Why aren’t government agencies achieving better results with artificial intelligence (AI)? Why are so many agencies seemingly stuck in small pilots, unable to increase scale and impact?
As the IBM Global Managing Director for Government, I have the privilege of meeting regularly with government leaders.
Over the past 12 months I’ve observed a clear shift in the dialogue around AI in government. It’s no longer if, it’s when. But many agencies are still cautious. They’re experimenting with chatbots and creating proofs of concepts.
Moreover, the issue of achieving impact at scale is larger than AI. Governments around the world spend USD 500 billion annually on technology. This is a huge amount of public funds invested in IT.
What has that purchased? First, some real wins. Governments have moved many citizen services online. Investments have gone into creating systems of record and capturing structured data to deliver analytics that support decision making. Think e-government and e-services that deliver services to citizens.
The challenge is that, according to a study IBM released, only 30 percent of government leaders believe they have the technology capabilities needed to address their challenges. Moreover, according to INSEAD and EY, two-thirds of all government transformation projects have failed to yield their original objectives.
The USD 500 billion spent every year on technology by governments doesn’t achieve the same outcomes as in other industries. There, competitive pressures, especially from cloud-native startup firms, are forcing the question, “how can I reimagine the entire process?”
But, the shift in how governments think about transformation is real, and I believe it will ultimately help agencies deliver stronger outcomes. Helping government through this multi-faceted shift is a large reason why we created the IBM Government Cloud Virtual Summit.The Summit is a free, online event where government and industry leaders will share real stories about how government is using cloud and AI technologies to reimagine how they work.
There are numerous catalysts affecting how governments shift to embrace IT transformation. Two of these shifts are:
The government workforce is aging.
The government workforce in many countries, especially in Europe, is aging rapidly. In the next five years in many European countries, 20 to 30 percent of workers are expected to retire. The loss of policy-making capabilities and customer service knowledge will be significant.
Technology is more advanced, more proven and less expensive.
People are already using “automated machine learning” techniques, aterm for professionals who have developed competence in AI using automated tools but aren’t trained specialists in statistics or analytics.Barriers to using transformational tools are coming down all the time.
There have been many success stories of government agencies using AI and other cloud-enabled tools, like blockchain, especially in the military, intelligence and public safety communities. The lessons learned by these agencies will help others take the necessary steps to ensure the benefits of AI adoption are broadly shared. We, as an industry, also have to lean in to the critical dialogue about responsible AI development and use.
The IBM Government Cloud Virtual Summit is one way industry and government leaders are sharing how they’ve transformed government creatively, securely and responsibility. We hope you’ll join us on 25 April at Noon ET. Here is a primer for the type of discussions you can expect https://youtu.be/SQDCSByl-c0]
