I was recently speaking to a number of hard working public servants inside the Ontario government, and the word translation keep coming up. Across government, there’s a persistent frustration: the translation gap between business leaders (policy, program, service) and technology leaders (IT, digital, infrastructure).
The Persistent Translation Gap
I’ve heard the same concerns and frustrations and seen it firsthand–over a couple of decades working in digital government and social innovation spaces, and more recently working with clients where the challenges of translation across domains disrupt the dreams of transformation.
Business teams know their stakeholders and communities. They carry the responsibility of serving citizens and businesses—sometimes the most vulnerable among us. But when it comes to digital tools and platforms, they struggle to express what’s needed.
On the other side, IT teams hold the keys to systems and infrastructure. They understand technical feasibility, security, and constraints. But they often lack the time, mandate, or context to truly grasp the human side of service delivery or the real human risks at stake in getting it wrong.
Both groups are committed, hard-working, and operate under enormous pressure. But without a shared language, this gap produces painful consequences:
- Misaligned solutions: Teams pay for services or tools that don’t actually meet the need.
- Lost innovation: Promising projects stall in turf wars or control struggles.
- Eroded trust: Business leaders feel “taken for a ride.” IT leaders feel blamed for systemic problems.
- Harm to clients: Citizens receive poor tools, inaccessible services, or even re-traumatizing experiences.
And behind it all, the public sector is asked to do more with less while expectations for service quality only rise.
Why This Problem Persists
We’ve created environments where digital teams and policy leaders operate on different clocks, in different languages, and under different definitions of success. Without translation, friction is inevitable—and progress gets stuck.
The real problem is structural:
- Business teams aren’t trained to “speak technology.”
- IT teams aren’t resourced or incentivized to engage deeply with end-users.
- Service delivery sits caught between the two.
Without a translator, the system produces friction instead of flow.
What's Needed: Honest Brokers
What governments need now isn’t more of the old ways of working.
What they need is honest brokers: teams who can move easily between silos and contexts, translate across disciplines, and stay focused on real-world outcomes—what actually matters for the people these systems are meant to serve.
This role is hard to fill, and often missing. This is what is needed:
- Translate needs: turning program goals and lived experiences into clear digital and service requirements.
- Ground technology in context: ensuring tools are not just functional, but usable, safe, and sensitive to human realities.
- Build trust across silos: creating alignment so business and IT aren’t adversaries, but partners.
- Accelerate delivery: moving from strategy to implementation without losing meaning, momentum, or alignment.
This often missing role is a big reason why The Moment developed Insight to Impact.
Insight to Impact is an approach that embeds deep inside transformation work:
- Embedding designers and researchers alongside business teams to uncover the real needs and contexts of diverse clients and the public servants who serve them.
- Prototyping solutions early to align stakeholders before large investments are made.
- Translating program and service objectives into service blueprints, system maps and Northstar prototypes.
- Supporting digital technology teams by surfacing the business case and ensuring the right design guardrails are in place.
This isn’t about replacing anyone. It’s about creating the connective tissue that allows good work to actually reach the people it’s meant for.
Why Now
Public sector leaders are under immense pressure. Budgets are constrained. Talent is stretched. Expectations for digital-first, human-centred services are only growing.
Closing the translation gap isn’t optional anymore. Now more than ever it’s essential to ensure:
- Investments actually meet business needs.
- Vulnerable populations are supported with care, not harmed by poor design.
- Policy ambitions translate into real services that people actually use and create outcomes that citizens can feel.
Time for Change
The work of government has never been more important—too important to be lost in translation. This has been a driver in so much of my work going back to ChangeCamp in 2009: making public systems work better, with and for the people they serve.
If you’re a leader who feels stuck between vision and delivery, policy and platform—you’re not alone. Let’s bridge the gap.
Mark Kuznicki
Mark (he/him) is the kind of person you want around when things feel messy. He has a knack for bringing clarity to complexity, helping teams, leaders, and organizations navigate change in a way that makes them more sustainable and ready for the future.