City officials in Gamle Oslo, Norway, must provide residents with access to healthcare, employment, housing and multiple other public services. Like any other municipality, there is a limit to its budgets and resources, which makes it challenging to fairly distribute assistance to those who need it most. What Gamle Oslo did have was data. And lots of it.
Working with Microsoft partner Ingraphic, the city deployed Microsoft Fabric to unify the data it was collecting about employment, education and social issues in Microsoft SharePoint, Power BI and Dataverse into one central repository. Now, it can manage the strategic development of services and prioritise investments. For example, it can use colour-coded maps to pinpoint where minor issues such as graffiti are being reported, correlate this information with data about employment rates within the area, and use this information to proactively help those responsible to find gainful employment.
Gamle Oslo isn’t the only city authority to have recently deployed new technologies to improve how it delivers services to the public.
“The Covid-19 pandemic forced government-led organisations to accelerate their adoption of technologies such as AI and the cloud to ensure they could continue delivering vital public services during mandatory lockdowns,” says Eric Basha, director of business strategy for worldwide government at Microsoft. “Although the restrictions on in-person contact lifted long ago, these virtual services have remained popular and people now use them for everything from booking medical appointments to applying for driving licences, building permits and financial aid, or reporting issues such as crimes, potholes and water leaks.”
Putting the power in citizens’ hands
One of the primary ways government-led organisations are using generative AI is within self-service tools that enable members of the public to rapidly access services and information.
The City of Burlington in Ontario, Canada, for example, has developed an AI-based assistant named CoBy in collaboration with Microsoft partner MNP Digital. Created using Microsoft Copilot Studio, CoBy is available 24/7 and provides residents with real-time responses to frequently asked questions, as well as information about public services.
Derby City Council in the UK has also introduced two chatbots built on Azure OpenAI with the help of Microsoft partner ICS.AI. The council hoped the chatbots would automatically handle 20 per cent of its phone conversations when they launched in 2023, but resident uptake has surpassed expectations. Now, over 43 per cent of conversations are automated and the chatbots have managed over 1.1 million telephone and web queries.
Chatbots are becoming increasingly effective – and popular – now that they run on generative AI, according to Basha. “In the past, chatbots were programmed to respond to frequently asked questions but were easily confused if someone communicated in a different language or didn’t use specific phrasing. Now they run on generative AI, they can understand natural language queries and conduct human-like conversations, making them more intuitive and helpful. Consequently, members of the public are more inclined to use them.”
Just as they are doing with chatbots, government-led organisations are leveraging generative AI’s natural language processing abilities to enhance interactive voice response (IVR) systems they use to automate operations in their contact centres. When a member of the public calls the contact centre, the AI-powered IVR system can understand everyday language, perform real-time speech translation and quickly find the information the caller needs. In addition, AI enables sentiment analysis to sense when a caller is upset or frustrated and immediately escalate it to a live agent who has the skills, knowledge and availability to resolve the caller’s issue. It does this by using intelligent routing technologies.
“AI can also automate costly and tedious tasks such as transcription, conversation summaries of audio files, and more,” says Basha. “The combination of automating mundane tasks and enabling the public to self-serve is dramatically reducing the workload of contact centre staff and enabling them to focus on resolving more complex service requests. This all leads to significantly improved customer satisfaction, reduced wait times and increased first contact resolution rates.”
In addition, generative AI is also powering new language translation capabilities, which is particularly beneficial for governmental organisations serving immigrant populations or residents in countries like India, where there are 22 official languages. In India, just 11 per cent of the 1.4 billion citizens speak English – the language of the government, business and public life – so most of the population is unable to access around 20,000 government programmes. However, a new solution developed by government-backed research group AI4Bharat allows residents to use WhatsApp to send a text or audio message to the Jugalbandi chatbot, which uses tools including Azure OpenAI Service to retrieve information on relevant government schemes and relay it back to the citizen in their own language.
“Generative AI is making real-time translation of both text and speech incredibly easy and affordable for governments, opening up new opportunities for them to engage with residents who have been historically excluded from assistance due to language barriers,” says Basha.
Similarly, governmental organisations can use chatbots to assist tourists visiting their cities. In Madrid, Spain, municipal office Madrid Destino has collaborated with Microsoft partner iUrban to create VisitMadridGPT, an Azure OpenAI Service-based AI assistant that provides tourists with 24/7 access to accurate, personalised and real-time information about the city in more than 95 languages. “The service improves the visitor experience significantly and frees up workers to focus on higher-value tasks,” says Basha.
VisitMadridGPT provides tourists with 24/7 access to accurate and real-time information about the city of Madrid
A helping hand
AI assistants are helping government employees behind the scenes too. “Public sector organisations around the world are struggling to meet increased demand for services due to issues such as budget cuts and worker shortages, but AI technologies can relieve some of this pressure by empowering them to do more with less,” says Basha. “Tools such as Microsoft Copilots – AI-powered virtual assistants – can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, which significantly reduces the administrative burden on staff, boosting their productivity and freeing them up to focus on delivering more responsive care to citizens.
“As with the new generation of chatbots and IVR systems, these AI-powered virtual assistants for government workers are greatly enhanced by even more AI technology to enable them to retrieve comprehensive and accurate information from knowledge databases. For example, tools such as Azure AI Search and Azure AI Document Intelligence extract key information stored in various government documents and multiple siloed customer relationship or case management systems to help government workers deliver accurate, personalised services in real time.”
Several councils in the UK are already reaping the benefits of implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and automate back-office processes and decrease the time employees spend on tasks such as transcribing meetings, drafting reports and creating presentations. For instance, Copilot enables every project manager in Buckinghamshire Council’s technical team to save an estimated 30 hours per month and is also empowering Torfaen County Borough Council to enhance service provision while achieving “fantastic time savings”. Similarly, Aberdeen City Council predicts it will generate a 241 per cent return on its Copilot investment in improved productivity and time savings, while decreasing operational costs by an estimated $3 million annually.
Elsewhere, Qatar’s national postal service provider Qatar Post has worked with robotic process automation expert SquareOne to implement Microsoft Power Automate and Azure Cognitive Services to automatically complete more than 1,000 dispatch documents every day. According to Qatar Post, this has had a “massive” impact and led to “heightened efficiency and increased accuracy”, saving valuable time for all employees. Qatar Post has also saved its human resources team weeks of time by automating overtime activity reporting for nearly 1,000 employees.
Meanwhile, lawyers at The Attorney General’s Office in São Paulo, Brazil, are using GPT-4 technology embedded in Azure OpenAI Service to review an average of 10,000 summonses and 80,000 subpoenas per day. The solution generates summaries and analyses of processes, helping lawyers to prepare appeals and decisions quickly.
“Virtual assistants are game-changers for government workers,” says Basha.
Purpose-built for accessibility
To ensure virtual services are as accessible as possible to all members of the community, governmental organisations can develop them using technologies and solutions from Microsoft and its partners. All Microsoft products have built-in tools allowing users to customise the visual and audio experience by adjusting screen brightness, colour contrast, the size of the text, audio channels and multiple other settings to suit their needs. Other notable accessibility features include a screen reader that works with braille devices, automatic live captioning, an Immersive Reader mode, Focus Sessions, and voice and eye command.
“Microsoft is committed to decreasing the digital divide, so all our software has built-in accessibility features to make the user experience more intuitive and inclusive,” says Basha. “These tools make it easier for the neurodiverse community or people with visual, hearing or physical impairments to easily interact with devices, navigate applications, understand information, improve productivity and communicate and collaborate effectively.”
Using AI safely and responsibly
Many government-led organisations have concerns that the AI technologies used to transform operations and service delivery could potentially introduce risks if important measures aren’t taken to implement them correctly, says Basha. Consequently, Microsoft has established six principles to guide the responsible development and implementation of AI technology.
“Microsoft is committed to advancing AI technology in compliance with the principles of fairness, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, reliability and safety, and privacy and security,” says Basha. “Working with our partners, we’ve developed a wide range of proven techniques and best practices to ensure AI technologies are deployed securely and compliantly.”
Committed to security
In addition, many of the employee- and citizen-facing solutions developed by Microsoft and its extensive ecosystem of partners have built-in data security, governance and sovereignty capabilities to help governments overcome the traditional cybersecurity challenges they face.
“Government-led organisations are a key target for cybercriminals because they have a lot of sensitive data and operate critical infrastructure and services,” explains Basha. “To fortify their security, they can follow the Zero Trust Framework and the Azure Well-Architected Framework when developing their cybersecurity strategies, and deploy tools from Microsoft’s portfolio of security solutions.
“Cyberthreats continue to evolve and escalate, but security is Microsoft’s top priority and we’re working with our partners to integrate robust protection measures across our product portfolio. This ensures both governments and their citizens can fully trust that their data will remain safe and secure as they use AI to power innovative new applications and services.”
Equal opportunities
While solutions such as AI assistants are opening up new opportunities to deliver more innovative online and virtual services, research from around the world suggests that many people are unable to take advantage of them. Data from the World Economic Forum shows that around 2.6 billion people worldwide – almost one-third of the global population – remain unconnected to the internet, depriving them of access to essential services. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation reports that approximately 1.3 billion people – about 16 per cent of the global population – have a significant disability that makes it difficult for them to do the same.
Older generations are often disadvantaged too – for example, charity Age UK’s 2024 Offline and Overlooked report indicates that 4.7 million people aged 65 or over in the UK don’t have the basic skills to use the internet successfully and safely. This makes it difficult – and sometimes impossible – for them to access public services.
“Microsoft’s mission is to empower governments to use technology as a catalyst for transforming how they operate, deliver services and interact with citizens and our AI-infused products are doing just that,” says Basha. “However, to ensure they are delivering accessible, inclusive and equitable services, government-led organisations must also continue to provide offline options for people who are unable – or don’t want – to interact with technology. Providing multilingual, omnichannel options will empower individuals to interact with government-led services in a way that is most convenient and comfortable for them, preventing discrimination and ensuring no one feels disregarded, disempowered or left behind.”
Partner perspectives
We asked selected partners how they are using Microsoft technology to help public sector organisations deliver more inclusive and accessible services for all members of the community.
“Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in India used AVEVA Unified Operations Center to establish a centralised unified operations centre powered by cloud analytics, which has greatly enhanced civic services and infrastructure systems in the growing city,” said Gary Wong, global segment leader of power, utilities and infrastructure at AVEVA.
“Using Copilot, we’re helping public sector organisations offer services that are more inclusive and accessible. For example, with Copilot’s real-time language translation, we can overcome language barriers and provide resources in users’ preferred languages. This makes essential services more accessible for everyone,” said Paul Holden, vice president of sales, EMEA, at CallTower.
“Esri is leveraging Microsoft Azure AI services to power numerous ArcGIS AI Assistants across the ArcGIS platform. This enables municipal and regional governments to make their open data more accessible and understandable for all community members. The ArcGIS AI Assistants translate authoritative and up-to-date geospatial data into natural language responses, create accessible visualisations and offer multilingual support.,2 said Andrew Turner, chief technology officer or ArcGIS Hub at Esri.
“At NVIDIA, we’re committed to democratising AI and making it available to everyone. We’re broadening the reach of AI tools, improving accessibility in public spaces and reducing technical barriers. We’re also expanding our educational efforts through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, offering comprehensive training and certification programmes,” said Charbel Aoud, smart city and spaces director, EMEA at NVIDIA.
Discover more insights like this in the Winter 2024 issue of Technology Record. Don’t miss out – subscribe for free today and get future issues delivered straight to your inbox.