This article is by Kulani Abendroth-Dias, a behavioural scientist specialising in AI and digital policy. Kulani is currently a PhD candidate investigating public perceptions towards AI regulation in the US, EU and the UK at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She also serves as a Research and Governance Program Manager with Project Liberty Foundation. She formerly worked with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the views of any of the current or former organisations with which she is affiliated.

  • The problem: As countries continue to develop and implement the benefits of digital public sector infrastructure and delivery, malicious actors are looking for ways to exploit poor communication and processes to access citizen data and undermine security.
  • Why it matters: Unclear communication and siloed processes of how citizen data will be used by digital public infrastructure can erode trust in attempts to streamline public service delivery.
  • The solution: Legislative efforts to better connect the dots between science and public administration are already well underway. In practice, scientists trained in responsible science communication must work closely with public sector officials to break down the tech hype and learn from and implement digital systems on the ground. User feedback must inform strategic thinking by policymakers to improve priority-setting and support evidence-based policymaking.

A few months ago, I applied for a ‘Carte Vitale’ — the equivalent of a social security card in France. I submitted my information — copies of my ID and associated personal information, including my address and salary slip. The Carte Vitale was integral (literally, as it translates to ‘Vital Card’) to my benefitting from the social security system, especially medical benefits, that I was paying into, along with millions of French citizens and EU workers in France.

A few days ago, I received an SMS, which asked me to follow a link to verify my name and address to receive my Carte Vitale in the mail. After months of waiting for the card to arrive, I was thrilled. I was on a train at the time, travelling for work and juggling multiple tasks and deadlines. I quickly opened the link via my phone. The message noted a deadline by which the information had to be submitted to receive my card on time. The website looked the same as the one used by the social security public administration. The web address referenced Ameli, the online medical insurance website administered by the official French social security system. No passwords were requested. I clicked through and entered my last and first name and address to verify my personal information. It then took me to the final page — I had to choose my courier of choice to have my Carte Vitale delivered to me. Was I willing to pay 30 cents or 65 cents for my courier of choice, based on how quickly I needed the card? I hesitated when I was prompted to enter my credit or debit card details to process the 30-cent payment.

I scanned the site more critically. It looked exactly the same as the site my partner and I had used in the past. I clicked on the privacy notice. The page didn’t move forward. I then tried to open the menu. Nothing. They were non-functional.

I exited the page. Was this a phishing attempt or a poorly functioning website and notification system? I opened my laptop and carefully compared the web address in the SMS I had received against the official French administration website. The only difference was the .com in the SMS versus .fr used by the French administration.

Users of digital public sector services are a crucial source of data on pain points and how the systems being implemented are performing more generally.

How had my information, submitted four months earlier via paper to the French social security office in person, ended up in a system running phishing attacks? How many people who were desperately in need of their Carte Vitale to pay for medical services and receive other benefits, had entered their credit card details — after all,“It’s such a small amount that it’s negligible!” and suffered financial losses, fraud, or perhaps even identity theft on a larger scale?

The benefits of public sector digitalisation for citizens are clear — we must now communicate effectively

The human and economic benefits of digital public infrastructure are now widely discussed by international organisations and governments at large. Digitalising public sector service delivery can break down interdepartmental silos that limit scale and impact. Digital IDs, if implemented well, can cut through the paperwork to enable easier access to medical services, civil registration and welfare benefits to ensure vital services to determine eligibility quicker. Financial service providers and businesses can use nationally agreed-upon data standards for digital payment, verified via one’s digital ID, to ensure secure and swift payments. Efficiency gains can result from digitising services that allow human intervention to be allocated where it is most needed, with AI-enabled tools replacing time-consuming, manual tasks of sifting through mountains of paperwork to determine who is eligible for what, where and when. Digital tools such as Digital IDs can also be employed, with meaningful human oversight, to more quickly address fraudulent attempts to access public-funded benefits.

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In addition to digital public infrastructure such as Digital IDs better allowing governments to exchange data with partners and service providers, they can empower people to have more control and provide consent over how their data is shared. The EU Digital ID, for example, promises “a simple and safe way to control how much information you want to share with services that require sharing information”. It is planned as a means to allow identification both online and offline and allow interoperability between access to services across the EU, using the information stored within the ID as confirmation of the right to reside, work, or study across the EU. In other words, again, it would cut down on paperwork and allow for more seamless access to public services and benefits, often from the comfort of your own home.

However, due to poor processes and communication, malicious actors are constantly attempting to undermine the security and personhood of citizens who are ill-informed of how, when, where and who the personal information that they hand over to local public services will be used.

Public sector officials staffed at offices where people come in to submit and seek information are at the forefront of clearly communicating where and how data collected will be used and stored. As countries continue to roll out their digital and AI strategies and increasingly invest in the digitalisation of public-sector services, training public sector officials in the systems that are put into place and how they can be used — and misused — is of critical importance. These officials must be tasked with communicating to citizens, seeking their services, on which digital sources can be trusted and which channels will be used to access their services online. Language used to communicate this information must be simple and succinct to allow citizens across different backgrounds to clearly understand what is at stake. “No, we will not ask you to pay for your Carte Vitale at any point. No, we will not communicate with you via SMS — only via the website/email/post. You can expect a response via the website within x period.”

In 2021, the OECD found that just over four in ten people report high or moderate trust in their national government. Reliability, responsiveness, openness, integrity, fairness and perception of government commitment to effectiveness were found to drive public trust in government. Digital public infrastructure, when used well, can be used to boost public trust in government and reinforce democracy. When usurped by malicious actors, it can further undermine perceptions of public sector service delivery, chip away at public spending efforts and sabotage attempts to support underfunded public systems.

Ways to connect the dots

Efforts to better connect the dots between science and public administration are already well underway. Landmark agreements have been signed, for example the Ghent Declaration on the Challenges and Common Actions for European Public Administration. Countries that have yet to develop such agreements can look to their predecessors for lessons learned. Investing in responsible science communication in the public sector now requires a human-centred, behavioural approach to map out what types of information must be clarified and communicated, in what order, via which channels and over which time period to have maximum impact. Ways to do this include:

Break down the tech hype

Public sector officials have a key role to play in responsible science and technology communication. They should be trained, and in turn, communicate how data they collect will be stored and used, what it can and cannot do and what types of technologies are being used, when, where and how to collect and use people’s data. They should be able to clearly communicate, by default, in simple, succinct and user-friendly terms (avoiding lengthy privacy notices overlooked by users) what channels will be used to communicate with people seeking their services especially as systems begin, or continue to be upgraded and put online. Communication also does not have to be about text or investing in lengthy conversations on data use - simple visuals on “All you need to know on how we will contact you” in clearly visible locations at the administration premises or online may suffice.

Connect scientists trained in responsible science communication with public sector officials

Scientists, including data and behavioural scientists, engineers and developers need to be trained in how to simplify the complex concepts they work with to simple language that can be consumed by non-experts. They should be at the forefront of implementing digital public infrastructure tools, along with the product managers who implement and test out each system. They must be tasked with communicating the fact that data collected cannot be equated with objective reality — all data is subject to biases and limitations in their collection methods, the blueprint of algorithms used to process the datasets, and most importantly, the questions asked, and by whom, during the design of digital public infrastructure tools. Failing to include responsible science dialogue between the scientists who design and are able to understand the technical aspects of systems and public sector officials using the systems can result in disastrous consequences for governments and the use of technology in the public sector at large.

Link policymakers with experts in implementation

Policymakers committed to developing informed digital public infrastructure tools must work with experts with experience implementing digital public infrastructure ‘in the field’. There is often an experience divide between policy experts developing the governance mechanisms used to set up digital public infrastructure guardrails, the technical experts developing systems to be used for public sector delivery and product managers and IT professionals tasked with the implementation of the same systems in situ. Advisors hired to inform policymaking efforts on the potential harms posed by these emerging systems who have experience working with public sector officials on the ground may be better able to foresee challenges in implementation based on their own experiences ‘in the field’. Mechanisms to facilitate the recruitment and training of digital policy experts with experience on the ground must be prioritised to avoid errors and missed opportunities in implementation due to the use of broad, high-level language and a lack of understanding of the realities of public sector delivery. Models for connecting policymakers with technical experts in academia and the field in developing and implementing digital public sector infrastructure are emerging, with Code for America being a notable example.

Seek user feedback

Public sector offices implementing digital public infrastructure tools should include clear pathways for feedback and improvement. Users of digital public sector services are a crucial source of data on pain points and how the systems being implemented are performing more generally. Feedback can be used to identify potential misuses before large-scale damage is caused. Feedback mechanisms must be accessible, easy to use and designed in ways that value public input beyond formalities. This feedback must be used to evaluate the systems in use regularly and make necessary adjustments with the relevant developers to address impact.

The digitalisation of public sector infrastructure and tools promises a significant opportunity to improve the productivity and quality of public services and government operations in the face of continued public demand and pressures on resources. However, siloed, poorly tested and poorly communicated approaches to implement these systems can lead to the erosion of public trust in the technologies needed to improve them and government legitimacy at large. In the worst case, it can lead to an outcry against the necessary public sector spending and allocation strategies to improve and deliver tax-payer benefits. Careful thinking to facilitate responsible science communication around digital public sector delivery can enable those at the top to set an informed strategic direction that cascades down to actions on the ground. Most importantly, attempts to exploit access to personal information via digital systems are becoming more sophisticated. Responsible science communication can protect people seeking much-needed and valuable access to public sector services from malicious actors seeking to take advantage of those at their most vulnerable.

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