Technology is changing the face of the public service – Mario Cutajar

The Public Service’s vision over recent years was to transform the way it works and how it delivers services through technology, Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar said in a statement.

This, he said, was the reason behind the €150 million investment in technology, “through which this vision is being realised and will continue to be developed through Artificial Intelligence.” A further investment of €40 million is under way to implement the Mapping Tomorrow strategy, he added.

Cutajar was addressing a seminar on the prospects of the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service. A presentation was also delivered by Professor Alexiei Dingli.

Cutajar listed the main steps in implementing the digital transformation of the Public Service. He mentioned, among other things, the setting up of the servizz.gov website, where all government services are found together with the relative forms, and the creation of the “maltapps” mobile app where government services are accessible day and night via mobile phones.

He recalled that in 2014, the first strategy for digital technology was launched in the Public Service – Digital Malta, which set out key principles and strategic actions to be taken to bring digital technology into use, and for it to make a difference in areas such as the economy, employment, industry and small businesses.

In 2016, the strategy on Mobile Government Services was launched. This strategy had a very clear direction, with a vision for government services to be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round, he said. “The aims of the strategy were to empower citizens, to see that these services are used by as many people as possible, and to ensure that public officers themselves use technology internally to provide a service of excellence.”

Last year the strategic plan Mapping Tomorrow was launched to cover a three-year period (2019-2021) and to build upon the achievements already reached. “Among other things, this plan aims to further increase citizens’ use of online services; to strengthen internal digital systems so that public officers work more efficiently; and above all to put into practice the Once-Only Principle, whereby a citizen using any government service is asked for personal information only once.”

Cutajar said: “For the future, we have to see how to use Artificial Intelligence in our digital systems to design and offer new services that anticipate and meet users’ needs in different areas. The next step is to draw up a new strategy covering from 2022 onwards, always in full respect of ethical issues, such as how and where to use the data obtained, and how to store it. The main challenge will be to choose which services will be provided through investment in artificial intelligence.

For the years to come, Cutajar added, “we must also strengthen the structures through which we invest in technology. We can no longer remain fragmented, with departments working on their own. With immediate effect we are putting in place new structures which focus technology development in the servizz.gov agency to ensure full synergy between investment, design of services and services themselves. We need to ensure that a cycle is created between investment and the service provided in order to keep improving every service and to give permanence for an ever-better service.”

In his presentation, Professor Alexiei Dingli gave an in-depth look at how Artificial Intelligence touches every sector of the Public Service, and how it is expected to continue to change the world in the next decade. He said that Artificial Intelligence has been around for 70 years but it was in the last decade that it progressed rapidly.