At a White House event last year, a senior advisor commented that the U.S. Department of Defense still utilizes floppy disks (remember those?) in some of its systems.
While governments serve their citizens in a myriad of forward-thinking ways, one area where they consistently fall behind is in the adoption of new technologies. A 2015 Washington Post report indicated that only 15% of senior civil servants feel the Federal Government is keeping pace with the private sector in adopting new technologies. And this slow uptake trickles down to state and local levels, too
As technology advances at break-neck speed, it’s important for governments at every level to keep up. One tech development that could be a major boon to government processes is artificial intelligence (AI)—if it’s adopted properly.
Here are just three roles that AI might play in the government processes of tomorrow.
- Improved safety and emergency response
A few North American cities already use AI to predict and respond to natural disasters. After a severe storm in April 2018, AI helped officials in Ontario restore power to more than half a million people in just four days. Cities in California are utilizing AI to predict earthquakes—and get citizens to safety before they strike. AI can also be used to better predict hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.
Emergency personnel can use AI to aid their response when disaster strikes. They can receive minute-by-minute updates, giving them the ability to prioritize rescue strategies based on innumerable data points—getting to those who need them most quicker.
- Stronger cyber security
Cyber security and the US government continue to make headlines—and the news isn’t always good. By adopting AI, governments could shore up digital and network security—helping keep highly sensitive information protected.
The private sector has already begun to use AI in its cyber security strategies. AI makes complex detection—meant to sniff out potential attacks and breaches—efficient and virtually error-free. The really amazing thing about AI is that it learns as it goes, basing future decisions on past experiences. So as new threats arise, AI can build on previous knowledge to thwart them before they take hold.
- Reduced backlogs
Governments deal with a tremendous amount of approval requests, applications, cases, and more. Without efficient systems in place to manage these documents and the processes they enable, paperwork quickly stacks up. NPR recently reported that one agency which conducts background checks for federal security clearances has a backlog of 700,000 applications.
Implementing AI to manage these processes could help greatly reduce the time needed to sift through and make decisions on so many documents. Functions that would take a human minutes, hours, or even days, AI systems execute in milliseconds—increasing both productivity and efficiency, and freeing up employee time for other vital tasks.
Interested in strengthening your government agency’s IT infrastructure—and better serving your constituents? The experts at eMazzanti have the power you need. Get in touch today to find out how we can help.
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