Dubai, 4 Aug 2025 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) in partnership with the World Governments Summit (“WGS”) today launched a joint report offering a bold vision for governments and public sector leaders seeking to enhance national resilience, improve service delivery and build citizen trust by improving efficiency.
At a time of increasing fiscal pressures and heightened citizen expectations, Efficiency Unleashed: Innovative Strategies in Governmental Operations reveals that only one in four citizens are satisfied with their government’s performance. Meanwhile, public sector organizations around the world continue to lag behind the private industry in terms of productivity.
Drawing from extensive research, real-world case studies from high-performing governments and expert insights on public sector transformations, the report presents a clear roadmap for performance improvement. It identifies three strategic levers for unlocking efficiency: dynamic deregulation and agile governance, radical optimization of operations and value capture budgeting supported by innovative financing.
“Governments face a complex mandate: to do more with less — and to do it faster,” said Antoine Nasr, a Senior Managing Director and Head of FTI Consulting Middle East. “This research shows that public sector productivity has evolved from being a ‘nice to have’ to becoming a critical driver of economic resilience and national competitiveness.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Public sector efficiency is vital for national economic performance. On average, government expenditure accounts for 32% of GDP.
- Governments are adopting more adaptive and outcome-based regulatory models. Tools such as principles-based regulation, policy labs and regulatory sandboxes are enabling faster policy innovation and real-time learning. Countries such as Denmark and the UK have demonstrated measurable results from these approaches.
- Artificial intelligence offers transformative potential for government operations. Up to 84% of repetitive service transactions across over 200 government functions could be automated. This would free up public sector capacity for more strategic work and enhancing service responsiveness. Examples from the UAE and Denmark highlight how process automation can deliver significant labor savings and reduce administrative burden.
- Citizen satisfaction varies across services. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development data show approval ratings of around 70% for sectors like healthcare, education and justice, but 60% for administrative services. This gap highlights the pressing need for citizen-centric service design and digital innovation.
- Innovative financing tools are reshaping public funding. Governments are increasingly adopting value capture budgeting and financing tools, such as social impact bonds, blockchain-enabled digital bonds and green bonds, to fund services more transparently and effectively.
The report highlights that efficiency is no longer just a question of cost-cutting; it is a strategic imperative for governments seeking to be more resilient, responsive and citizen-focused. A cultural shift is underway in the public sector — one that embraces experimentation and development, rewards innovation, and redefines success not by process compliance but by outcomes that truly matter to people. With this approach, governments can meet today’s various challenges and build a more agile, inclusive and sustainable future.
Reem Baggash, Deputy Managing Director for Strategy, Content and Communications at the World Governments Summit, added: “Efficiency Unleashed is a call to action for governments globally to redesign their administrative and financial systems to match the pace of change and future needs. Efficiency is no longer a luxury, it is an imperative. At WGS, we remain committed to equipping decision-makers with the frameworks, data, and tools they need to build more agile, resilient, and impactful government models.”
The full report is available for download here: Link
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Source: FTI Consulting, Inc.