Despite the best intentions of many public sector leaders to build data-driven organizations, the reality is that 65% of public sector leaders still struggle to use data continuously in real time and at scale. The upside? Many leaders are taking advantage of AI and generative AI to tackle this critical need. But to reach that level of advanced data maturity and harness the power of these technologies, public sector teams need to manage and analyze exponentially growing data volumes — all while dealing with complex mission challenges.
We partnered with Socratic Technologies to dig deeper into the state of data in the public sector — the data behind the data, if you will. Over 1,000 C-suite, business, and technology leaders from around the world were surveyed on the current state of their organizations. With data and results from nearly 200 leaders in the public sector, the research reveals five key insights about their operational challenges, underlying data problems, and investment priorities (AI, GenAI, and automation). Here’s a sneak peek at the results.
It’s taking us longer to do our job, which is not good since most of our work is done in an emergency situation. We need to be able to get information as soon as possible.
Nontechnical decision-maker, public sector
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. . . but there’s little satisfaction with data insights
Based on the research, only 32% of public sector leaders use data insights for daily decisions. So, even when most organizations have no shortage of data, they continue to struggle with drawing strategic insights from it. Some challenges include:
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Teams struggling to adopt data tools and products
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Inability to monitor data and use insights in real time
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Difficulty with efficient use of AI to analyze data
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Tough to analyze data at scale
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Data silos and sprawl
Organizations aren’t quite as (data) mature as they think
The report analyzes organizations’ data maturity frameworks using the following levels to assess how far along they are in their strategic data journey:
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Level 1: Consume and capture
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Level 2: Analyze and action
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Level 3: Explore and automate
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Level 4: Collaborate and transform
While 76% of leaders in the public sector believe that their organization is more advanced in data analytics and intelligence than their peers’, their answers to the data maturity assessment revealed otherwise. They often had a lot of room for improved data management, analysis, and data-driven decision-making and efficiency.
Data is very siloed right now. Different systems exist, and they don’t communicate with one another. Each team is wary of giving up what they’re familiar with or pushing for change. We need an aggregator that streamlines everything.
Technology decision-maker, public sector
Can AI and generative AI come to the rescue?
AI and generative AI are already proving to be a powerful tool in driving better operational outcomes. Nearly all the survey respondents were excited and optimistic about the possibilities of using data and AI to increase productivity, citing the following as just a few of the potential benefits:
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Improved productivity (through a unified data view)
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Better operational resilience
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Enhanced customer experiences
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Reduced disruption and risk
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Lower costs
To stay current in the public sector, we’re using AI. All competition is already using it or will be soon — you can’t be left behind.
Technology decision-maker, public sector
Many organizations are making the leap into generative AI — are you?
This next-generation technology is changing how we cultivate ideas, solutions, and insights — unlocking unprecedented opportunities for innovation, productivity, and efficiency. Though the public sector is more cautious around AI adoption primarily due to government regulations and data privacy, nearly all the participants identified these top use cases where they’ll lean into AI:
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Automation of manual processes and workflows based on line of business requirements, such as customer support, research and development, and procurement
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Data ingestion and augmentation
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AI assistants that can help with information retrieval and summarization for day-to-day tasks
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Data summarization and analysis
What’s next?
We referenced just a small sampling of survey data points and findings. But you can dig into 40+ pages of findings on how public sector organizations are making better use of their data and using (or planning to use) AI to drive efficiency and productivity, enhancing team and customer experiences.
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