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The public sector has a high potential for data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to have a huge transformative impact. After all, governments have access to tremendous amounts of data and government operations affect everyone in small and large ways every day.
While it is no secret that only rich data catalyses Artificial Intelligence, its adoption among government entities appears to be uneven and generally lags behind the private sector. Many agencies struggle to bridge the gap that exists between their existing IT infrastructures, practices, and the value that new digital technologies make possible. However, for some governments, there are entire departments, or pockets within departments, where adoption is robust, advanced and successful.
Everyone agrees that the massive amounts of digital data generated by citizens’ activity represent an incredibly valuable resource. Unfortunately, the ever-expanding data resource is often underutilised today. Public sector agencies struggle to unlock the value of their data due to outdated legacy systems and limited analytics capabilities, being data-rich but insight-poor. They often grapple with the associated, yet unnecessary, challenges of big data – high costs, poor data quality, and inconsistent data sources and formats – without experiencing any of the enticing benefits.
There are many lessons to draw from the events of COVID-19 but perhaps one of the most critical is the importance of being able to use data to prepare for potential scenarios and inform our decision making. Public sector agencies require a multifaceted approach, including the ability to quickly integrate new data, make accurate, multilevel forecasts, and provide data-driven insights for policymakers.
Against this backdrop, having a robust data and AI strategy in place will help the public sector better harness the power of data.
The prevailing question is: What is the successful path to the adoption and deployment of AI?
There is a mixed picture of AI adoption in government, and it is likely owing to an environment that is often risk-averse, subject to myriad legislative hurdles and vast in its reach. That being the case, the use of AI has expanded beyond discrete use cases and experiments into wider adoption. There are obvious signs which point to the potential explosion of AI adoption even though gaps in capabilities and strategy are apparent.
Pursuing their missions every day, government agencies spend much of their time focused on operational issues. That time-consuming focus is required in government departments and offices that are held accountable for achieving clearly defined missions. If they fall short, the consequences can be devastating – for the citizens they serve, as well as for the government organisation itself.
In that context, it’s easy to see how AI remains a second-tier priority for some government leaders who have operational roles. This presents government leaders with a paradox. Many have no time to fully embrace AI due to everyday demands, but those AI advances could be instrumental in unlocking real, measurable operational improvements that have the effect of reducing strains on resources and giving them more time to fulfil their mission.
In light of this, how can people understand which AI capabilities are most likely to be adopted in government? What are the biggest untapped opportunities for AI adoption in government? What obstacles and challenges unique to the government are most important to understand today to ensure progress tomorrow?
The OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight held on 3 December 2021 aimed at imparting knowledge on how government agencies can accelerate, innovate and transform their advanced analytics capabilities, make data an integral part of their decision making and adopt AI to better serve the citizens
Harnessing the game-changing potential of data and AI in government for optimal outcomes


Mohit Sagar, Group Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, OpenGov Asia, kicked off the session with his opening address.
The world has fundamentally changed and the challenges of these times will require sophisticated solutions to meet the new demands of the world. Without a doubt, technology is a priority and the enabler, Mohit asserts.
Decisions are made every day, but they should not be done blindly. To make informed decisions, people need actionable insights. Today, citizens expect government services to be personalised, intuitive, engaging and anticipatory. To deliver the best citizen experience and stay relevant, having data and universal access to it is the key to transforming organisations.
“Data is like a diamond,” Mohit posits. “Data that is not refined and polished will not produce insights – tools have to be used to achieve that.”
Data fuels AI, Mohit believes. Effectively building and deploying AI and machine learning systems require large data sets. Developing a machine learning algorithm depends on large volumes of data, from which the learning process draws many entities, relationships, and clusters.
As Singapore accelerates its Smart Nation efforts, data will only become a more precious commodity. The nation has unveiled two new programmes to drive the adoption of A) in the government and financial services sectors. It also plans to invest another SG$180 million ($133.31 million) in the national research and innovation strategy to tap the technology in key areas, such as healthcare and education.
The fund is on top of SG$500 million ($370.3 million) the government already has set aside in its Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 Plan for AI-related activities, said the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) in a statement in November 2021.
These investments have been earmarked to support various research in areas that address challenges of AI adoption, such as privacy-preserving AI, and areas of societal and economic importance including healthcare, finance, and education. The funds also will facilitate research collaborations with the industry to drive the adoption of AI.
For Mohit, AI will transform every industry and create huge economic value. Technology, like supervised learning, is automation on steroids. It is very good at automating tasks and will have an impact on every sector – from healthcare to manufacturing, logistics and retail.
Beyond a doubt, AI is becoming more commonplace, says Mohit, citing examples such as the Robot dog, Spot, outdoor security robot O-R3 and the multi-purpose all-terrain autonomous robot, or Matar. AI is here to stay. While Singapore has been doing well in AI adoption, the country is still in its infancy – the government is only beginning to harness the technology of AI.
Mohit urged agencies to recognise the beneficial use cases of AI. He reminded the delegates that the complexity of the challenges besetting the world today requires sophisticated solutions. As such, it would be wise for delegates to partner with experts to better place themselves to respond with agility and efficiency in a rapidly evolving world.
Capitalising on the opportunities for AI adoption in government


Dr Steve Bennett, Director, Global Government Practice, SAS, spoke about the different challenges and success in AI for government applications.
Steve shares that the practice of using data to make better decisions was pioneered in government in WWII, giving rise to operations research, defined as “A scientific method of providing executive departments with a quantitative basis for decisions regarding the operations under their control.”
Today, using data to make better decisions may be identified as Artificial Intelligence, which supports better decisions by training systems to emulate specific human tasks through learning and automation.
Steve observes that AI is an increasing priority for the government – 75% of government managers want to deploy AI to help them “keep up.” At the same time, global government leadership sees an increasing opportunity; 80% of government data is estimated to be in formats not easily leveraged before AI.
He points out several opportunities where AI can make a real difference in how jobs are done in the public sector. In health, AI has been used to promote public health in India, improve cancer outcomes through better decision making in Amsterdam, keep the U.S. food supply safe and make CVOID-19 outbreak predictions that result in targeted policy-making decisions.
It is also extensively used in public safety and security, such as the F-35 predictive maintenance, keeping women safe from gender violence in Spain and reducing judicial case delays. In citizen services, AI has been used to reduce youth recidivism in Oregon and reduce unemployment in Denmark.
Attractive as AI is, there are technical and organisational challenges that public sector employees need to be aware of, Steve observes. He explains that there are two categories of AI challenges.
The first is technical and organisational challenges. AI requires a copious amount of data that is well-organised, clean and in good shape. The data readiness of government agencies needs to be in place before AI models can be trained.
Apart from that, there is also a skill gap in the government. Public sector employees need to understand how the models work so that they can understand when they can trust and challenge the model. Then there are also cultural realities, such as leaders who are not ready to accept the insights that come from AI models.
The second category of challenges comes from legal, ethical and societal challenges. There are geopolitical concerns, issues of ethics and values, as well as legal implications related to AI adoption.
In summary, Steve reiterates that the complex problems of today herald a time of change. To stay relevant and efficient to citizens, government agencies need to understand the benefits and considerations of using technology and harness it accordingly.
Deploying AI in government services


Frederic R Clarke, Principal Data Scientist and Director, Machine Intelligence & Novel Data Sources (MINDS), Australian Bureau of Statistics, spoke next on the use case of his agency’s effort in unlocking data to support Australia’s effort in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. It involves using integrated and multisource data and machine intelligence to derive new insights on the economic and social impact of the pandemic.
According to Frederic, federal state and territory governments seek to understand both the transient and enduring impact of the pandemic so that they can better target policies that assist Australia’s recovery in the aftermath. The pandemic is not a singular disruptive event, he says, it is a series of connected crises of varying duration that plays out on a local, national and global scale. It has amplified many existing problems while creating new ones.
For Frederic, a complex problem like a pandemic cannot be understood from a single perspective or a single source of data. The fundamental challenge is that the effects of the pandemic are deeply interconnected, dynamic and multifactorial. To connect the dots across a broad canvas of interrelated economic and social factors, policy analysts need a dynamic multisource-evidence base and new analytical techniques.
The economies in society form complex systems, Frederic asserts. As a result, public policy is fraught with problems that are notoriously difficult to isolate and objectively specify – complex systems do not yield to the familiar linear analytical techniques based on reduction principles.
Frederic opines that the interrelated web of problems is like a spider’s web – one intervention tugs on the interrelated web of issues and can have a ripple effect that can create unintended consequences in many other areas. He suggests that these considerations are not specific to the pandemic but a general set of policy concerns that cut across traditional portfolios and jurisdictions.
Frederic shares that 3 paradigms underpin the analytical approach in Frederic’s organisation.
- Data analysis is citizen-centric: The focus is on a system-wide framing in an analytical context
- Analysis is iterative: Defining the problem is part of the problem. There is a need to align with the objectives and changing needs of the policymakers at every stage and set directions for their analysis based on previous results
- Producing analyses that give integrated data: Since no single source of data can provide all the observations that can address informational needs in a complex policy space, being able to combine data sources is critical.
Frederic uses the example of the Australian government studying the impact of the pandemic on jobs and employment. To do so, they modelled the labour market as a system of connected entities – businesses, persons, households, jobs, locations, etc. – that interact through different types of relationships. Then, the concepts, entities, relationships and associated metadata are represented and stored in a knowledge graph. They use automated reasoning and machine learning approaches to integrate data and find new insights.
Believing firmly in the use of AI, Frederic encouraged the use of AI in government services that can help to drastically improve decisions making through high-quality insights.
Interactive Discussion
After the informative presentations, delegates participated in interactive discussions facilitated by polling questions. This activity is designed to provide live-audience interaction, promote engagement, hear real-life experiences, and facilitate discussions that impart professional learning and development for participants.
The first poll inquired on the percentage of overall IT investment that delegates foresee being committed to data and AI deployment over the next 2 years. Just over half (54%) of the delegates felt 10% – 30% of their IT investment would go into data and AI deployment. About 42% predicted that between 30% – 50% would be allocated while 4% said more than 50% would be deployed.
When asked about their biggest challenge in terms of data analytics, most delegates indicated the lack of skilled staff who understand big data analysis (61%) as the biggest challenge. The rest of the delegates were either not able to derive meaningful insights through data analytics (17%), lack of quality data and proper data storage (17%) or were not able to synchronise disparate data sources (5%).
Delegates shared the sentiment that data seemed to be understood only by a few. Getting everyone to produce insights is a “management challenge,” one delegate opines. There is a gap between the data scientist and departments, as well as the lack of knowledge to ask the right questions. There were also other challenges such as the lack of domain knowledge among the data scientists and having to manage a huge amount of data and legacy systems.
In response to these challenges, Frederic shared that his organisation’s strategy is to build data science teams that consist of domain experts. They do not expect that a single data scientist will have the full array of technical skills and domain knowledge. On the volume of data, he suggests the need to look at computing platforms as part of the capability. To analyse data, it is not merely the mathematical and statistical expertise. People need the tools to process a large volume of data.
In ranking the biggest challenge they face when implementing their AI strategy, almost half (46%) went with lack of properly skilled teams. Other delegates found the inflexible business processes and teams (21%), the lack of availability of data (21%), ineffective project management/governance (8%) and ineffective third-party partners (4%) as their biggest challenges.
Participants expressed a range of responses such as the culture of pushback when it comes to AI adoption, having the right skill set to achieve certain objectives, data classification frameworks, compliance requirements and high cost.
As far as cost goes, Steve offeree his experience of extending algorithmic techniques to take small amounts of data and artificially build and sample training data sets out of small data sets.


Frederic echoed Steve’s point and asserted that sampling is a powerful strategy. However, the issue lies in being able to sample without introducing biases, such that the model can return results that reflect the presence or absence of characteristics. He also posited the idea of agile development for producing analytical and statistical results. He opines that the challenges of implementing AI are never singular – it involves the capabilities of multidimensional teams and issues of cloud deployment.
Frederic expanded on the considerations surrounding sampling. “It depends on your purpose,” he says. For instance, in the case of generating classification sets through coding and mapping responses to the code, there is no need to include all the data in basic questions. In those cases, the model integrity and model accuracy depends on choosing the right set of training cases. However, if the purpose is for analytics and exploratory model building, one needs to be very careful in the application of sampling, since one may not know what is to be tested or what could be found.
On the most common use case of AI in their organisation, delegates were almost equally divided between developing smarter products or services (28%), driving intelligent business processes (24%), automating repetitive tasks (24%) and developing a more personalised relationship with stakeholders (24%).
On whether AI adoption remains a second-tier priority in the face of pressing requirements to deliver critical services, more than half of the delegates (56%) indicated that the lack of required skill sets is hindering the desired adoption. Other delegates indicated that AI has not been fully embraced due to everyday demands (28%) or that there is not enough budget to deploy the required AI solutions (11%). The remainder (5%) said AI adoption takes a back seat for some government leaders who have operational roles.
Besides the issue of privacy and security, some delegates felt that there is a lack of value proposition that businesses can come up with. Another delegate opined that organisations should not only look at people who develop AI but the managerial capability in understanding the potential and limitations of AI.
Mohit echoes that point of view and asserts the need to raise the skill set internally, but that the deeper insights require bringing experts from the outside.
On the most important ingredient for successful and wider AI adoption in the public sector, more than half of the delegates (55%) indicated that starting small and building the business case by demonstrating initial wins is the most important. That is followed by the belief in aligning all departments on the single vision and garnering support (20%), establishing clear lines of authority and ownership across the entire organisation (15%) and other considerations (10%).
The final poll asked delegates for their thoughts on the essential tenet for ethical AI to work. Most of the delegates believe in the need for an effective and practical ethical framework/ governance model for AI (56%), followed by the belief that AI solutions should allow for audibility and traceability (22%) and training AI models with carefully-assessed and representative data (11%).
Conclusion
In closing, Steve expressed his gratitude towards everyone for their participation and highly energetic discussion. Delegates believe that AI can make a difference in tailoring benefits for citizens and generating incredible insights. However, being able to manage the challenges of the lack of data or ethical considerations are important hurdles to cross.
He highlighted Frederic’s point about the application of agile approaches to insights delivery and reiterated that some of the best practices for AI adoption are in starting small and having transparency and audibility in the data.
Steve emphasised the edge AI can offer organisations in their journey towards delivering better government services. He reiterated that the digital transformation is an ongoing and collaborative journey and encouraged the delegates to connect with him and the team to explore ways in which AI can help agencies improve their operations.


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OpenGov Asia has recognised GovTech for the public sector’s evolving digital use. The agency has streamlined government operations and broken new ground with its Virtual Intelligent Chat Assistant (VICA). The project is part of GovTech’s ongoing efforts to develop and deploy chatbots to fill gaps in government services and enhance the lives of citizens.
VICA is the most recent citizen assistant platform from GovTech, utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create more efficient and beneficial chatbots for government agencies to manage and for end users. The ‘Ask Jamie’ Virtual Assistant will eventually be replaced by VICA.
The engine-neutral platform employs cutting-edge tech to enhance performance and precision. VICA utilises natural language processing engines, machine learning and AI to enhance virtual and phone interactions between Singapore government institutions and residents or businesses.
This platform not only learns and interprets conversations but also offers businesses the ability to design and train chatbots, features that Ask Jamie did not provide. The automated processes provided by VICA make it easier for agencies to onboard and “train” their chatbots.
This accomplishment earned GovTech the prestigious OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award, which will be presented at the 8th Annual Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023.
Chatbot advancement to improve citizen experience
In addition to providing a simple FAQ, VICA improves transactional services in numerous other ways. Streamlining transactions provides greater convenience and access to government services and information, as well as quicker and more direct responses to user inquiries.
Taxi drivers and hawker stall owners, for instance, can use the IRAS chatbot to request assistance with tax filing. The Municipal Services Office’s OneService Chatbot, Kaki, which allows residents to easily report municipal issues via WhatsApp and Telegram, is also powered by VICA.
VICA-powered chatbots provide the public with timely updates, such as the Gov.sg chatbot, which provides COVID-19 updates and disseminates important government announcements in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
Using NLP technology has allowed VICA-powered chatbots to better understand and interpret human language, particularly in the context of Singaporean English, thereby improving overall user experience. It is possible to create more structured conversational flows by defining intents, entities and context management – the building blocks that provide directions to chatbots and allow them to meet the needs of users.
VICA provides detailed analytics and insights into the performance of the chatbot as well as user conversations. With this information, the team can identify areas for improvement to enhance performance and accuracy.
Technology is constantly evolving, and the team is continuously on the lookout for and learning about new AI trends. Hence, VICA has been experimenting with a Generative AI programme that can understand written prompts and respond with helpful assistance in real-time since mid-2022.
VICA’s development involves the gradual integration of cutting-edge technology that meets the requirements of the entire government. These technological upgrades will include a unified chat frontend to ensure consistent branding across all government ministries and agencies – Singpass Integration, Live Chat Escalation, and support for various chat platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
As part of the closed beta programme with internal testers, the VICA team has been utilising these technologies to improve the quality and efficacy of the chatbots with citizens.
Developers also want to reduce the time and effort that their agency partners have to invest in training and maintaining their chatbots. While the team has always been receptive to new technologies, they take a measured approach, through progressive internal testing phases with the selected partner agencies before launching to the public.
The strategy is to determine how technological advancements can benefit not only the agency partners but also citizen users.
VICA intends to surpass FAQ-style chatbots with near-human conversation capabilities in the long run. It intends to combine services and transactional capabilities so that chatbots can assist users with their inquiries and complete transactions.
Given the potential risks and shortcomings associated with the development of intelligent development of platforms, it is vital to have an ethics framework in place. This will allow developers to plan for and be aware of the pitfalls and limitations of AI, which include:
- Accuracy: Models can give false responses that sound convincing
- Bias: Inherent biases may exist in the training dataset, which can be difficult to pre-empt due to the lack of information. This could then manifest in the model’s responses;
- Harmful content: To create a safe and healthy environment for users’ interaction with chat apps, chat moderation is important to monitor and regulate user input messages against inappropriate and offensive content;
- Data governance: When interacting with chatbots, users may inadvertently volunteer personal and confidential data through the chatbot’s prompts.
It is essential to encourage interactions with them and provide feedback to ensure that chatbots are performing as intended and to improve their overall performance.
Despite the functionality and enormous potential of generative AI, VICA has placed a high priority on governing its use to ensure that such technology is employed in an ethical manner benefitting both end users and society.
To mitigate the risk of unintended prejudices and ensure adherence to data governance rules, it is crucial to adopt an intentional strategy for the collection and transformation of raw data into useful and insightful outputs. Such a strategy can help ensure that the data is handled fairly and responsibly and that any potential risks are addressed pre-emptively or proactively. Moreover, this approach ensures that the resulting outputs are accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
About the team
The organisation recognises the importance of aligning team members towards a shared vision and objective, regardless of their diverse backgrounds. With a diverse team, each member can bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Working collaboratively, the team can leverage these diverse perspectives to generate innovative problem-solving strategies.
The VICA team fosters an atmosphere of open communication and encourages feedback, creating a cooperative environment where team members feel heard and valued. This establishes a safe place where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
They frequently organise team-building activities outside of work to foster camaraderie, build stronger relationships and create a more cohesive team dynamic. They believe this approach can lead to more innovative solutions and better decision-making.
Defining clear objectives and goals is crucial for the success of the VICA team. Every team member understands that they are working towards a common objective, providing a sense of purpose and direction.
Clear missions and defined tasks allow the team to stay on track and ensure that their efforts are moving the project forward in the right manner. This approach helps ensure that everyone is aligned and focused on achieving the same goals, which ultimately contributes to the success of the project.
The VICA team has implemented a robust project management framework that outlines the roles and responsibilities of team members at each project stage. They adhere to budget planning procedures to manage costs effectively. This framework helps ensure that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and contributes effectively to the project’s success within the specified budget.
The VICA team has adopted an agile approach that emphasises adaptability, speed and continuous quality improvement. The team uses retrospectives to evaluate what works well and what doesn’t, identifying opportunities for future improvement. This enables the team to quickly make adjustments and continuously improve the project’s quality, resulting in a more successful outcome.
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Proyek VICA (Virtual Intelligence Chat Assistant) adalah platform layanan chatbot yang bisa digunakan sebagai dasar pengembangan berbagai layanan chatbot di berbagai instansi pemerintahan Singapura. Platform ini ditenagai dengan Kecerdasan Buatan (Artificial Intelligence/ AI) dan pembelajaran mesin (Machine Learning/ ML) agar chatbot yang dikembangkan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintahan bisa memberikan respons yang lebih ‘manusiawi’ kepada warga dan berbagai perusahaan di Singapura.
Layanan platform chatbot VICA dikembangkan oleh GovTech, yaitu Badan Teknologi Pemerintah (Government Technology) yang mendorong transformasi digital ke berbagai instansi pemerintah di Singapura. GovTech mengembangkan VICA sebagai perbaikan dari layanan chatbot sebelumnya; Ask Jamie.
Untuk membantu VICA memberikan jawaban yang lebih natural dan akurat, GovTech memanfaatkan teknologi NLP (natural language processing) terbaru dengan platform mesin-agnostik. Menerapkan kecerdasan buatan dan pembelajaran mesin membuat VICA mampu mempelajari dan menafsirkan percakapan dan meningkatkan interaksi ketika ‘diajak bicara’ secara virtual maupun lewat telepon. Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintah lain untuk melatih chatbot yang mereka kembangkan. Fitur ini sebelumnya tak ada di platform chatbot Ask Jamie.
VICA merupakan bagian dari upaya GovTech untuk membangun dan menggunakan chatbot guna menjembatani pemerintah dengan warga dan swasta. Kepiawaian dan inovasi GovTech ini mendapat atensi dari OpenGov Asia untuk mendapatkan penghargaan OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award yang akan diberikan pada Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023 tahunan ke-8.
Chatbot pintar
Dalam wawancara dengan CEO dan Pemimpin Redaksi OpenGov Asia, tim pengembang VICA menyebut mereka telah meningkatkan berbagai fitur untuk memperbaiki cara chatbot anyar ini dalam melayani pengguna. VICA bisa memberi jawaban lebih cepat dan sesuai konteks sehingga ia tak hanya menjawab pertanyaan berdasarkan jawaban yang sering ditanyakan atau sesuai template semata. Hal ini membuat pengguna merasa lebih nyaman ketika berinteraksi dengan VICA.
Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan untuk mengembangkan chatbot instansi pemerintah lain. Contohnya adalah chatbot IRAS yang digunakan wiraswasta seperti supir taksi atau pemilik kios jajanan untuk meminta bantuan dalam pengajuan pajak. Kaki, chatbot layanan terpadu dari Kantor Layanan Kota bisa yang akan menampung laporan dan keluhan warga soal masalah kota lewat WhatsApp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, platform chatbot VICA juga bisa memberikan informasi terbaru secara real-time kepada warga. Contohnya, chatbot Gov.sg yang memberikan pembaruan status COVID-19 dan pengumuman pemerintah dalam bahasa Inggris, Mandarin, Melayu, dan Tamil.
Agar interaksi dengan VICA lebih ramah pengguna, tim memanfaatkan teknologi NLP untuk bisa memahami dan menginterpretasikan bahasa manusia. Namun, bahasa utama yang paling baik diinterpretasikan VICA saat ini adalah bahasa Inggris Singapura.
“Dengan memahami maksud pertanyaan, siapa yang menanyakan, dan konteks pertanyaan, ini akan jadi bahan arahan bagi chatbot untuk memberikan jawaban yang memuaskan kebutuhan pengguna, sehingga alur percakapan bisa lebih terstruktur,” jelas tim VICA.
Agar performa VICA makin bagus, tim juga melengkapi platform ini dengan analisis data. Hasil analisis itu memberikan gambaran terperinci tentang kinerja chatbot serta bagaimana kinerjanya atas percakapan pengguna. Hal ini membuat tim VICA bisa mengidentifikasi hal yang bisa diperbaiki untuk meningkatkan akurasi VICA.
Ketika memanfaatkan AI, terdapat kekhawatiran masalah etika dari kecerdasan buatan yang digunakan. Sebab, pada beberapa kasus, AI kerap memberi jawaban yang menyesatkan atau tidak sesuai etika. Tim VICA menyadari hal dan sepakat kalau model AI bisa memberikan respons yang salah namun terdengar meyakinkan.
Jawaban yang keluar dari model AI juga bisa terkontaminasi oleh bias. Bias bawaan ini mungkin terjadi imbas dari kumpulan data yang digunakan untuk melatih model AI itu. Namun hal ini bisa jadi sulit dicegah karena kekurangan informasi yang dimasukkan dalam data latihan AI tersebut. Bias dan jawaban menyesatkan tadi kemudian nampak dalam respons AI atas pertanyaan pengguna.
Untuk menjaga pembicaraan yang sehat, model AI juga perlu menyaring konten yang ditanyakan pengguna. “Moderasi obrolan diperlukan untuk memantau dan menyaring pesan yang dimasukkan pengguna untuk mengatur respons AI terhadap konten yang tidak pantas dan menyinggung.”
Etika lain yang dipertimbangkan tim pengembang VICA adalah soal tata kelola data. Saat berinteraksi dengan chatbot, pengguna mungkin secara tidak sengaja memberikan data pribadi dan rahasia secara sukarela akibat perintah chatbot.
“Terlepas dari fungsi dan potensi AI generatif yang sangat besar, kami memastikan teknologi ini digunakan dengan cara yang etis dan menguntungkan pengguna dan masyarakat,” tegas tim VICA.
Untuk mengurangi berbagai risiko disinformasi, misinformasi, bias, dan masalah etis lain, tim memastikan efisiensi dan kegunaan tiap informasi yang dikumpulkan dan ditransformasi sebagai bahan data mentah pelatihan model AI yang mereka kembangkan. Hal ini juga dilakukan agar mereka mematuhi aturan tata kelola data yang berlaku. Selain itu, mereka pun senantiasa memeriksa umpan balik pengguna agar chatbot yang dikembangkan berfungsi semestinya.
Ketika ditanya soal pengembangan VICA ke depan, sejak pertengahan 2022, tim pengembang telah mulai bereksperimen dengan program AI Generatif. Program ini bisa memahami petunjuk tertulis dan merespons dengan bantuan yang bermanfaat secara real-time.
Dalam jangka Panjang, VICA akan terus disempurnakan dengan teknologi terkini yang paling sesuai dengan kebutuhan Whole-Of-Government. Mereka akan mengembangkan antarmuka obrolan terpadu sehingga branding pada chatbot pemerintah lebih seragam di semua kementerian dan lembaga. Selain itu, mereka juga berencana melakukan integrasi VICA dengan Singpass, memperbanyak fitur Live Chat, serta integrasi dengan platform chat seperti Whatsapp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, tim VICA juga telah menjajaki teknologi kemampuan percakapan tingkat lanjut seperti yang digunakan oleh ChatGPT. Mereka tengah menelisik teknologi ini dalam program beta tertutup dan tengah melakukan pengujian internal untuk meningkatkan kualitas dan kenyamanan pemakaian chatbot. Langkah selanjutnya adalah menerapkan cara yang dapat mempermudah para mitra GovTech ketika mengadopsi platform VICA ketika mereka ingin membuat chatbot sendiri. Dengan VICA, mereka bisa mempersingkat waktu dan mengurangi kerumitan dalam melatih serta memelihara chatbot mereka.
“Kemajuan teknologi apa pun harus bisa memberikan pelayanan yang lebih baik bagi mitra instansi dan warga, itu sudah menjadi DNA kami,” tegas tim VICA
Cita-cita jangka panjang lain adalah membuat chatbot VICA bisa digunakan sebagai media transaksi. Jadi, chatbot ini tak sekedar bisa menjawab pertanyaan saja, tapi juga bisa terintegrasi dengan operasional layanan pemerintah. “Kami juga selalu terbuka untuk teknologi baru dan siap melakukan kalibrasi melalui fase pengujian internal, sebelum meluncurkan layanan itu kepada warga.”
Membangun tim inovatif
Tim VICA lantas membeberkan sejumlah cara yang mereka lakukan untuk memastikan inovasi berkelanjutan dan keberhasilan program.
“Dengan menetapkan tujuan dan sasaran yang jelas, setiap anggota tim akan terbantu untuk memahami bahwa mereka memiliki tujuan bersama yang jelas, sehingga setiap orang memahami tugas dan tanggung jawab masing-masing.”
Di tahap awal, tim membangun kerangka kerja manajemen proyek. Kerangka ini membantu peran dan tanggung jawab anggota tim untuk pembagian beban kerja yang sehat di setiap tahap proyek. Kerangka ini juga berguna untuk penentuan perencanaan anggaran agar biaya bisa dikelola secara efektif. Tim juga menciptakan suasana yang terbuka terhadap berbagai umpan balik, sehingga setiap anggota tim bisa dengan bebas dan merasa aman dan didengar ketika mengajukan pendapat.
Untuk mengukur dan mengevaluasi keefektifan kerja, tim VICA mengadopsi metodologi Agile. Metode ini dianggap lebih fleksibel, cepat, dan bisa membantu tim untuk meningkatkan kualitas kerja mereka. Sementara dalam proses pengembangan produk, mereka mendapat manfaat dari metode Scrum dan Kanban. Sebagai bahan evaluasi, tim juga mengandalkan retrospektif untuk mempelajari kembali apa yang berhasil dan apa yang tidak. Bahan ini lantas digunakan untuk perbaikan produk di masa mendatang.
Ketika berinteraksi dengan tim yang berbeda latar belakang, tim VICA memulai proyek dengan membangun rasa saling percaya dan menyelaraskan visi dan tujuan bersama. Sehingga, tiap anggota bisa memiliki cara masing-masing untuk berkontribusi dengan caranya yang unik. Dengan menyatukan semua pendapat berbeda ini, mereka dapat menciptakan dan menemukan solusi inovatif untuk berbagai masalah.
Sementara untuk menjaga kebersamaan dan kolaborasi yang efektif dalam tim, mereka memperbanyak waktu bersama lewat sesi curah pendapat (brainstorming), proyek bersama, hingga kegiatan team bonding. Mereka pun mengembangkan budaya untuk menghargai kontribusi dan menghormati pendapat setiap anggota tim. Inisiatif ini menjamin tiap pendapat didengar serta memberikan lingkungan yang aman bagi tiap anggota untuk berbagi pandangan yang berbeda.
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Singapore and Indonesia reaffirmed their strong and long-standing economic ties; and to explore opportunities in the development of Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, both nations welcomed the Letters of Intent submitted by Singapore-based businesses from a variety of sectors, including construction, telecommunication and finance. This collaboration in renewable energy and the digital economy was expanded.
Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Renewable Energy Cooperation.
Both countries will facilitate investments in the development of renewable energy manufacturing industries, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Indonesia, as well as cross-border electricity trading projects between Indonesia and Singapore, under the terms of the MOU.
Recognising the synergies shared by Singapore’s and Indonesia’s tech ecosystems, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto also signed the MOU on the Singapore-Indonesia Tech:X Programme.
The MOU will establish the Tech:X Programme, which enables young tech professionals from Singapore and Indonesia to work in each other’s countries, strengthens ties between the two nations’ tech ecosystems, and enables young tech professionals to pursue expanding opportunities in the digital economy.
“Through the Tech:X Program, we hope that young tech talent from both countries will be able to learn from one another, gain exposure, and expand the capabilities of both countries’ tech workforces,” Minister Gan says.
Ministers Gan and Airlangga also witnessed the signing of nine partnership documents between Singapore and Indonesia companies on 15 March 2023, in conjunction with the Leaders’ Retreat. In addition to health tech and ed-tech, the partnerships are in the digital economy.
The annual G2G platform, as well as the Singapore-Indonesia Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups (6WG), facilitate close economic collaboration between Singapore and Indonesia.
The 6WG platform addresses economic collaboration in the following areas: Batam, Bintan, Karimun, and other Special Economic Zones: Investments, Manpower, Agribusiness, Transportation, and Tourism.
Singapore and Indonesia have close commercial and investment ties. With bilateral trade totalling S$76.4 billion in 2022, Indonesia is Singapore’s sixth-largest trading partner. Since 2014, Singapore has been Indonesia’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with Singapore’s investments in Indonesia totalling US$17.5 billion by 2022.
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently met at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat. This was the sixth Leaders’ Retreat for Prime Minister Lee and President Joko Widodo and the first to be held in Singapore since the COVID-19 pandemic.
During President Joko Widodo’s two terms in office, the relationship between the two countries had significantly improved, according to both leaders. This laid the groundwork for them to collaborate in new ways that are profound, multifaceted, forward-looking, and beneficial to both countries.
The ratification of all three agreements under the Expanded Framework was celebrated by the Leaders. These included the Agreement on the Realignment of the Boundary between the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Singapore FIR, the Extradition Treaty, and the Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The Leaders anticipated the next step of obtaining International Civil Aviation Organisation approval for the new arrangements under the FIR Agreement so that both countries could implement all three agreements at a mutually agreed upon date. The resolution of these enduring issues demonstrates the maturity and resilience of bilateral relations.
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Within a year of its commencement, the innovative education model FORTE (Financing of Return to Employment) has shown excellent early outcomes for both local career seekers and employers as the first groups of South Australian students transition from training to employment.
The FORTE pilot programme, which commenced in May 2022, is supported by the Department for Industry, Innovation, and Science. It provides high-quality training at no cost, aimed at equipping 150 South Australians with the necessary digital skills to work in the state’s rapidly growing hi-tech sectors.
Under the FORTE model, local training providers such as Generation Australia, General Assembly, _nology, and 42 Adelaide deliver the training, which is initially funded by private investors. Running for a duration of three years, the pilot programme has shown encouraging early indicators. Over 40% of recent FORTE graduates have already secured jobs at various tech companies.
The remaining graduates are currently actively seeking employment and attending interviews, with the FORTE team providing support to ensure they are matched with appropriate job opportunities within the next three to six months.
The South Australian Government will only make repayments under the FORTE model when a participant has demonstrated a successful employment outcome, meaning that they have secured work in their desired field, achieved higher income, and generated higher income tax as a result. By implementing this approach, the FORTE model ensures that the South Australian Government only funds labour force interventions that are effective.
According to the Founder & CEO of FORTE, talent is abundant throughout South Australia, and the programme aims to provide everyone with the opportunity to learn new in-demand skills, attain financial independence, and reach their full potential.
The FORTE model guarantees that the South Australian Government only invests in labour force interventions that have proven effectiveness. The CEO believes that there is an abundance of talent in South Australia and that the programme is designed to provide everyone with an opportunity to learn new in-demand skills, achieve financial independence, and reach their full potential.
The programme aims to help Adelaide become a leading tech hub in the Asia-Pacific region. A great tech talent pipeline is essential for this goal to be achieved. Thus far, the initiative has contributed to bridging the gender divide in the tech industry. Women who are re-entering the workforce, especially those who have taken a break to raise a family, are a valuable talent pipeline that FORTE aims to tap into.
The Forte Tech Program is a three-month full-time training programme aimed at improving the tech skills of participants. The programme also includes career development services to assist participants in securing employment opportunities in the tech industry. These services include introductions to potential employers, assistance in crafting resumes and profiles, and one-on-one coaching.
The programme is entirely remote, enabling participants to work from home while receiving top-quality training, hands-on project experience, and ongoing support. The training focuses on fields such as Data Analytics, Software Development, and Cloud Computing, which offer excellent salaries, and flexibility and are in high demand for the future. In addition, the training comes at no cost to participants.
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Director General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (SDPPI) at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Ismail, revealed that Indonesia is optimising technology by ensuring sufficient digital connection and working in concert with the private sector and the community. For its citizens to make the most of this technology, the government of the Republic of Indonesia is investing heavily in its development.
According to Ismail, Indonesia has a well-balanced strategy of infrastructure development and radio frequency spectrum management in place, which would speed up the nationwide rollout of digital infrastructure. However, Indonesia needs to harness an IoT-based platform that uses the country’s digital infrastructure to speed up digital transformation and promote innovation in day-to-day living.
“The Indonesian government has invested much in expanding access to the internet throughout the country, particularly in rural and isolated areas. While this is happening, the Indonesian government is working to speed up the spread of ICT applications and services across many sectors,” Ismail mentioned in an online session for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2023 titled “High-Level Policy Session 7: Ethical Dimensions of Information and Knowledge Societies/Bridging Digital Divides”.
The event attended by ministerial representatives from the European Union, Pakistan, Iran, Cambodia, India and the United Arab Emirates were in attendance. In addition, academics and representatives from foreign organisations were also in attendance.
Ismail points out that the government and the private sector need to collaborate with other actors as the infrastructure network expanded. As seen by the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, the business sector was spurred to develop and implement several digitisation programmes in the education, healthcare, and SME support sectors.
“Such as student e-book libraries and e-chat programmes. The programme was designed to help educators and students in their academic pursuits. In addition, there is a database of digital web pages, including about 7,500 pieces of digital information. Using digital technology, they hope to create a more accessible education system for all members of our community, he explained.
Ismail said the programme has the potential to benefit over 40,000 educators and over 600 institutions this academic year through enhanced professional development opportunities. Over 20,000 educators and 16,000 pupils have benefited from private sector capacity development programmes.
The private sector in Indonesia has launched several programmes to aid the growth of SMEs. These programmes provide SMEs with resources, including startup funding, digital marketing courses, and more.
Several private sector personnel and over 16,000 partners began the programme to digitalise small and medium-sized businesses. From this, we can infer that the government is trying to promote the availability of digital services and apps,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the healthcare sector, the private sector helps to produce the PeduliLindungi health app during the recent Covid-19 outbreak. The collaboration from a local developer’s team, the Indonesian government’s Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have sped up the development and improvement of the app.
During the pandemic “this application provides information about health and other relevant information,” the Director General of SDPPI of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics pointed out.
With over 100 million users, the software has been downloaded and is now used as an Indonesian Health Service Platform known as Satu Sehat Platform. The Platform is a unified health record system for locals. Director General Ismail cited that app as an example of one that is crucial to Indonesia’s healthcare system.
Indonesia’s government is constantly improving its public services to make them more effective and accessible to the people. Efforts to manage Indonesia’s National Public Service Innovation Network have officially commenced. (JIPPNas). The JIPPNas website has become a clearinghouse for innovative methods in public service throughout the country.
The website was created to compile all accessible statistics and information on the best public services and help Indonesia’s public and private sectors better understand how to develop innovation. The JIPPNas website is a hub for promoting innovation, especially in public services, thanks to the collaborative efforts of several different organisations.
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The Transport Minister, Michael Wood, launched the country’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging strategy, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. The strategy is titled Charging Our Future. According to Wood, the government’s vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, convenient, and reliable.
The strategy aims to offer journey charging hubs every 150-200 kilometres on main highways, a public charger for every 20-40 EVs in urban areas, and public charging at community facilities for all settlements with 2,000 or more people. Meeting the targets would see tens of thousands more EV chargers across the country, Wood said.
Emissions from the light vehicle fleet are the single largest source of transport emissions in New Zealand, partially due to having some of the most fuel-inefficient and emissions-intensive vehicles in the OECD. This is expensive and damaging to people’s health and the environment. “Switching to EVs would be like buying petrol for 40c/litre, which would make a big difference for household budgets,” he explained.
Last May, the government released Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. The plan explored how the country would meet the first emissions budget for 2022–25 and put it on track to meet future emissions budgets. As per the strategy, transport is one of New Zealand’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for 17% of national gross emissions and 39% of total domestic carbon dioxide emissions.
The Emissions Reduction Plan includes the action to rapidly adopt low-emissions vehicles including by improving EV-charging infrastructure across Aotearoa to ensure that citizens have adequate access to charging facilities. Although EVs are not a solution, they are a crucial part of a decarbonised transport system, complementing increased opportunities for adults and children to safely walk, cycle, and use high-quality public transport, the strategy wrote. The country needs an EV charging plan to provide certainty to all parties about the role government will play in supporting EV charging infrastructure.
These new targets will facilitate infrastructure to support different trips and journeys that EV drivers make as well as ensure that rural and provincial New Zealand locations are accessible for residents and visitors with EVs. Wood noted that the success of the government’s clean car policies means there are more than 69,000 EVs on roads, over 80% more than at the end of 2021. This strategy will ensure New Zealand can sustain the uptake of EVs as it is witnessing more people make the switch.
The Ministry will work with local government and industry across transport, energy, and other sectors to deliver on these initiatives. “We also want to make sure we’re working alongside the public. I hope everyone will take the opportunity to feed into the draft strategy and the discussion document,” Wood stated.
The country’s capital, Wellington, previously announced it aims to replace all fossil-fuel-powered passenger vehicles with electric alternatives by 2030. Last year, the Wellington City Council added 24 electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet. As OpenGov Asia reported, by mid-August, there were 40 EVs for staff to use for daily operations.
A study by the New Zealand Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) about Kiwi behaviour showed that on average, people don’t travel more than 20 to 50 kilometres a day. Introducing electric vehicles that are capable of a 250-300 kilometres range in one full charge will be the right match for most Council operations. As Wellington city is compact, there are many opportunities for people to change the way they travel throughout the city and have an impact on carbon emissions. More recently, the capital approved trialling a public e-bike share scheme, allowing residents and visitors to hire e-bikes to get around the city.
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The HKUST Business School conducted a comprehensive research study aimed at guiding policy and strategy development for Hong Kong’s regtech sector. The study highlights the pain points currently facing the industry and proposes measures that could strengthen its growth.
To create a more vibrant and innovation-friendly regtech ecosystem, regulators should consider leading in technology development, providing incentives for technology use, and issuing clear guidelines to facilitate technology adoption.
Regtech is a subsector of fintech that adds value to financial institutions and end-users of financial services by automating compliance processes and facilitating innovative customer services such as remote bank account opening. The Hong Kong Government recognises the significance of regtech as part of its fintech strategy and promotes its growth in the city.
To conduct the study, the research team collected insights from regtech solution providers and users, including senior management from banks, payment service providers, and asset management companies. The team used an online survey and focus group discussions to gather this information. Based on their findings, the team developed two reports that summarise their key observations and recommendations.
The research team identified the potential of regtech in automating financial institutions’ know-your-customer (KYC) processes and recommended establishing clear protocols for releasing government data for document verification purposes.
Additionally, the team proposed several solutions to address Hong Kong’s regtech talent shortage, including allocating more resources for on-the-job training, mandating IT courses for finance majors, and establishing an accredited regtech program that is widely recognised.
The Dean of HKUST Business School expressed that financial institutions are turning towards regtech to stay competitive and provide consistent value to customers amid a rapidly changing market with numerous regulatory requirements.
He hopes that this study will help policymakers, regulators, and industry participants to enhance the regtech capabilities of the city and accelerate industry growth. Additionally, the school plans to allocate more resources and focus on regtech research in the future.
The following are the recommendations provided by the HKUST Business School’s study on promoting regtech development in Hong Kong:
Creating a Friendly Regulatory Environment that Encourages Innovation:
- Establish clear guidelines with notes on interpretation and provide prompt feedback
- Provide incentives to the industry, startups, and academics to facilitate regtech innovation
Building a Connected, Inclusive, and Vibrant Regtech Ecosystem:
- Regulators to take lead in technology solutions to address pain points of the industry
- Build an inclusive regtech network through the facilitators
- Accreditation of regtech solution providers
Facilitating the Sharing of Data & Technology in the Regtech Community:
- Standardise the APIs for different banks to share data
- Provide shared databases and platforms to be accessed by different regtech stakeholders
- Allow successful sandbox projects to share solutions
Facilitating KYC Processes and Cross-Border Data Access:
- Establish protocols for verification of documents and identities (individuals and corporates)
- Collaborate with Mainland China to offer standardised procedures and data access
Solving Hong Kong’s Regtech Talent Shortage:
- Government and regulators to allocate more resources for on-the-job training
- Government to sponsor more internships, as firms may not have the resources to support student internships
- Government could provide living allowance to expatriates, or subsidise the companies that offer housing benefits to expatriates to increase their willingness to relocate to Hong Kong
- Higher education providers to include mandatory IT courses in the curriculum for finance majors
- Establish a widely accepted accredited program with regtech as a specialisation for graduates and practitioners to certify fintech and regtech talent
- Provide a clear path for the regtech profession and offer a more rewarding scheme and more interesting future prospects to attract students into the field.
The Policy Innovation and Coordination Office (PICO) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) funded the study.