Currently, 55 municipalities, regions, and authorities are jointly developing a shared digital assistant for the public sector. In total, over 2,000 employees nationwide are involved in this initiative, which aims to facilitate faster case processing and improved decision-making support. This collaborative effort is pioneering new approaches and building crucial capacity to address the challenges the public sector will face in the coming years.
Jonatan Permert presenting Svea at Almedalen 2024.
"Several forecasts indicate a significant impending staff shortage in the sector. Many tasks involve various forms of text handling, and we recognize that large language models can provide significant value in these areas. Svea, as the prototype being developed in the project is called, will be able to assist with tasks such as summarizing and analyzing texts, improving and editing texts, creating new texts, classifying documents, and offering personalized support to citizens," says Jonatan Permert, AI transformation strategist at AI Sweden.
Jonatan Permert, AI transformation strategist at AI Sweden.
Svea is exploring the functionality of a chatbot for the public sector and has already demonstrated positive results.
"It's incredibly rewarding to see that approximately 80 percent of those using the prototype report saving time through faster case processing and enhanced decision-making support. They also indicate an increase in quality and greater job satisfaction. This clearly signals that we are pursuing a valuable endeavor and that AI can indeed make a substantial difference in the public sector," Jonatan Permert continues.
The development of Svea is just one component of the broader initiative, "A shared digital assistant for the public sector" which commenced in May 2024. In less than a year, the initiative has expanded from 6 to 55 participating organizations. The overarching goal is to foster national collaboration on AI for text-based tasks and establish a foundation for shared solutions within the public sector.
"The collaborative structure itself, involving so many public sector stakeholders, is essential for the success of this important undertaking. The required volume of training data exceeds the capacity of most individual municipalities, regions, and authorities. It is also crucial that public sector employees are involved in the creation of this training data – they possess unparalleled knowledge of their needs and professional language," states Jonatan Permert.
Huddinge Municipality is among the project participants. Linda Burman, IT Product Manager at Huddinge Municipality, recognizes significant value for the entire organization, both in the immediate and long term.
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Participating in such a large and significant project is a tremendous privilege. Through this, we will enhance our understanding of AI, gain insights into its potential applications, explore legal considerations and information management, foster interdepartmental collaboration, and lead and navigate change.
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Linda Burman
IT Product Manager at Huddinge Municipality
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3