Transform Gov - the digital government podcast

COVID changed how people engage with online services — permanently.

The organisations that adapted are now seeing better engagement, better access, better outcomes.

The rest are still catching up.

In this episode of Transform Gov, Maeve Kneafsey speaks with Aoife Prendergast of Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), whose team won the Universal Design category at the Ireland eGovernment Awards 2025.

What they discovered is something every CIO, digital leader, and public service provider needs to hear:

People have changed.

Since COVID, expectations have shifted:
always-on
bite-sized
easy to use

Most services haven’t caught up.

Aoife’s team did.

They spotted the gap, redesigned using Universal Design, boosted engagement — and unlocked new funding and global collaboration.

This isn’t compliance.

It’s whether your service gets used at all.

Key Topics
Universal Design in public services
Digital transformation in higher education
Public sector accessibility strategy
Citizen engagement post-COVID
Service design and UX in government
Inclusive digital services Ireland
eGovernment Awards Ireland
TUS (Technological University of the Shannon)
Accessibility vs usability

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This is not a tech story.
This is a human story.

Before this system existed, vulnerable children could wait weeks for access to childcare — stuck in a maze of emails, forms, and approvals.
Now? Minutes.

On this episode of Transform Gov, Maeve Kneafsey speaks with Ruth Shortall (POBAL) and Ciarán Madden (Department of Children) about the system that:
Cut waiting times from 3 weeks to minutes
Connected multiple agencies into one seamless flow
Removed friction for frontline workers under pressure
And quietly transformed outcomes for families at critical moments

This is what real digital transformation looks like.
Not flashy.
Not theoretical.
But life-changing.
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What if a city already knew your child was starting school — and simply sent you a text asking if you agreed with the proposed school?
That already happens in Helsinki.

In this episode of Transform Gov, infrastructure expert Alice Charles from Arup explains how some cities are using data, digital twins and AI to plan transport, housing and infrastructure far more intelligently.

You will hear:
How Helsinki predicts school demand using data
Why digital twins allow cities to test developments instantly
Why surveys often get transport data wrong
How Copenhagen paid for its metro by building housing around stations
Why Dublin sometimes loses international meetings to cities with better transport
How electricity data can reveal vacant homes

This conversation shows how data is quietly changing how cities function.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:05 Helsinki’s predictive public services
04:00 Digital twins explained
05:30 Why visual planning wins public support
06:30 AI and planning systems
08:40 Human intelligence vs AI
11:10 Why surveys fail
12:10 Copenhagen’s real cycling data
15:30 MetroLink and global infrastructure firms
17:30 Metro funding through housing
20:40 Why Dublin loses business to Amsterdam
23:30 All-island infrastructure planning
26:00 Finding vacant homes using electricity data

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AI may dominate the headlines — but the real race is happening somewhere else.

Energy. Water. Data infrastructure.

On this episode of Transform Gov, Maeve Kneafsey speaks with Alice Charles, Director at Arup and former World Economic Forum infrastructure lead, about the global competition shaping the future of cities, economies and governments.

Alice explains why the AI boom is triggering what some leaders are calling the largest infrastructure build-out in history.

And why the foundations of AI are not software — but power grids, water systems and data centres.

In this conversation:
• Why the AI race between the US and China is really about infrastructure
• Why AI requires massive increases in energy and water
• Why Ireland’s climate gives it an unexpected advantage for data centres
• Why smart city projects failed when they focused on technology instead of citizens
• Why governments must move from planning to delivery

Alice also reflects on lessons from the World Economic Forum, global infrastructure investment, and the strategic decisions countries must make to compete in a rapidly changing technological landscape.

If AI is the future — the question is simple:

Do we have the infrastructure to support it?
Digital Government Infrastructure, AI infrastructure, Data centres, Energy transition, Urban development, Smart cities, Public sector innovation
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What does AI actually look like inside a local authority?

In this episode of Transform Gov, Dublin City Council’s AI Lab team — Khizer Ahmed Biyabani and Richie Shakespeare — explain how they are moving beyond AI hype to deliver practical tools that improve consistency, save time and build trust.

From preventing contradictory council answers to searching decades of records in seconds, they share what works, what doesn’t, and why 80% of AI success comes down to data.

Why Listen
How AI prevents conflicting public-sector responses
Turning 1990s PDFs into instant search results
Training 500+ staff and shifting sentiment from fear to confidence
Why data readiness matters more than the AI itself

Timeline
00:00 — What the AI Lab is and why it exists
03:30 — Why a sandbox approach matters
11:30 — Training 500+ staff and changing AI sentiment
21:27 — “Ctrl+F on steroids”: AI for council questions
22:04 — Searching records back to the 1990s
24:29 — The truth: data preparation is 80% of the work
27:00 — Building control use cases and operational impact
32:40 — Scaling AI safely in local government

AI in government, digital transformation, local government innovation, generative AI, public sector technology, Ireland eGovernment Awards, smart cities, data governance
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