Philip Sheen, Head of Public Sector UKI at UiPath
By its nature, the digital transformation of the public sector has been gradual and guarded. Public sector organisations and governments have limited budgets, lean teams, and a responsibility to act in the interest of the citizens who use supplied services. This context means that the implementation of innovative technologies and ultimately transformation has been conservative by comparison to some other industries.
We are starting to see this approach shift. As more organisations implement and benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) powered solutions, public sector bodies are now considering how and where they can best use AI, with AI-enabled automation now very much part of their future.
As the UK public sector looks to AI and automation to improve the way it works and the services it provides to its citizens. With careful change management it is possible to tackle doubts and allow public sector organisations to realise the power of technology, with people at the centre.
Automation for civil servants
A core challenge for the UK civil service is how it can make efficiencies in customer engagement and cost saving while still enhancing outcomes for citizens. Doing so is a tricky balance, but AI-enabled automation provides a solution.
AI powered automation can help improve the efficiency of government services and free up civil servants’ time to focus on valuable, non-repetitive, tasks. However, many aren’t implementing it, citing reasons such as lean teams, complicated processes and disparate, legacy technology as blockers. It can seem that the adoption of automation feels a long way off.
By removing human and system latency, working across tech platforms and ecosystems to bypass constraints, and orchestrating and providing experiences which better blend together for the end user, the modernisation of the civil service is in reach through automation.
This is especially important in the sector given it often deals with and provides services for some of the most vulnerable in society. Vulnerable citizens need specialised support, whether that’s through faster loan approvals, special assistance with applications or providing accessible services. Not only can automation help make these services a reality, but also free up worker time so they have more time to think about and create more accessible options for those who need them.
Automation for healthcare
Patient waiting lists and waiting times in the UK have soared since COVID. The volume of people on the list for elective treatment has tripled since 2013. Patients are being failed and change needs to happen – AI-enabled automation can help.
The administrative burden in healthcare is high. By driving uniformity across core processes, making the back and middle office more effective – replacing manual processes and tasks and improving workflows – and reducing the resources allocated to these activities, automation can make administrative and support tasks quicker, error free and less costly. The overall impact of this is improved wait times and even better speed and precision in diagnoses.
Automation is a proven pathway to better patience care and experience within the healthcare sector.
Automation in policing
Smaller budgets and targets to keep the police workforce lean has left the industry looking to improve officer and system efficiency. Automation has the ability to help change this, empowering officers with the enhanced skills needed to deliver the best services for the citizens who need them, while focusing on a core part of their job – keeping citizens safe.
This technology can be used in numerous ways, including uploading witness statements to Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) on the go so officers can move from one incident to the next more easily; ensuring paperwork is filled out correctly the first time to avoid mistakes in cases and documents being rejected; and even the automatic redaction of sensitive data in relations to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Automation can also support officers when it comes to threat harm risk assessments. By working across constabularies and local authorities, automation can highlight vulnerable individuals, allowing officers to spot and evaluate patterns and react to their situation appropriately.
Looking to an impactful future
Use of AI and automation in public services all comes back to the impact it has on people, whether that is across safety, health or social care. When embedded into organisations and leveraged in the correct way the benefits can be experienced for both citizens and civil servants, but the urgency for change is now.
