Approaches and use of ai in the public sector by the european member states analysis of national ai strategies(1)
- 1. 18.07.2021 Colin van Noordt PhD Researcher, TalTech 8th International Summer School on Digital Government APPROACHES AND USE OF AI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR BY THE EUROPEAN MEMBER STATES ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL AI STRATEGIES
- 2. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY WHO AM I? ▪ Academic background: ▪ MSc Public Sector Innovation & eGovernance (KU Leuven, Münster University & TalTech) ▪ BSc Pubic Administration, Leiden University ▪ PhD research topic: the Public Value of AI in Public Services ▪ External Expert to the European Commission’s AI Watch research team on AI in the public sector ▪ Research activities: ▪ Understanding the concept of AI in government and refining the concept based on empirical use cases ▪ Requirements needed for using AI technologies in government organizations ▪ Policy initiatives and strategies for facilitating AI in government ▪ Impact and consequences of AI deployed in public services ▪ Governance of AI technologies and ensuring responsible use
- 3. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY TOWARDS AI IN GOVERNMENT ● Governments are often seen as a vital player in assisting the development and uptake of AI in society ● Triple (or even more) roles governments are expected to take As Facilitator • Opening public sector data, establishing data collaboratives, stimulating GovTech As Regulator • Ensuring framework conditions and limiting negative consequences of AI As User • Deployment of AI by the government to tackle social challenges
- 4. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION OF AI IN GOVERNMENT ▪ There is great interest from policy makers as well as academia on the use of AI in public administration ▪ A recent study (Zuiderwijk et al. 2021) highlight the various implications (positive and negative) of AI in government as highlighted by literature ▪ Despite this (massive) interest, public administrations are not using AI to their full potential due to the various adoption and implementation barriers (see e.g. Sun & Medaglia, 2019 Wirtz, Weyer & Geyer, 2019)
- 5. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCHING NATIONAL AI STRATEGIES ▪ Research is increasing on analysing AI strategies • Policy areas (Fatima et al., 2020; Valle-Cruz et al., 2019) • Textual patterns (Dexe & Franke, 2020) • Public values (Robinson, 2020; Toll et al., 2019; Viscusi et al., 2020) ▪ Development of National AI Strategies • Part of the Coordinated Action Plan • To coordinate and share implementation measures on AI
- 6. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANALYSING NATIONAL AI STRATEGIES Collection of published* AI National Strategies (n=21) Excluded strategies in draft of concepts phase Excluded other policy documents, reports or expert group strategies Identification of passages AI for use by public administration Requires clear reference to the public administration use Describes actions, initiatives or suggestions to facilitate, stimulate or reinforce the development and uptake of AI in public administrations Summarization and analysis Identification of frequently mentioned policy Comparison and evaluation of initiatives *As of April 2021, there are 21 countries which have published their national AI strategies: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czec Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
- 7. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY INSTRUMENTS TO BOOST AI ADOPTION Stimulating awareness and knowledge sharing Strengthening data management for AI Improving data quality Improving data access Access to private sector data Aims to improve the data landscape of the public sector to facilitate learning of AI The Lithuanian strategy highlights introduction of data management plans Awareness campaigns Regular meetings Policy events Helps civil servants understand AI and detect use cases in their work Hungary will improve awareness of AI for public officials
- 8. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY INSTRUMENTS TO BOOST AI ADOPTION Building internal capacity Learning by doing Generalist training Specialist training New positions Focus on enhancing the skillset of staff to develop and use AI in their work In Slovakia, Digital Innovation Laboratories are to be created for innovating with AI AI pilot projects Regulatory sandboxes for AI Countries are experimenting with AI to learn and share knowledge. In Norway, public administrations are allowed to test new ways of working up to 4 year
- 9. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY INSTRUMENTS TO BOOST AI ADOPTION Ethical and legal framework Ethical framework Reform of data sharing laws Specific AI law Action aimed at providing ethical and legal guidance for AI use In Spain, an ethical guide will be developed to assist civil servants Funding for AI in the public sector Stimulating GovTech & Incubators Revising public procurement Stimulate AI through funding and procurement Cyprus suggests implementing tax relief and financing for public organizations testing AI Ethical and legal framework Funding and procurement
- 10. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW OF ACTIONS AND FREQUENCY (N=21) Stimulating awareness and knowledge sharing Awareness campaigns (12) Organising and hosting meetings (7) Participating in and promoting events (10) Strengthening data management for AI Enhancing data quality (19) Improving accessibility to public data (20) Access to private sector data (7) Building internal capacity Generalist AI training (12) Specialist AI Training (8) New positions, institutions or departments (11) Learning by doing Pilots, experiments and flagship projects (15) Regulatory sandboxes for AI (11) Ethical and legal framework Development of an ethical framework (14) Reform of data sharing laws (11) Possibility of a specific AI law (2) Funding and procurement Funding for AI projects in the public sector (10) Stimulating GovTech & incubators (12) Revising procurement processes (9) Other Reusable AI solutions and platforms Improving IT infrastructure Changing project work practices
- 11. TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY CURRENT KEY FINDINGS ▪ Relative lack of clarity regarding the depth of scope of initiatives ▪ Strategies often blur concrete policy actions, ongoing initiatives and ‘wishes’/ ‘nice-to-have’s’ ▪ Strategies focus strongly on overcoming data-related barriers to AI ▪ Organisational factors and resources needed for AI may be overlooked ▪ Close the ‘gap’ between the private and the public sector ▪ Strategies describe many more actions to facilitate at the private sector than public sector ▪ Improving and boosting public procurement for AI is promising ▪ However, a successful AI procurement still requires internal capacity and skills. Focus on supply and demand side of the procurement process. Overcoming risk-averse culture is crucial to in the end use the opportunities provided. ▪ More funding for AI in the public sector is needed, and made more specific ▪ Not just for research and development of AI, but for piloting and introducing organisational changes ▪ Relatively unclear what causes these differences in the national AI strategies ▪ Potentially historical eGovernment development, administrative cultures or other.
- 12. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION COLIVA@TTU.EE