As private industry continues to innovate, individuals will expect their experience with government to keep up.
bob ainsbury
Today's technology trend, artificial intelligence, is dominating the headlines and attracting the attention of every industry, including government. But as with any emerging technology, government adoption and deployment requires more care than most industries. That's natural.
The integration of new technology is complicated by the government's responsibility to collect and protect more personally identifiable information than any other industry. For example, the Department of Homeland Security is working to replace its existing biometric identity management system, which stores hundreds of millions of identities. The Comptroller's Office has emphasized that this change is necessary to address potential privacy risks associated with this data transfer.
DHS is just one example, but it illustrates the challenge facing governments around the world: the rapid acceleration of technology. As private industry innovates, governments need to keep up, both by necessity and for sustainability, but also to reduce risk.
So how can governments address this volatile issue?
The solution is for the private and public sectors to work together more so that technology meets government needs or is built for government. To best do this, we need a collaborative and thoughtful effort to test and evaluate emerging technologies and develop policies.
Testing and evaluation: Involving government early in technology development
Having governments test and evaluate new features early in product development is important to ensure readiness. Private technology companies should partner with governments on pilot programs that allow them to test new capabilities and make new uses for existing capabilities.
The Office of Personnel Management's recent handbook, “The Workforce of the Future,” highlights the importance of AI in federal workforce initiatives and describes Air Force pilots leveraging AI to assist staffing professionals and improve qualification processes. We are sharing examples of how to use the program.
As AI capabilities drive discussion, news, and private industry adoption, governments can benefit by piloting this emerging technology with their peers. Private industry should work with governments to discuss optimal uses, benefits, security concerns, and feasibility of implementation.
Working with governments of all types and sizes to test and evaluate technology ensures that these new capabilities are built specifically for them. We take into account the security and privacy concerns faced by public sector organizations, as well as their unique needs. This early work can be leveraged to inform policy and shape decisions that positively impact government employees and the individuals they serve.
Enhance emerging technology utility across government with dedicated policies
It's no secret that governments can greatly benefit from building policies around technology before deploying it. Take social media, for example, because it was rapidly introduced before widespread policy was developed, resulting in inconsistent procedures, usage, and policies across government.
Several efforts are currently underway to address considerations for widespread adoption of AI in the general public and government. For example, the National AI Advisory Council (NAIAC) is comprised of experts from the private sector, academia, nonprofit organizations, and civil society and has the following objectives:
(1) Ensure continued U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence research and development. (2) Lead the world in the development and use of trusted artificial intelligence systems in the public and private sectors. (3) prepare the current and future U.S. workforce for the integration of artificial intelligence systems across all sectors of the economy and society; (4) Coordinate ongoing artificial intelligence research, development, and demonstration activities among civilian agencies, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community to ensure that each informs the efforts of the other.
Although not explicitly stated, NAIAC has proposed a joint pilot program and It would benefit from gathering feedback from an advisory board.
Additionally, as the public sector operates on tight budgets and faces staff shortages, the benefits of workflow automation to fill existing gaps must be considered in policy development.
As private industry continues to innovate, individuals will expect their experience with government to keep up. This poses an interesting challenge for governments. Governments need to innovate to provide easy-to-use services while being careful to ensure that technology adoption does not outpace governance and policies for its use.
With current technology trends showing no signs of reversing and AI dominating attention, it's important now that governments and the private sector work together to maintain dedicated capabilities and related policies ahead of mass adoption. is.
Bob Ainsbury is Granicus' Chief Product Officer.
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