What ‘geek nerds’ can teach us about fighting corruption and inefficiency

‘There are no right answers to wrong questions’

The saying, attributed to Ursula K. Le Guin, reminds us that flawed questions will inevitably lead to flawed responses. To understand why public institutions so often remain corrupt and inefficient, we must start by looking in the right places. This requires rethinking not only how we act, but who we look to for solutions. For decades our responses to institutional dysfunction have centred on who governs, who legislates, who audits and who prosecutes. But what if the key to combating corruption and enhancing institutional performance lies elsewhere – with technically skilled professionals?

Across the world, a quiet revolution is taking place in plain sight. Incredible digital tools with genuine potential to change how public institutions operate have been developed by a new kind of public innovator – those we might call ‘geek nerds’, professionals who code, analyse data and design systems that make governments smarter and faster. In countries like Singapore, integrated digital platforms drive both efficiency and clean governance – and the impact is already visible, with the nation ranking third globally in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Yet many leaders continue to overlook them, clinging to outdated mechanisms and indicators that often shift at the whim of whoever happens to be in charge.

These tools are not merely technical gadgets; they are catalysts for cultural and institutional transformation. When thoughtfully designed and implemented, they can embed transparency into the fabric of public systems, empower oversight bodies with real-time intelligence and help civil servants act on evidence, making corruption harder to hide and inefficiency impossible to ignore.

Building a culture of integrity through in-skilling

Digital transformation starts with people who know how to use technology well. That is why government technological in-skilling –the deliberate effort by the State to develop internal technical capabilities – is becoming the foundation of modern integrity and of how institutions understand, measure and ensure performance oversight.

In-skilling reduces information asymmetry, assess vendor proposals more critically, design smarter contracts and avoid lock-in. With a procurement architecture that is adaptable, agile, accurate, and accessible, governments can promote open-coded, service-based digital solutions with built-in transparency. By contrast, without in-house expertise, public institutions outsource not just software, but judgment, becoming passive consumers of digital complexity. Complexity enables inefficiency; and inefficiency, when unchecked, creates space for corruption.

Transparency as the number one enemy of corruption and inefficiency

Corruption and inefficiency are often symbiotic. While not every inefficient institution is corrupt, every corrupt institution is, by definition, inefficient. After all, the prioritisation of private interests over the public good corrodes any serious prospect of fulfilling the institution’s core mission. That is why transparency is not a consequence of good systems, but a prerequisite.  

Much of today’s dysfunction stems from paper-based routines, non-interoperable legacy systems and siloed teams incapable of properly tracking outcomes. These inefficiencies delay services, inflate costs and erode public trust. Worse, they create the perfect conditions for corruption to thrive unnoticed. And, in today’s digital world, the kind of transparency that breaks this cycle – one that makes misconduct harder to conceal – demands systems designed for visibility.

Recent studies show that investments in digital transformation and blockchain in the public sector increased transparency by 49% and reduced fraud by 53% between 2020 and 2024. But these gains depend on data and on people with the skills to turn systems into safeguards, code into clarity, and dashboards into deterrents. That is why ‘geek nerds’ are crucial not only in procurement departments but also advising senior decision-makers and embedded throughout public institutions. From workflow design to real-time monitoring, only they can build the digital foundations that make oversight continuous, transparency default and accountability automatic.

Toward a culture of innovation and accountability

Rethinking how we measure performance and prevent corruption through transparency is no longer optional – it is an operational necessity. Oversight institutions must demand systems designed for scrutiny and public institutions must embed this design logic across their operations.

From procurement to policy design, every public institution needs – more than ever – an army of civil servants who can code, prompt AI, interpret data and connect systems across silos. Not just in innovation labs, but at the very core of government, where decisions are made, budgets are executed and accountability either happens or does not. Embedding a culture of innovation in these public spaces is challenging, but essential. Integrity and efficiency won’t scale without it.

And yes, there is more to explore: the potential of AI in assisting with data analysis and routine tasks, how real-time access often prevents more corruption than visible and sporadic oversight, how Digital Government Units can build shared infrastructure for coordination. But the window of opportunity is now. Governments have never been better equipped – or had more reason – to act.

The fight against corruption and inefficiency will not be won by chasing failure. It will be won by designing for prevention and automation. And that only happens when transparency is treated not as an afterthought, but as infrastructure built on data, enabled by skills and sustained by a culture of innovation.