How Can the Government Use Chatbots for Better Governance
Although the purpose of the government and the corporate world is very different, almost antithetical, the government is increasingly becoming more like the corporate world. They are engaging with their constituents like businesses engage with their customers in terms of providing certain services. And the governments have started to integrate technology into their functioning in many meaningful ways to achieve this goal.
Especially local governments are trying to implement technology oriented solutions which will bring make the day to day interaction of the citizens with the government more easily accessible. Internet has made a great impact on how citizens now view government services. Governments have brought many of their functions online. And in doing so, they have become increasingly become reliant on technology for data management, data generation, information dissemination, and even monetary transactions.
Problems with E-governance
While, the governments have made their services more accessible, but the question of whether they have been able to make the services more humane remains to be answered. Presently the kind of technological innovations that governments have been able to adopt includes, voice-over IP systems, cloud computing for integrated online data management, and even distributed ledger systems for records managements especially for sensitive and long term information like land records, birth, death and other life cycle events like marriage records, etc.
They have also adopted other forms of online polling systems over blockchains to ensure security and transparency in their functioning. All of these steps are appreciated by the citizens, and they have significantly benefited from these steps. But many citizens are still apprehensive about the bureaucratic system. It still appears to be very complicated to a large proportion of the citizenry.
The complicated structure of the bureaucracy not only reduces the amount of participation from the citizens in the process of governance, but also keeps the government services and public resources underutilized. Many resources like scholarships, subsidies, cash or other kinds of benefits, not only remain unutilized but even the information about these services do not reach the public very well. To address this problem many local and mid-level governance bodies are trying to create online single window access platforms for viewing and accessing services. Even then it is not sure if the users will be able to receive the kind of easily accessible solutions that they can get from other kind of service providers, like a retail chain or an online entertainment platform.
Can government services be customized?
Of course government services cannot be customized. Unlike other services which can be tailored to the needs of the clients, government policies and schemes are designed at a macro level. It is not feasible to formulate policy at a lower level. However, there are a range of government policies in different fields. And they are designed to cater the needs of citizens coming from diverse socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds. And therefore most likely it is more a question of finding the scheme that fits the needs of an individual than that of designing a new policy.
Chatbots and blockchain can make E-governance more humane
It is at this point that artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies can come in. Artificial intelligence can make profiling of the users of the government platforms easier and will be able to direct them towards those schemes which are suitable to them. In this way the information about government schemes will be disseminated in a very efficient way. They can reach the right people in a way that will lead to proper utilization of government services.
And to further enhance this form of engagement with the citizens, chatbots can be very effective. Especially decentralized chatbots, which are available on platforms like the OLPORTAL can be effectively used for customized information dissemination and service delivery. They can be used for giving reminders on receipts which are due to the government or send notifications on schemes which are relevant to the particular customer. This can be done in the most engaging way through a chatbot rather than a mobile application or an online platform, since it is driven by Artificial Intelligence.
And finally being on a blockchain the data mining and data storage process will be very transparent and safe. The data will not only be intangible and immune to hacking and other cyber attacks, but it will also be inaccessible to other users. Therefore, a blockchain-based chatbot can make a local government not only more humane but also safer.
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