Article by Bloomberg Cities: “Local governments have never been more focused on delivering at the pace and with the precision that people need. Yet their efforts are often slowed down by “legacy tech”—a creaky permitting tool or aging data catalog, for example—that is considered too critical, too complex, or too expensive to upgrade.
Now artificial intelligence is helping bridge the gap, as local leaders are beginning to tap the technology not only to power new products and services, but also to map their internal technology and data architecture. And while this work might sound like a strictly back-office exercise, the implications are much broader. That’s because this kind of AI adoption can provide cities with insights that once took significant time and, in some cases, outside expertise to produce, giving them more options for how to modernize systems and improve services.
“In every city, there’s at least one resident-facing service hanging on a 20-year-old piece of technology,” explains Carrie Bishop, who oversees data programs for the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Now, local leaders can use AI to understand that technology, improve or replace it, and, in doing so, unlock change in peoples’ lives.”
While this work is still in its early stages, efforts by teams in Austin, Texas, and Belo Horizonte, Brazil, already are surfacing insights cities everywhere can put into action…(More)”.
