Government Tomorrow Forum and the City of Tampere (Finland) launch the GTF Technologies for Governments Lab
Press release
Government Tomorrow Forum (GTF), a new international research project on the future of governments, and the City of Tampere (Finland) announce the creation of Technologies for Governments Lab.The GTF Tampere Lab is a new research and discussion platform to develop actionable solutions on technologies for governments and citizens worldwide. The Lab's first session, prepared and conducted jointly with Tampere University students, is dedicated to AI.
The GTF Technologies for Governments Lab (GTF Tampere Lab) is created to explore and analyze the impact of cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, robotics, nano, and others, on government services and processes. It will unite international experts, including former heads of governments, ministers, and tech entrepreneurs, with bright thinkers, and researchers. As GTF believes in the necessity to involve young aspiring leaders of tomorrow in the discussions among the world’s most prominent experts, the GTF Tampere Lab will also involve Tampere University students. The 2023 session, the first for the Lab, will span from October 2023 to February 2024, focusing on AI-related questions in connection with public services, citizenship, and governments’ evolution.
The two focal points of this work will be the Lab meeting, scheduled for the 29th of November 2023 in Tampere, and the first Lab report containing actionable solutions, policy options, and procedural suggestions to governments worldwide expected in February 2024. This report will be published and distributed across GTF-allied governments representing most geographical regions of the world, and will be available for free to the general audience.
The German venture investor and technology specialist Maxim Matias will chair the Lab's first five-month working session. Artificial Intelligence as a tool for governments to improve their services will be its general theme. The Lab participants will define the specific questions to work on during their initial virtual meetings in October.
These participants include, among others:
Carsten Claus, strategy advisor for culture and company building, futures anthropologist, Foresight Advisor to the EU Commission (Germany)
Kyriacos Kokkinos, CEO of Business Insights Consulting, former Minister to the President for Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy (Cyprus)
Morten Kromann, founder of Kromann.ai advisory, leading Danish expert in AI and its impact on national security and government processes (Denmark)
Taavi Rõivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia, Chairman of AuVe Tech (Estonia)
Dr. Jari Stenvall, Research Professor at Tampere University, Professor of the Year 2022 (Finland)
Daniel Wild, venture investor, co-founder of Tiburon VC (Germany)
More experts will join the research process that will follow the Tampere meeting in November. They will represent an extended range of the world’s regions, from the United States to the Arab countries. This process, which will heavily involve Tampere University students, is expected to produce tangible results in the form of actionable recommendations for governments.
Igor Matthieu Lys, secretary general of Government Tomorrow Forum, commented on the GTF Tampere Lab launch:
"There is a huge variety of think-tanks, labs, and research processes within both private and public organizations, but the GTF Labs are really different, as they involve absolutely unique combinations of thinkers and doers, and are focused on delivering much more than just general ideas and advanced thinking: ideas, tools, and actionable advice. That is the main idea behind the Government Tomorrow Forum: to try to build from scratch the world’s thought- leadership reference brand in everything connected to governments."
Teppo Rantanen, Executive director of growth, innovation, and competitiveness at the City of Tampere, said:
"As the Finnish center of innovation and the country’s happiest city, Tampere is known to care about both businesses that generate new ideas and citizens who aspire to better, more fulfilled lives. Our focus on knowledge as a useful tool in designing policies and services, coupled with our long tradition of technology- related research and investments, make it only logical that Tampere is allied with the nascent Government Tomorrow Forum to launch the Technologies for Governments Lab. We aspire to become one of the globally recognized thought-leadership centers in this matter, and we believe that this year’s Lab work is a great start."