Thematic Working Groups

During the 2025 Senior Officials Meeting, members agreed to progress a shared agenda across six strategic themes: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Governance, Digital Identity, Government Efficiencies and Digital Investment, Digital Sovereignty and Digital Skills.

Members: Portugal (Chair), Israel, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Canada, Estonia

This year, the Digital Identity Thematic Group will focus on the implications of generative AI synthetic identities on Digital Identity systems. In particular, this group will explore how governments should adapt identity proofing, biometric verification and ongoing credential assurance in a world where any modality (face, voice, gait, documents) can be convincingly fabricated or spoofed by AI. This group expects to present the White Paper: “Generative AI and Digital Identity – Risks, Responses and Recommendations” with an annex that includes a comparative table of national approaches, pilots and regulatory constraints.
Members: Uruguay (Chair), Canada, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

The AI Thematic Group’s work for 2026 is focused on AI use cases in Digital Nations countries. The group will host two webinars open to all member countries and produce a report mapping successful AI use cases. This report will be delivered at the 2026 Digital Nations Ministerial Summit and posted on the Digital Nations website.
Members: Israel (Chair), Canada, Estonia

This year, the Digital Sovereignty Thematic Group will explore how member countries are addressing digital sovereignty. They will discuss shared needs, gaps and expectations regarding technological capabilities that support digital sovereignty.

Additional deliverables, including a best practices framework for risk management mapping of technological solutions and policy recommendations for international cooperation, will be discussed and agreed upon with the working group.
Members: New Zealand (Chair), Canada, Estonia, Israel, United Kingdom, Korea

In 2026, the Government Efficiencies and Digital Investment Thematic Group will explore how different jurisdictions are navigating and managing enterprise-level investment, reducing duplication, and delivering digital transformation at pace. It will also examine how governments are measuring impact – in terms of financial, service delivery and system-wide outcomes.

Working group members will share strategies, challenges, and lessons learned. It will produce a use case report for discussion at the mid-year Senior Officials Meeting, identifying opportunities to develop common principles and standards that can support smarter digital investment.
Members: Korea (Chair), Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Estonia

In 2026, the Digital Governance Thematic Group will organize a workshop on “Governing AI and Data in Practice” in Seoul, Korea from April 27-29, 2026. This workshop, jointly organised by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) of Korea and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), brings together representatives from the Digital Nations and selected OECD members to engage in discussions about how governments can practically use AI and data towards greater resiliency. The discussions will explore how governments can move from strategy to implementation while maintaining trust, accountability and public value. The workshop aims to produce a 2-page policy brief capturing key messages, lessons to be shared and priority actions.
Members: United Kingdom (Chair), Canada, New Zealand, Estonia, Israel, Portugal

In 2026, the Digital Skills Thematic Group will explore how member governments are approaching digital skills and workforce transition in the context of rapid AI adoption. The group will examine shared challenges around skills development, workforce change and how governments can ensure their people are equipped for the future of public sector work. Through a series of workshops, members will share country perspectives and compare approaches. The group will produce a report summarising shared challenges, approaches and lessons learned.