The dynamics of AI capability and its influence on public value creation of AI within public administration

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in public administration are gaining increasing attention due to the potential benefits they can provide in improving governmental operations. However, translating technological opportunities into concrete public value for public administrations is still limited. One of the factors hindering this progress is the lack of AI capability within public organisations. The research found that various components of AI capability are essential for successfully developing and using AI technologies, including tangible, intangible, and human-related factors. There is a distinction between the AI capability to develop and the AI capability to implement AI technologies, with more administrations capable of the former but finding difficulties in the latter. A lack of in-house technical expertise to maintain and update the AI systems, legal challenges in deploying developed AI systems, and the capability to introduce changes in the organisation to ensure the system remains operational and used by relevant end-users are among the most critical limiting factors for long-term use of AI by public administrations. The research underlines the strong complementarity between historical eGovernment developments and the capability to deploy AI technologies. The study suggests that funding alone may not be enough to acquire AI capability, and public administrations need to focus on both the capability to develop and implement AI technologies. The research emphasizes that human skillsets, both technical and non-technical, are essential for the successful implementation of AI in public administration.