No Bureaucracy vs Creative Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is often seen as the enemy of change — slow, rigid, and out of touch with the realities it’s meant to serve. But in a time of deep transformation, is the real challenge to eliminate it, rethink how it works, or build something new? Governments today face rising pressure to act with speed, inclusion, and purpose. 

This session asks: what kind of public administration does the future demand? Is “zero bureaucracy” the goal — or could we imagine a creative, enabling model instead? From redefining institutional roles to developing new capabilities, a panel of international changemakers will explore how governments can become spaces of experimentation, learning, and trust. For democracy to function, bureaucracy must function — not as a rigid system of control, but as a force that upholds accountability, delivers public value, and responds to complexity with care. The challenge is to build public administrations that enable action, embrace uncertainty, and put people at the centre.