|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2025-05-09|Next note →]] In its first days in office, the new Merz administration established Germany's first [Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation](https://bmds.bund.de/) (BMDS) on May 6, 2025. While the full scope of this ministry will undoubtedly evolve in the coming months, the [initial decree](https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/2196306/2345476/cdff731d8650c3ea9281853dedf46d2c/2025-05-06-organisationserlass-data.pdf?download=1) signals that Berlin is positioning digital transformation and debureaucratization as interlinked priorities. The decree grants the new ministry authority over process simplification, automation, AI integration, and regulatory innovations - leaving open questions about how workforce strategy will integrate with these technological and procedural reforms. As governments worldwide have learned, the positioning of government transformation efforts within administrative structures reveals priorities. I was reminded of this years ago during my public administration studies in São Paulo, listening to Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira reflect on his time as Brazil's Minister for Federal Administration and State Reform (MARE, the Ministry that implemented [Brazil's New Public Management reforms in the mid-1990s](https://www.bresserpereira.org.br/documents/mare/PlanoDiretor/Whitepaper.pdf)). When I asked what he would have done differently, he paused thoughtfully before responding: "Modernization apart from the Finance Ministry doesn't exist". His insight was clear: without control over resources, even excellent reforms remain peripheral. Chile’s approach validates this perspective. In 2003, the country launched the [[Sistema de Alta Dirección Pública (SADP)]] - Latin America’s first [merit-based selection mechanism for senior public-service executives](https://drive.google.com/file/d/18Hn4QIyLxLlp4BXm6VFXRJb19PUtqokY/view?usp=drive_link). Administered by a newly created [Civil Service Agency](https://www.serviciocivil.cl/) within the Ministry of Finance, it professionalized executive appointments before that same agency was elevated in 2015 to serve as the government’s central Chief People Officer, adding strategic HR oversight. This evolution reflects Chile’s commitment to linking leadership development with wider transformation efforts. Today, the Finance Ministry includes the Civil Service Agency (talent strategy and leadership), the [Laboratorio de Gobierno](https://www.lab.gob.cl/) (agile process reengineering and user-centered innovation), the [Government Digital Division](https://digital.gob.cl/) (technological modernization), and the [Secretariat for State Modernization](https://www.hacienda.cl/areas-de-trabajo/modernizacion-del-estado/secretaria-de-modernizacion-del-estado), which coordinates and funds cross-cutting priorities, oversees a continuous modernization [roadmap](https://modernizacion.gob.cl/agenda), and manages the [Service Quality and User Experience System](https://satisfaccion.gob.cl/) - supported by an [interministerial Modernization Committee](https://www.hacienda.cl/areas-de-trabajo/modernizacion-del-estado) (linking the Presidency, Cabinet Office, and Finance) and a [permanent civil-society advisory council](https://consejomodernizacion.cl/). France took a different model - a standalone [Ministry for Public Action, the Civil Service and Simplification](https://www.transformation.gouv.fr/) that unifies [HR](https://www.fonction-publique.gouv.fr/), [procedure reform and simplification](https://www.modernisation.gouv.fr/) (managed in-house, unlike [Germany](https://www.pd-g.de/en/) and [Australia](https://agc.gov.au/) which rely on state-owned consultancies), and [digital modernization](https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/). Recognizing the need for political authority, the Prime Minister directly oversees [[Délégation Interministérielle à l’Encadrement Supérieur de l’État (DIESE)|DIESE]]([managing senior cadres](https://www.diese.gouv.fr/))) and co-manages [INSP](https://insp.gouv.fr/) (formerly ENA), ensuring leadership development remains central to government transformation. Westminster systems offer another variation, where portfolio combinations give single ministers oversight across related domains without merging departments. In New Zealand, [Judith Collins](https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/judith-collins-0) simultaneously serves as [Minister for Digitising Government](https://www.digital.govt.nz/digital-government/leadership/minister-for-digitising-government) and [Minister for the Public Service](https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/a-culture-of-saying-no-is-not-acceptable-new-zealand-minister-plans-public-service-reform/). Australia similarly consolidated authority under [Katy Gallagher](https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/gallagher), who oversees Finance (including the [Digital Transformation Agency](https://www.dta.gov.au/)), [Public Service](https://www.apsc.gov.au/), [Government Services](https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/), and Women's portfolios. This integration aligns with the [[Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI)|Tony Blair Institute's]] 2024 [report on embedding AI in government](https://institute.global/insights/politics-and-governance/governing-in-the-age-of-ai-a-new-model-to-transform-the-state). Their recommendation specifically for the UK was that digital and AI responsibilities should belong in the treasury, pointing to Australia as best practice. Their analysis echoes what Bresser-Pereira emphasized: transformative technologies require financial backing to succeed. However, Keir Starmer's administration took a different approach in the UK, [moving](https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service) the [[UK Government Digital Service (GDS)|Government Digital Service]] from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology in July 2024, while [civil service management](https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service) remains delegated through the Cabinet Office. Across the Atlantic, until the beginning of President Trump's second term, the US federal modernization agenda was anchored in the [Executive Office of the President](https://www.whitehouse.gov/eop/). The [Office of Management and Budget](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/) (OMB) functioned as the central coordinating hub for budget policy, performance oversight, IT acquisition standards, and workforce planning. Reporting to OMB were two key agencies: the [[U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)|Office of Personnel Management]] ([OPM](](https://www.opm.gov)), which crafted government-wide HR frameworks to shape talent and culture, and the [General Services Administration](https://www.gsa.gov/) (GSA), responsible for procurement, [[Real Estate Management in Government|real estate management]], and shared IT infrastructure. Within this ecosystem, the US operated two distinctive but complementary digital transformation units. The [[U.S. Digital Service (USDS)]] ([USDS](https://www.usds.gov)) functioned as an elite rapid-response unit within OMB, deploying "tiger teams" of technologists to diagnose critical service failures, set high-level standards, and advise agency leaders on policy integration. Meanwhile, [18F](https://18f.org/about/) under GSA served as an internal digital consultancy, embedding multidisciplinary squads in agencies to design, build, and open-source user-centered platforms. Together, they exemplified two complementary approaches: USDS for strategic intervention and policy guidance, 18F for sustained product delivery and technology innovation. By aligning OMB's budgetary authority, OPM's people strategy, and GSA's delivery arms, this model wove digital, procedural, and human resources levers into a unified modernization effort that avoided treating technology as separate from organizational transformation. As Germany charts its course with the new BMDS, these international examples offer valuable context. The ministerial reorganization decree represents just the beginning of what will likely be an evolving strategy. While there's no universal blueprint for success, effective modernization consistently weaves together digital capabilities, procedural reforms, and workforce development rather than isolating any component. The early positioning of BMDS suggests Germany recognizes the interconnection between digital and procedural reform, but the coming months will reveal how human capital strategy becomes integrated into this vision.