Action Pathway
Governance Innovation
Governments in Asia and the Pacific are navigating fast-changing public needs, new technologies, and growing pressure to deliver better policies and services. Yet many governance systems still rely on slow, outdated, and rigid ways of gathering data and public input and using evidence to make decisions.
There are constant advancements in the tools, technologies, and techniques for collecting and using data, modeling policy solutions, and fostering citizen participation and deliberation. Our governance innovation work is focused on helping governments achieve security, stability, and broad-based economic growth by adapting and employing new technologies and approaches.
APPROACH
TAF partners with governments, civil society organizations, researchers, and local innovators to experiment and design practical governance improvements that fit each country context. We help partners test new approaches to policy design, public input gathering, evidence use, technology adoption, and service delivery. Innovation can draw on cutting-edge technology and bold, new ideas, but it can also take the form of incremental improvements based on proven methods. Our teams connect regional and global ideas with local priorities, adapting methods across urban governance, digital tools, and public-sector problem-solving. This country-led, evidence-informed approach allows TAF to move promising ideas from experimentation into workable practice across Asia and the Pacific.
featured programs
Building a Better Public Sector in Bangladesh
As Bangladesh’s governance demands grow, we help public institutions improve coordination, accountability, and service delivery for all citizens.
Helping Governance Systems Better Serve Citizens
In Bangladesh, we help public systems better protect migrant workers, support journalists, and make governance reforms work for citizens.
Making Urban Governance More Responsive
As Ulaanbaatar has grown rapidly, citizens have increasingly pushed for institutions to improve public services, strengthen accountability, and better engage with people. Over the past 15 years, The Asia Foundation has partnered with municipal offices to modernize urban governance through public service innovation, digital transformation, and evidence-based planning. The program trained more than 4,000 municipal officials, supported decentralization reforms, introduced digital platforms for citizen participation, and improved service delivery across areas including waste management, water utilities, and local government planning.
Strengthening Data to Improve Decisions
Nepal’s public institutions have experienced fragmented data systems, limited data skills, and gaps in digital services that make it harder to use evidence in decisions. Funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Data for Development program helped government and nongovernment partners produce, share, and use data for better policies and services. The program connected national policy reform with practical tools at provincial and local levels, while bringing together government, civil society, media, technology groups, and the private sector. It strengthened data use, supported digital systems and public-service improvements, and showed that better information can help institutions make more responsive decisions.