GTF Survey: Why governments might fail AI implementation in the public sphere
We start a new series of articles on GTF Insights based on the recent survey about AI adoption. Conducted with the participation of experts in AI from academia, business, and consultancy sectors, our new survey employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to gauge expert opinions and identify the top challenges for national and regional governments in implementing AI technology in the public sphere and the top application areas to start with for winning fast results and public trust.
Challenges in AI Implementation
In 2024 GTF created a Lab in collaboration with the city of Tampere (Finland) to study how technology impacts on governments. The Lab’s first season was dedicated to AI. As a result of this project, some of the challenges to the implementation of AI by governments were identified on both national and regional levels, as shown in the GTF Government AI Handbook. A subsequent survey of dozens of internationally recognized experts allowed to expand the understanding of these challenges, which include cybersecurity, lack of global AI coordination, the complexity of technology, stakeholder engagement, social-ethical, legal, and societal concerns, data ownership, productivity, skills, and organizational readiness, citizens’ education, and others.
Our new research work is focused on identifying the key barriers governments face and and ways for authorities, both local and global, to overcome these barriers and scale the most successful practices in public services — in the interest of citizens. All by ensuring that AI technology improves their quality of life.
Research Highlights
Success Stories in Healthcare and Transportation
Within the research, we asked experts if they could name the best cases for adopting AI technology in public services. The vast majority of named projects were applications in healthcare and transportation. With numerous case studies in traffic control, AI proves its efficiency when it comes to managing traffic data.
Several remarkable examples in healthcare, including, for instance, 2021.AI and Rigshospitalet project, addressed patient care and support, proving that AI could improve communication between medical institutions and citizens while at the same time boosting personal efficiency.
Adopting AI in Public Services: We are still at the beginning
Dr. Seth Dobrin, CEO of Qantm AI, a Global Transformational Leader and the first Global Chief AI Officer at IBM:
“If you look outside the US there are several examples of successful AI projects in countries that have identified ministries and leaders for AI early on such as Singapore, Estonia, Saudi, and the UAE. Projects range from simple citizen virtual agents, to automatically calculating and processing income tax returns.”
AI is getting more and more widespread, and governments are investing in pilot projects in public services. We took a closer look at some of the projects worldwide and collected the best practices.
Gianluca Misuraca, Co-Founder and Vice-President in Technology Diplomacy and International Relations at Inspiring Futures SA, Executive Director of AI4GOV, Team Leader, and Project Coordinator at Digital Partnerships in Action, points out that despite there are successful examples, we are still very far from leveraging all potential from AI in public services:
“Projects that have managed to go beyond pilot experimentation have normally done so by ‘reframing’ the entire organizational and institutional settings in which the AI systems are deployed and operate. This requires in particular a mindset shift and a cultural innovation in the public sector which can be developed through raising awareness and building capacities on digital transformation and AI, embracing the complexity of this epochal change in government and society.”
Stakeholder Engagement and International Collaboration are Key
A large number of challenges were identified that can make governments fail in adopting AI if those aren’t addressed properly. Besides the common issues like data privacy, cyber security and stakeholder engagement, each government has its own unique set of challenges which makes the problem even more complex and requires a unique strategy.
Silvia Vianello, founder of Silvia Vianello Academy, Executive Coach and visionary, comments:
“These challenges are all interconnected, and addressing them requires a comprehensive strategy. This ranking reflects the current landscape and can change based on the specific context and priorities of a particular government”.
All experts agree that we are dealing with one of the most complex areas, and solving all pressing issues will require a multi-stakeholder approach and collaboration on a regional, national and international level.
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