The Government Technical Advisory Service (GTAC) was established in March 2012 and provides advisory and technical consulting services to South African government departments and organisations and contributes to public service research and capacity building. The organisation held its Public Economics Conference over 3 – 5 September 2024 in Gauteng. The conference explored how government is generating, analysing, funding, and leveraging data and technology to enhance decision-making, improve public services, and optimise resource allocation.

The HSRC’s Dr Justin Visagie was part of a panel discussion how government’s use of AI and big data to forecast demand for public services, allocate resources effectively and address emerging needs of citizens. He presented his team’s work on SEAD-SA: Using spatial data to inform policy and planning on day one of the conference.

The HSRC’s Dr Paul Plantinga participated in a panel on day two of the conference, on an enhanced evidence base for equitable and inclusive digital economy and society. He presented on digital strategies and engagement, alongside Ashwell Jenneker: Deputy Director General, Stats SA & co-chair of UN
expert group on big data; Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani: Director General, Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, and Jabu Mtsweni: National Policy Data Observatory.

The conference proceedings can be viewed below:

Day 1

Day 2