GTF USA: A “Serendipity Factory” for Transforming American Public Service
In this interview with the GTF USA team, the Forum’s founder Igor Lys explains the goal and the raison d’être of the new branch of the GTF Labs division. The GTF USA, a semi-independent subsection of the Forum co-chaired with local, New York City-based partners, is the latest addition to the list of the Forum’s Labs.
Igor Lys speaking speaking at a panel the AI Global Leadership summit in New York City in April 2025
What motivated/inspired you to launch GTF USA, and why is this moment critical for public service reform in the United States?
There is no specific desire regarding the United States, but rather an ambition to create a truly international presence for the Government Tomorrow Forum. I believe that it is essential to create platforms where people from very different cultures of governance can exchange ideas and inspire each other. The US is a big country, with a complex set of political powers distributed across a sophisticated vertical, so it both has a unique set of experiences and case studies, and a need to learn more in-depth about what is done globally. I think the inspiration that we can bring from the world to American public service operators, be they mayors, governors, or the federal government, can really improve the lives of many people. It also feels that today is the right moment, when uncertainty is at its highest, but so is the desire to bring rapid, tangible positive change.
“It feels that today is the right moment, when uncertainty is at its highest but so is the desire to bring rapid, tangible positive change.”
What are the biggest challenges facing government services in the U.S. today, and how does GTF USA plan to address them differently than traditional think tanks or conferences?
I believe that public services globally, not just in the USA, face a whole set of important challenges that, as always, are also opportunities. I would say that the technological disruptions that are quite unprecedented in both speed and scale leave public administrations in a strange position: they have the biggest power in any society, have the ultimate responsibility, and manage general frameworks of roughly everything, and yet they are among the last to adopt best practices. We can see it in many domains, from AI to processes, where private sector evolves and changes basically every day, and government is still using processes from playbooks decades old. It is very rare that government provides a service that is on par on all levels — UX, UI, human-centric design, speed, quality, etc. — with private sector. GTF wants to become a practical, real-life platform where private sector, public sector, academia, citizens, and basically everyone can exchange opinions, ideas, and inspirations to try to close that gap. From our successful experiences around the globe with our Labs and other projects, traditional think tanks and conferences are not really our competitors but rather contributors and friends. We facilitate exchange of ideas and actionable concepts that can become pilot projects and policy options, so what do do empowers existing forums more than anything else.
Can you share international examples of innovative government solutions, especially around AI, that the U.S. could learn from or adapt?
I would not focus on AI specifically, because when you say AI, what do you really mean? Some software that a government agency has acquired and developed, or an AI-first mindset of public servants and leadership, or AI in educational programs, or in healthcare?.. We have seen last year, with our Government Science Hub meeting here in New York, how deep this rabbit hole goes. So we do not focus on AI when we talk about government solutions, but rather on something both more impactful and more practical — what we internally at GTF call “government progress pathways.” It is a concept we will talk about in detail when we publish, in September, our major, actually the biggest so far, GTF report on the topic. But in a few words, we look at government solutions from the perspective of how efficient they are in making citizens’ lives better through prisms such as speed and quality of delivery, inclusivity and accessibility, equality, and adaptability. The best and most innovative governments that invest heavily in government service practices, such as the UAE, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the European Nordics, all have this holistic approach, even if sometimes unknowingly. With the new USA Lab, we will focus on creating bridges between these countries and their solutions, and the American public service context, which, again, is as unique as it is complex.
What should people expect from the upcoming Lab Meeting and the GTF USA Report? How will this work lead to real, implementable change?
The American public service landscape represents three main levels: city, state, and federal. From a citizen’s perspective, his or her life events and interactions with the state are horizontal: something happens, and they go to see “the government” to get an ID document, register a property, get married, etc. But in reality, there is, as I said before, an extremely complex verticality there. It is a form of a 3D space where powers, responsibilities, and resources intersect in a myriad of ways. So I expect our Lab Meeting and the Lab Report to cover these issues, try to find international case studies that might provide inspiration for mayors, governors, and federal authorities to build not just efficient services and processes, but also this 3D collaboration in the interest of citizens. I hope the list of feasible pilot projects and policy ideas our Meeting will produce and disseminate via the Report will be useful for a lot of people in the US, independently of their political affiliation. We are not there to do some form of DOGE work explaining how things should or should not function — we have neither the mandate nor the moral right to do so — but rather to provide inspiration and ideas for everyone to use, or not, in the general interest. It feels to me that that is what the American people truly need today.
“There is a big demand for thorough, in-depth discussions on important issues of governance, and we are creating a platform for just that.”
How can policymakers, technologists, and everyday citizens get involved with GTF USA, and why should they?
GTF in general is a serendipity factory: a place where, I hope, the next Big Ideas for governments of tomorrow will be born and transformed into an applicable form. Because of this openness to ideas, everyone is welcome to join our efforts, be it in person, virtually, or in writing… Our experience of the AI-focused meeting in New York in 2024 shows that there is a big demand for thorough, in-depth discussions on important issues of governance, and we are creating a platform for just that. I believe that policymakers, businesses, and citizens will contribute in various ways to this effort. GTF has always been and will continue to be outcome-oriented, so I can ensure all of our existing and future partners that their contribution is not fueling talks, but actionable results.
