Leveraging software technologies to drive a digital, AI-enabled future

Citizens expect streamlined experiences when dealing with government agencies, especially as people become increasingly comfortable with digital technologies in their personal lives and the rapid speed with which they can solve challenges online. Government agencies face increased pressure to improve services by leveraging innovative technologies that make processes faster and easier.

Citizens expect streamlined experiences when dealing with government agencies, especially as people become increasingly comfortable with digital technologies in their personal lives and the rapid speed with which they can solve challenges online. As such, government agencies face increased pressure from the public to improve services, and how citizens engage with them, by leveraging innovative technologies that make processes faster and easier.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged over time as one of the most effective technologies that businesses and government departments can integrate into their technology stack to streamline processes and increase productivity levels across the board. It is a versatile technology with a myriad of different applications that can help to accelerate operations and uncover inefficiencies. Leveraging AI for automation, analytics, security, and even underpinning contact centres with AI bots can help better support government departments with tools that help to drive better performance.

AI is not a new tool for government departments; Australian governments have been using AI in some capacity since the 1990s.¹ AI is not only being leveraged by government agencies for back-end processes, either. Smart cities are increasingly using AI to underpin daily operations. For example, we are already seeing governments across the country leverage AI in cameras that detect the use of mobile phones while driving. AI’s capabilities and use cases continue to increase as the technology advances.

The Australian Government itself recognises the need for continued investment in AI, developing the AI Action plan as a key part of its Digital Economy Strategy, which aims to deliver on the Australian Government’s ambition for Australia to be a leading digital economy and society by 2030.² One of the focus areas for the action plan is the continued adoption and development of AI technologies to create jobs, increase productivity and transform Australian businesses.

However, while the government prioritises the use of AI in the private sector and is investing heavily in continued development to help aid in digital transformation efforts across the board, there are still improvements that can be made in terms of how government departments use AI technology in their operations.

AI in government: where it is versus where it needs to be

Like businesses in the private sector, AI is already widely used across government departments and the public sector to varying degrees. It is common for government agencies to leverage AI to support the automation of processes and services.

For example, using AI and automating service tickets for helpdesks is a reasonably common practice. Governments also might leverage AI in their operations to bolster omnichannel contact centre environments supported by chatbots and automated processes. IT support teams could also leverage chatbots to facilitate self-service and alleviate pressure on the first-level service desk. It is increasingly common for government teams to use natural language processing (NLP) for machine learning (ML) to uncover trends and identify new areas for further automation. Data analytics is another common use for AI across government departments, with many leveraging AI to help drive better business insights from more detailed analysis.

And, as the skills shortage continues to plague organisations nationwide, government departments face even more challenges as available resources continue to flow between agencies, taking their intellectual copyright and skills with them. As such, government departments are more actively assessing new opportunities to focus their experts on more challenging problems.

Engaging AI is one way agencies can get more value from their available resources, using smart software solutions to deliver AI for IT operations (AIOps) that can integrate and analyse distributed events. The use of AI and process automation is a simple first step using automation robots that can utilise AI to make decisions based on data and past events. However, government agencies are missing significant opportunities by not using AI to the full extent of its capabilities. And, considerable efficiencies could be gained by agencies taking their use of AI to the next level.

There are two major areas, both internally and externally, where government departments should focus on further integrating AI and other innovative technologies to achieve their aspirations of a digital, AI-enabled future. These are:

• Security: While AI and ML are already firmly on the radar for government departments, the use of AI and ML for security purposes can go further than it already has. AI and ML can be used in security information and event management (SIEM) software to detect anomalies and identify suspicious activities that indicate threats. For government departments looking to take advantage of vast amounts of data available by analysing and using logic to identify similarities to known malicious code, AI can identify new and emerging threats much sooner than human employees and previous technology iterations. Potential uses for AI by government departments could also include leveraging AI to uncover data patterns and identify instances of illegality in online chatter or social media, for example.
• Health and safety: AI can also be used to significantly enhance the health and safety of citizens. A recent example for government departments is the use of AI to track the spread of COVID-19, with different symptoms being reported at medical clinics and cases triaged as presented to emergency departments. While this is a specific case, it will continue to be a useful application for AI in future health or safety events.

How to engage the public sector workforce with changing processes and technologies

As with any organisational change, government agencies face challenges when it comes to changing processes and implementing new ways of operating. In addition to the continued investment in AI to help strategically advance the transformation of government departments, it is crucial that time and resources are invested into better change management to ensure public sector workers can use AI to its fullest extent in their operations.

Using AI across government operations both in the public arena (ie, cameras detecting mobile phone use) and in back-end processes will drive Australia towards its goal of being a leading digital economy and society. And, empowering government workers to use AI in their daily lives will help to deliver better operations that will in turn lead to more streamlined processes and better experiences for the public.

Ultimately, in order for the government to deliver superior citizen services, it is essential that it finds the right balance between technologies that streamline processes and change management that empowers the public sector workforce to embrace change and harness the power of AI and other smart technologies.

1 https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Pages/The-use-of-AI-by-government-parliamentary-and-legal-issues.aspx
2 https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-artificial-intelligence-action-plan/about-the-ai-action-plan

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