Data and trust concerns on artificial intelligence are the main barriers to the technology’s widespread use for public sector functions globally, according to a new Capgemini Research Institute report.
The study showed that 79 percent of public sector executives in countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East are wary about AI’s data security, while 74 percent of those polled doubt AI-generated information.
According to the survey, public sector organizations still lack data mastery to advance generative AI use. Only 12 percent of organizations considered their data activation very mature, while 7 percent said they are very mature in maintaining data and AI-related know-how. Only 21 percent of public agencies reported they have the data necessary for training and fine-tuning AI models.
Data-Sharing Capability
Data-sharing is another area for improvement in public sector AI deployment due to apprehensions about data, cloud and AI sovereignty. Out of the 350 public sector organizations in the Capgemini survey, 65 percent are still in the planning or pilot stages of data-sharing programs.
Two-thirds of government agencies are already seeking or actively using generative AI to help provide public services, 90 percent of which plan to test or implement agentic AI in the next two to three years.
Rock-Solid Foundations
Marc Reinhardt, Capgemini public sector global industry leader, said deploying generative AI and agentic AI requires “rock-solid data foundations.”
“Looking ahead, governments can be more agile and effective as AI augments the work of government employees to source information, conduct policy analysis, make decisions and answer citizen queries,” the executive said. “However, to reach this future, governments need to focus on building the right data infrastructure and governance frameworks.”