The government has no clear strategy for adapting to how new
technology will radically transform the way it works and the
workforce it will need, according to an Institute
for Government report.
This report warns that few government organisations are prepared
for the changes that increased automation of roles – through
technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Video
Recognition (VR) – will mean for their staff.
The use and influence of new technologies will profoundly change
almost every role in government. Some jobs will become redundant
– with call centre workers, administrative staff, and junior
roles particularly vulnerable to the effects of new technology.
But the report finds that new technologies will, in most cases,
mean jobs change rather than disappear. This will allow
government employees to focus on more complex aspects of their
work: from diagnosing to fixing problems, from administering to
analysing data.
Organisations across government are already embracing new
technology. The National Grid is now using drones, rather than
people, to inspect power lines; the Ministry of Justice has
introduced ‘digital kiosks’ for prisoners to request needs such
as food or booking visits, freeing up prison staff to safeguard
inmates; by 2019 HMRC had 78 robotic processes in place to handle
more than 15.7 million transactions that would have previously
required a human worker.
But, overall, the government is unprepared to take advantage of
the potential rewards that technological change will bring to its
work and workforce. Poorly-managed automation also risks harming
the morale and well-being of officials at every level of
government.
For the government to make a success of these changes, and manage
its workforce well through the next generation of digital
transformation, this report recommends that:
- The Cabinet Office develops a new overarching strategy for
the future of the civil service workforce that details the role
of technology in civil service reform.
- All government organisations should develop independent and
individual workforce plans that outline how they will manage
specific aspects of technological change relating to their own
workforce
- The civil service functions and professions should evaluate
how automation will change the profiles of different roles and
careers within government, supporting government HR teams to
assess the specific risks and opportunities that automation
presents to their workforces
