Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 05

Artificial Intelligence and Digi tal Transformat ion in Publ ic Sector Recently, CGE Deputy Editor sat down with Tara Holland , Industry Consultant for Govern- ment, SAS Global Government Practice to talk about digital transformation and AI and how technology is fundamentally changing public sector. 22 / Canadian Government Executive // November/December 2020 By Lori Turnbull Digital Transformation Q: Tara, what does SAS Canada do and what kind of work do you do there? SAS provides technology solutions that extract value from data. We provide organizations with the ca- pabilities that they need to extract this value. Extracting value from data means accessing and managing it to ensure it is of high quality, then assessing mean- ing and insights using mathematical and machine learning techniques. The value comes from putting those insights into ac- tion and for that, we provide capabilities to build and deploy models in systems that make decisions. SAS provides these capabilities across all industries, including banking, insur- ance, retail, manufacturing, and hospi- tality. My role is to focus on solutions for government, to be a voice for government when working with my colleagues at SAS, to be a resource to help governments ad- vance their digital transformation using our solutions, and to share experience and expertise from around the world. Government is an industry of industries, including public health, social services, ed- ucation, finance & taxation, transportation, and the environment. The priorities for government boil down to some combina- tion of delivering the most effective servic- es while maximizing the limited taxpayer dollars and keeping communities safe. My role is to share best practice ideas across jurisdictions. These include ways to use data, analytics, and artificial intel- ligence to achieve better outcomes for all citizens. Q: Digital transformation is a huge topic, but for today I’d like us to explore a bit about how this transformation is happening in the public sector. Can you speak to some of the most fundamental changes in the public sector, specifically as a result of AI? Most governments have been pursuing a digital transformation agenda for several years, but most public sector organiza- tions are at the start of the journey with Artificial Intelligence. It is important to point out that Artificial Intelligence is an umbrella term. At its core, Artificial Intel- ligence uses data and algorithms to make decisions and perform tasks previously done by a person. The most direct application of AI in gov- ernment will be to automate and stream- line repetitive, mundane, and simple tasks. Examples of this include reviewing an ap- plication to ensure it is complete, answer- A Conversation with Tara Holland , Industry Consultant for Government, SAS Global Government Practice