Power of AI to boost project delivery

The IPA has published a new framework which sets out how AI will be harnessed to boost productivity in public project delivery.

The framework enables civil servants working on over £805Bn of public projects to utilise AI to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their delivery.

The guidance encourages responsible experimentation with AI to find solutions to the biggest challenges in public projects.

The IPA will work with cross-government AI leaders to oversee a series of innovative pilots. The most successful experiments will have the potential to be rolled out to optimise performance.

Under the new framework, the upskilling of project delivery professionals in data analytics and AI will also be accelerated to help tackle issues like overspend and delays.

The publication of the framework follows Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden’s speech on ‘AI for Public Good’, which set out the government’s commitment to using AI to revolutionise public services, boost productivity and save taxpayers money.

The report also recommends that barriers to sharing data are removed where appropriate, by developing common standards, infrastructure and processes, so that the potential of new technology can be realised.

Cabinet Office Minister of State, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, said: “The innovation we are seeing in data analytics and AI has the potential to significantly benefit government project delivery and, even more important, to save the taxpayer money.

“As a former business executive I am delighted that our new framework sets out our determination to explore the possibilities further through collaboration, upskilling and experimentation.”

The importance of greater collaboration between government and its partners, to create the right conditions for innovation to thrive is also highlighted in the new framework.

Karina Singh, Director of Function, Insights & Profession at the IPA said: “The use of advancing technologies, especially AI, is a topic of broad and current interest.

“This paper cuts through the noise to provide a framework of actions we can use to experiment with and upskill project delivery professionals to get the most out of this fast-moving development.”

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