Re-architecting Government, Volume I

Most digital transformation programmes are planned around systems: a new portal, an integrated service, an AI tool. Yet what actually changes people's lives is smaller and more specific. A document is no longer required. A rule is applied by software instead of a caseworker. A threshold moves. A data source replaces a certificate.

This book starts from that unit: one specific change in an administrative decision. For each change it asks a short set of questions. On whose authority is it made? On what evidence? At what cost, and to whom? Who can stop it if it goes wrong, and how are the people affected put right?

The answer is an operational method, the Administrative Decision Re-architecture Method, which turns every change into a versioned, reviewable decision file. The book takes the method from problem definition to evaluation, through law and authority, risk and appeals, inter-agency handoffs, data and AI, staff and capacity, procurement and the transition to live operation.

It is grounded in real cases reconstructed from official inquiries, audits and court rulings, including Australia's Robodebt scheme, the Dutch childcare benefits affair, Healthcare.gov, the UK's Universal Credit and Tell Us Once, Estonia, Korea and others. A fictional teaching case, the city of Sepidar, carries the method from start to finish so readers can see every tool applied to one change.

The book closes with a concrete proposal: the Decision Change Sheet, a one-page standard of ten lines and three stop points, proposed for every change to a decision that affects people's rights, obligations, payments or access.

What you will get:

- A complete method for redesigning administrative decisions, from problem charter to post-implementation review

- Eleven working tools, including the problem charter, requirement card, redesign decision file, evidence ledger, inter-agency handoff agreement, AI use card and decision gates

- The Decision Change Sheet: a one-page standard with ten lines and three stop points

- A full worked teaching case (Sepidar) showing every tool in use

- Real cases from Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Estonia, Korea and more

- An "At a Glance" summary and three "Applying It in Your Unit" actions for every chapter

- A 90-minute reading path for senior executives

Who this book is for:

- Public managers and service owners responsible for decisions about benefits, permits, licences, taxes and entitlements

- Digital government and service design teams

- Policy, legal and regulatory staff who write or interpret the rules that systems apply

- Teams introducing automation or AI into public decision-making

- Auditors, ombudsmen and oversight bodies

- Consultants and researchers in public administration and GovTech

For organisational purchases, multi-user licences or official invoices for government agencies and institutions, contact ceo@govog.tech.