Public Sector is not what it was even a few years ago. Understanding emerging information technologies and their impact on government and their constituents, and the roles and responsibilities of IT and non-IT stakeholders in leveraging these emerging technologies in light of the digital transformation, will be at the heart of all of the courses.

Examples

of AI

in

Public Sector /

Government improving efficiencies,

accuracy, and accessibility

• Receiving benefits for job loss, retirement, bereavement and childbirth almost immediately
• Social insurance service provision
• Classifying emergency calls based on their urgency
• Detecting and preventing the spread of diseases
• Assisting public servants in making welfare payments and immigration decisions
• Adjudicating bail hearings
• Triaging health care cases
• Monitoring social media for public feedback on policies & emergency situations
• Identifying fraudulent benefits claims
• Predicting a crime and recommending optimal police presence
• Predicting traffic congestion and car accidents
• Anticipating road maintenance requirements
• Identifying breaches of health regulations
• Providing personalized education to students & marking exam papers
• Assisting with defense and national security
• Making symptom-based health Chabot AI Vaid for diagnosis
• Public interaction with government and access government services:
• Answering questions using virtual assistants or Chabot’s
• Directing requests to the appropriate area within government
• Filling out forms
• Assisting with searching documents (e.g. IP trademark search)
• Scheduling appointments
• Virtual assistants or Chabot’s being used by government:
• virtual assistants respond to questions or reroute to the right person
• assist to navigate services
• Other uses:
• Translation
• Language interpretation
• Drafting documents
• Transcribing speech to text
  

Naturally, having accurate, accessible, secure data is fundamental to a successful AI initiative, thus providing additional topics addressed in this program.  The Digital Government (Public Sector) Certificate focuses on the use of IT to enhance the strategic, tactical, and operational elements across the government value chain.

The certificate focuses on how to address the bureaucratic decision-making process at the federal, state, regional and local levels, while understanding how an administration (the collective body of employees a particular government entity houses) works collaboratively, effectively, and multilaterally with the benefit of the community and individual in mind, to build effective and efficient IT strategies that leverage emerging technologies.  Why decisions are made and in what manner (as well as under what degree of collaborative effort) are incorporated throughout this certificate.  The courses are designed for IT and non-IT professionals in government whose roles involve leveraging digital/smart government opportunities to provide demonstrable value from their IT investments, in light of the digital transformation and emerging information technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain, social media, analytics, big data), while addressing important considerations like providing a secure infrastructure and hybrid work environment.

During the course of study participants will be able to examine public sector management or policy issues, while understanding how the use of various entities within government structure may be used to come to a proper solution. Candidates will study policy analysis, to a degree of being able to conceptualize and interpret existing and future IT policy, as well as manage IT policy implementation in accordance to risk, uncertainty, and risk preference.  Candidates will be able to understand how new policy concepts may mesh with existing policy and law, as well as how it interfaces with the spectrum of public affairs, public perception, and public reception. Opportunities to leverage new technologies like social networking and cognitive computing to engage citizens are fundamental in today's ever-changing world.

For city and local government candidates, the focus will be on creating strategies and plans for smart cities that are securely connecting their constituents and infrastructure while effectively and efficiently leveraging all sources of data/information.  The program will address every layer of a city, from underneath the streets, to the air that citizens are breathing, while working in conjunction with everything from IoT sensors to open data collection (e.g., smart streetlights) to provide better services and better communication.  Data from all segments of the city/government is analyzed to identify patterns and derive recommendations/solutions from the collected data. Topics like smart energy, smart transportation, smart data, and smart infrastructure will be addressed, as will the use of IT across all government agencies (e.g., education, transit, health, justice, sanitation, public utilities).