The GovtechLab Platform has been developed focusing on a key aspect of the WSIS Declaration ‘seek and effectively implement concrete international approaches and mechanisms, including financial and technical assistance’. The Platform is the first regional initiative aimed at supporting the govtech ecosystem, comprising a new brand of tech-based, data-driven startups that work with governments to solve public problems through innovation.

Its objective is to align 6 action lines to support the nascent govtech scene in the region:

1) The 'Govtech Index 2020': the first quantitative work aimed at modeling and measuring the govtech ecosystems in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

2) The 'Govtech and the Future Government' Report: the first qualitative work aimed at analyzing the state of the art and develop concrete recommendations for govtech policies in the region.

3) Govtech Investment Programme: a 2 million USD programme focused on equity and convertible notes for govtech startups working to tackle COVID-19 related issues. Through these resources we are supporting startups in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain, and Uruguay.

4) Financial resources for technical cooperation: to support national and local governments to design and deliver govtech policies. The Platform has supported: tColombia, with their Govtech Innovation Lab; Córdoba in Argentina, to develop and implement the first public govtech investment fund in the region; and Mexico City, to develop their digital procurement system.

5) Govtech Observatory: a collaborative platform to identify startups, understand their impact in terms of aggregated revenue and job creation, and to enable a marketplace environment to match startups supply with government demand (to be published in 2021).

6) Outreach and Evidence: to understand the barriers and opportunities of specific solutions, as well as to test diverse methodologies to understand the government's Return on Investment when working with govtech startups.

https://www.caf.com/es/temas/g/govtech/

• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Western Europe and North America

• Youth
• Small and medium sized enterprises, entrepreneurs, investors, civil servants

The GovtechLAB Platform and many of its products have been developed with replicability in mind:

1) Govtech Index 2020: the methodology used for the Index was opened to the public so that it can be replicated. Currently CAF is working for the development of a Govtech City Index for 2021, and is in various talks with government and international stakeholders to develop a Global Govtech Index in 2021 or 2022.

2) Govtech Investment Programme: we are currently working to document the strategy and operation of the programme, so that it can be replicated by governments and venture capital firms. Through this effort, we are currently working with the Government of Córdoba, Argentina to develop their own Govtech Investment Fund, in advanced talks with the Government of Colombia to design a govtech track for their development banks and with other international financial institutions to align efforts in terms of investment in govtech startups.

3) Govtech Observatory: the The data that is being used for the Observatory will be released as open data so that interested parties can use and reuse it for their own projects.

4) Financial resources for technical cooperation: the projects, their methodology and results are documented and best practices published as Policy Briefs in CAF's website for public consultation.

There are two ways in which the GovtechLAB Platform is sustainable:
1) Current action lines: CAF, through the Vice-presidency of Knowledge and the Digital Innovation in Government Practice are responsible for the govtech agenda. As such there is specifically one person appointed as Coordinator of the Govtech agenda, who's main task is to develop and give continuity to the Platform. There is a yearly budget allocation for these efforts. In 2019 - 2020 the budget was close to 3 million usd.

2) Continuity of results: furthermore, the insights and recommendations from publications such as the Index and the Report have an approximate life span of 3-5 years. Important for the sustainability and continuity, is the fact that many of the action lines have now unfolded in secondary action lines: such as the development of the 2021 Govtech City Index, the development of a Govtech Readiness Assessment based on the report, and the implementation of govtech investment funds and innovation labs across the region

At its core, Govtech is a new kind of public-private partnership between governments and data startups to solve public problems; a strategy to solve complex problems through technology and innovation. In particular, thinking in a covid and post covid context marked with negative budgetary impacts for national and local governments, Govtech is an exciting approach towards driving the digital transformation of governments, because govtech is at the same time a strategy for: i) governments, as a strategy that allows the entrance of highly specialized expertise, with higher quality, lower costs and when it is needed; ii) for economic development, through the direction of tech related public spending towards micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) with high value added and productivity; iii) for the inclusion of venture and impact investment that can complement government’s budgetary capacity for the digital agenda; and iv) as a mechanism that can be implemented for any public policy through digital innovation. This vision is consistent with WSIS mission to become a multistakeholder form for international cooperation, as well as to support ‘Governments, as well as private sector, civil society and the United Nations and other international organizations have an important role and responsibility in the development of the Information Society and, as appropriate, in decision-making processes’. At the same time, govtech is also an important ‘enabler of growth through efficiency gains and increased productivity, in particular by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)’, ‘ ICT-supported productivity gains and applied innovations across economic sectors should be fostered’... and ‘policies that foster productive investment and enable firms, notably SMEs, to make the changes needed to seize the benefits from ICTs.