Governance Matters: Lithuania’s GovTech Lab was founded in 2019 under the Ministry of Economy and Innovation. What is its mission?

Liucija Sabulytė: GovTech Lab supports the government’s efforts to become a fully digitally advanced nation where public services are not only user-oriented, but also efficient, proactive, and data-driven. Given the rapid technological change around the world, the Lithuanian government is continuously adapting and upgrading those services to keep pace.

Over the past six years, GovTech Lab has helped transform public services with modern technologies and new ways of working. At the heart of our approach is a strong belief in the power of collaboration – especially between startups and government institutions and within the wider innovation ecosystem of the public sector.

Innovation-driven, flexible, and comfortable with uncertainty – these are some of the defining qualities of startups, as well as qualities that most bureaucracies are still lacking. Right from the start, GovTech Lab saw a clear need to bring more of these qualities into the public sector. How can we embed this mindset in government? How can we empower civil servants to work directly with innovators and co-create better public services?

To do that, we design programmes and initiatives that tackle the specific barriers we see in Lithuania’s public sector: a risk-averse culture, limited resources, and lack of practical knowledge about emerging technologies and working with startups. Our role is to be a bridge between the public sector and startups, and to create conditions where experimentation, mutual learning, and collaboration are encouraged. By creating teams comprising civil servants and innovators, we are not just redefining public services but also building the public sector’s internal capabilities, boosting employee skills, and creating a space where innovative ideas are mutually shared.

Innovation-driven, flexible, and comfortable with uncertainty – these are some of the defining qualities of startups, as well as qualities that most bureaucracies are still lacking.

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What specific methods and programmes does GovTech Lab use to connect public bodies with start-ups?

Our core focus at GovTech Lab is building a culture of experimentation and strengthening the public sector’s capacity to innovate. We see experimentation not as just a “nice-to-have”, but as a necessary skillset for modern-day governance.

Our flagship initiative is the GovTech Challenge Series – a structured experimentation programme designed to connect public sector institutions with startups and innovative tech companies to solve pressing public challenges. Since the Series launch in 2019, we have run seven iterations of the programme and tackled over 100 unique challenges across different agencies and other public sector institutions.

The focus of this programme is specifically on derisking experimentation – we want to avoid situations where the public sector spends hundreds of thousands of euros on unproven solutions. By funding smaller pilot projects, the GovTech Challenge Series lowers their financial risk and creates a space for innovation without committing to large, untested solutions. During the programme, we focus on prototypes and minimum viable products, and then try to ensure that civil servants can build a business case for full-scale product implementation.

On the other hand, innovation, more often than not, does not require us to reinvent the wheel. In many cases, the solution is already out there in the market. That is why a few years back, we introduced a new track within the GovTech Challenge Series that is focused specifically on testing existing solutions in the market. This gives institutions a low-risk, high-learning pathway to experiment with technologies that are already proven elsewhere.

To support this further, we also created the GovTech Innovation Bank – a curated space where businesses can register their emerging tech solutions. This not only increases visibility for the private sector, but also streamlines the search and discovery process for public institutions looking for innovative ideas.

To further tackle challenges related to scalability, we are developing a new initiative called the GovTech Sandbox. The initiative will bring together challenge owners from different public sector institutions, solution developers, and regulators in one co-ordinated process. It will combine common problem definition and collaborative procurement, technology development and regulatory learning, to ensure that the digital solutions we build are not just innovative, but also scalable and ready to be adopted across the broader public sector. Moreover, this process will simultaneously be tested in four other European countries: Sweden, Estonia, Malta, and Greece, under the umbrella of the “GovTech4All” project, a European GovTech incubator.

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Given the rapid pace of technological change, how does GovTech Lab make sure the solutions it supports can be updated and continue to meet public sector needs over time?

The fast pace of technological development is one of the key reasons we see startups as essential partners in our process. While civil servants are experts in identifying and understanding societal challenges, startups are often at the forefront of emerging technologies. That is why we have designed the GovTech Challenge Series in a way that allows us to bring these two strengths together in a collaborative co-creation process.

We use a procurement method called a design contest as the legal framework for this process. This approach allows companies, particularly those working with cutting-edge technologies, to propose diverse solutions to public sector challenges. Unlike traditional procurement methods, the design contest encourages startups to contribute early on. This not only brings more ideas into the public sector, but also fosters greater buy-in from startups compared to traditional procurement. Such a process helps create a more equal and collaborative dynamic, where public institutions bring problem expertise and startups contribute innovative solution ideas and implementation capabilities.

Speaking about the long-term sustainability of technology solutions, our team has recently been focusing more on how technological trends will affect the Lithuanian government on a system-wide basis. Last year, together with civil servants, we explored possible future scenarios for governments and institutions amid rapid changes in technology, including the increasing use of AI in the public sector. GovTech Lab is well placed to play a bigger role as it moves from a narrower problem-solving approach to adopting a more systemic and forward-looking strategy in shaping the use of technology for the public sector.

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During your time at GovTech Lab, what have you observed about how government teams and private companies can work together effectively?

Digital transformation in the government relies on the collaboration of many actors: policymaking institutions, different implementing agencies responsible for data, digital infrastructure, skills, and experimentation, as well as suppliers, academia, and even civil society and end-users. Each of these players brings unique knowledge and perspectives that are necessary to make an impact. That is why I believe that digital transformation is only possible through an ecosystemic approach.

While our experience is still limited compared to the broader digital transformation landscape, I see four key cornerstones that make successful transformation possible. First is clear vision and leadership. With so many actors involved, strong leadership is essential to break down silos, align goals, and guide a shared transformation process. Leadership must act as a steward that sets the direction and fosters collaboration across different sectors.

Second is clarity of roles within the ecosystem. Although this may sound simple, in practice it often leads to confusion. Each stakeholder needs a clear understanding of their own roles and responsibilities, as well as an awareness of what others are doing. Digital transformation depends on strategic collaboration across institutions.

Third, trust forms the foundation of any ecosystem. The ability to work together in a coordinated,
open, and reliable way underpins long-term, sustainable transformation.

Finally, people are at the centre of any change. Only empowered, skilled individuals across all parts of the ecosystem can confidently lead and sustain change. Without investing in people, even the best strategies will fall short.

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How important is it for public sector teams to exchange knowledge with peers in other countries?

International collaboration is one of our core principles at GovTech Lab Lithuania. When the Lab was founded, learning from international partners was essential to move quickly and build a strong foundation. Today, we continue in that spirit – building on the knowledge of others while also sharing our own experience with peers who are just starting their GovTech journeys.

One of the ways to expand is through international networks. We are one of the founding members and to this day actively engage with the Global GovTech Alliance – a worldwide network of governments, academia, and private sector partners collaborating to develop technology for the public sector – as well as other networks. We participate in these networks both as contributors and learners. For example, we regularly join thematic exchanges and international events where we share our experiences, such as our challenge-based procurement model and our efforts in fostering a startup-friendly public sector. At the same time, we are constantly scanning the horizon for promising international practices and policy trends that could inspire new practices in Lithuania.

To facilitate cross-border collaboration and learning for Lithuanian public sector institutions, we take several steps. We organise and participate in study visits that bring our stakeholders face-to-face with innovative public sector teams abroad. Over the past three years, together with other Lithuanian public sector institutions, we have visited London, Copenhagen, Oslo, Reykjavik, and Helsinki.

During this time, we have also hosted study visits in Lithuania for international partners, introducing them to some of the most progressive public sector institutions in the country. These visits are often the spark that helps institutions reimagine how they can support better public services. We also bring international experts to work with our clients in Lithuania. They share ideas and expertise and help us compare our work with global standards.

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What is GovTech Lab’s long-term vision for promoting digital government in the public sector?

Our long-term vision is centred around scaling innovation in the public sector – not just running successful pilots, but creating the conditions for lasting, scalable impact across government. For example, our GovTech Sandbox pilot will test collaborative procurement and develop methodologies to work on regulatory change. This is an important step because we are thinking about scaling from the start – designing the pilot not just to prove a concept, but to pave the way for reusable innovation.

We are also investing in deepening our internal expertise in innovation and pre-commercial procurement. Our goal is to better understand how these mechanisms can be used more widely and strategically to co-develop solutions with startups, innovative companies, and research institutions.

Looking further ahead, we see ourselves broadening our approach beyond individual challenges towards a more mission-oriented approach – working together with other stakeholders to tackle complex, systemic issues. Whether it is public health, security or administrative burden, these are challenges that demand cross-institutional collaboration, long-term commitment, and citizen-centred thinking. We see GovTech Lab playing an important role in addressing them.

Ultimately, we see GovTech Lab as a driver of long-term transformation – helping the public sector become more flexible in how it searches for solutions and fostering a mindset of continuous learning and growth. Sustaining and expanding our impact will come from a blend of experimentation, policy learning, and scaling through partnerships.