Governing In The Age Of Ai Reimagining Local Government

2025-05-07 · Source: Insights | Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) · Field: Government & Public Sector — Digital Government & E-Government, Public Policy & Governance, Civic Technology & Smart Cities · Depth: Intermediate, extended

Summary

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) proposes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can revitalize England's local government, which faces a £16 billion funding gap by 2029 and declining public satisfaction. TBI's analysis, based on a partnership with one council, indicates AI could automate or improve at least 26% of tasks, saving one million hours annually and generating a £30 million productivity gain for that council. Nationally, this extrapolates to an £8 billion annual saving (380 million hours, £325 per household). To achieve this, TBI advocates for a Devolved AI Service (DAIS), a co-operative platform to foster innovation, build AI tools, and enhance capabilities. DAIS would spearhead three flagship programs: introducing AI co-workers in high-volume services like social care, piloting a Local Navigation Assistant for citizen interactions, and modernizing local planning with a data and decision-making platform and an AI Planning Assistant.

Key takeaway

For Directors of AI/ML or Policy Makers in local government grappling with budget shortfalls and service backlogs, you should actively champion AI adoption to drive significant productivity gains and improve citizen satisfaction. Prioritize establishing a Devolved AI Service (DAIS) or similar collaborative body to centralize AI strategy, overcome innovation silos, and scale proven tools like AI co-workers for high-volume tasks and AI assistants for citizen navigation and planning. Your immediate focus should be on auditing repetitive tasks, adopting existing data standards, and investing in AI literacy and talent development to prepare your workforce for this transformation.

Key insights

AI offers a transformative pathway to overcome local government's resource constraints and bureaucratic inefficiencies by automating tasks and enhancing service delivery.

Principles

• Local government can be an innovation lab.
• AI can shift focus from admin to high-value work.
• Standardized data is crucial for AI scalability.

Method

Establish a Devolved AI Service (DAIS) to provide vision, governance, build/incubate AI tools, transform infrastructure, and improve local capabilities, initially with central funding, transitioning to self-sufficiency via subscriptions and international monetization.

In practice

• Pilot AI co-workers for social care assessments.
• Implement a Local Navigation Assistant for citizen services.
• Develop an AI Planning Assistant for local plan development.

Topics

• Artificial Intelligence in Government
• Local Government Transformation
• Public Service Automation
• Devolved AI Service
• Digital Planning
• Citizen Services
• Social Care Technology

Best for: Executive, Investor, CTO, Policy Maker, Director of AI/ML, Consultant

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Insights | Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI).