Akshara Baru
Co-production in AI-enabled GovTech
Supervisors: Martin Wählisch and Nicole Curato
GovTech represents a strategic effort to modernize internal government operations by digitizing workflows and integrating advanced technological solutions to enhance institutional efficiency, transparency, and service delivery. Unlike Civic Tech, which focuses on citizen-facing applications, GovTech primarily concerns backend systems and intra-governmental processes.
This study explores co-production - understood in the GovTech context as collaboration between public institutions, technology providers, and administrative stakeholders - in the development and delivery of internal digital services. While co-production is often attributed to fostering agility, improved outcomes, and innovation, its compatibility with bureaucratic challenges (e.g., risk-averse structures, asymmetric power dynamics, and knowledge gaps within the context of internal digital services remains uncertain. This study investigates this tension and examines how co-production influences outcomes such as administrative efficiency, cost reduction, and policy compliance in internal digital public services.
Akshara Baru brings nine years of experience in digital government, having worked with state governments on large-scale digital initiatives and consulted with global governments on digital and AI strategies. Her previous experience includes working with BCG’s Center for Digital Government, where she consulted with public sector agencies and government on Digital and AI strategy and execution.
In her current role with Cardinality.ai, Akshara leads implementation efforts with welfare agencies, collaborating with cross-functional teams to design and deliver citizen-focused systems. She is passionate about making digital transformation citizen centric, efficient and successful.
Through a part-time PhD, Akshara is researching how co-production can improve success of digital government programs in government agencies.
A lawyer by training, she holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University.
Masters of Public Administration - SIPA, Columbia University