About

CrossGov is an independent publication about what happens where governments meet. Where they share data, copy each other’s laws, buy the same software, sign treaties, sanction the same companies, or fall out over all of the above.

Most government coverage stops at the border. A story about American AI rules rarely mentions that Brussels just delayed its own. A story about a failed tax system in one country rarely asks why the neighbour’s works. We start from the other end. Pick one problem, then look at how several governments handle it, and what the difference tells you.

What we cover

Six beats, overlapping on purpose.

Regulation across borders. AI rules, export controls, data transfers, platform laws and cybersecurity duties, compared jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Who goes first, who follows, and where a company operating in three markets gets caught between them.

Government technology. Digital identity, data exchange between agencies, public-sector cloud, and the long record of government IT projects that went wrong. Interoperability is a dull word for one of the hardest jobs in the public sector, and the countries that got it right are worth studying closely.

US government. Budgets and shutdowns, federal procurement, the workforce, the courts, and the watchdogs: GAO, the Congressional Research Service, inspectors general. Washington’s choices travel, so we follow them.

Procurement and spending. Who buys what, through which framework, at what price. Defence procurement in Europe, cloud frameworks in London and Washington, and the money that moves through public tenders.

Cooperation and conflict. Sanctions, intelligence sharing, alliances, trade fights. The machinery of how governments work together, and what happens when it jams.

How governments are built. Federal against centralised systems, new ministries, institutional reform. Why one country builds a metro for a fraction of another’s cost.

How we work

We compare. A post on digital identity looks at Estonia, India, the EU and the UK together, because one country alone tells you very little.

We go to the source. Laws, court rulings, audit reports, GAO and CRS reports, Department of Energy releases, Commission decisions and official statistics come before commentary about them.

We keep it measurable. Dates, figures, named programmes. Where a number is disputed, we say so.

We don’t pick sides in party fights. The question here is whether a policy does what it was meant to do, and how it compares with the alternatives abroad.

Who we are

CrossGov is privately run and independent. It isn’t affiliated with any government, agency, intergovernmental body or political party, and nothing here is official guidance. The name describes the beat. It doesn’t mean we speak for anyone.