Intelligent Management of Aid to Citizens and Companies

This information was sourced from "Intellgent Management of Aid to Citizens and Companies" by Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OECD), https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/intelligent-management-of-aid-to-citizens-and-companies/. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).

Innovation Overview

The aid automation process is part of the initiatives developed by the Digital Agency of Andalusia (ADA), through the Intelligent Automation Unit (UAI) to achieve efficiency and transparency in the public services of the Andalusian Regional Government. Specifically, this initiative is a benchmark in the automation of aid, which has a direct impact on citizens, as they can obtain these aids more quickly, given that the agile resolution of the process allows distributing the entire budget in the adequate manner and within the appropriate timeframe. This was impossible with manual management, but now a significant aid can be addressed in a short period of time. Thanks to the new model, the Andalusian administration has greater precision and efficiency in the most routine administrative tasks. This allows to delegate repetitive tasks so that the public employee can focus on improving the citizen's experience.

The management of aid is one of the most common and complex processes carried out by the Andalusian administration. It involves the processing of a high volume of files, for which a large number of requirements must be checked in each application. In addition, the process itself establishes dates and deadlines that must be met for citizens to obtain the aid in due time and form. The use of innovative automation technologies and models offers speed and efficiency in aid management, limiting errors that occur during manual processing, freeing public managers from tedious, slow and repetitive tasks, increasing their performance and personal motivation to be able to focus on optimizing the citizen experience.

The automated aid process transforms the way the Andalusian administration works, positioning itself as a key player for greater efficiency in public services and improving the quality of life of citizens, contributing to the economic recovery of the region. This automation solution seeks to become a reference model for the entire Andalusian Regional Government, based on the reuse of components for greater efficiency, reducing costs and start-up times, standardizing and homogenizing the management of aid. This model is the result of the previous experience of automation of processes of the Junta de Andalucía, in different departments and of different nature, and has been successfully validated in the management of aid to SMEs and Autonomous of the Regional Ministry of Universities, Research and Innovation and the Regional Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports.

Robotization in aid management is also complemented by an IDP (intelligent document processing) system for the evaluation of documentation requirements, which allows the processes to be fully automated, without the need for the intervention of external companies or third parties, strengthening the security of the process and reducing the associated costs.

The process is broken down into two independent branches: the processing branch and the consultation branch. As requirements are evaluated in the query branch, progress is triggered in the processing branch. The query blocks are implemented in an abstract form so that they can be reused from one process to another, so that this branch can be almost 100% reusable from one process to another. The robots help in the verification of the numerous requirements and, additionally, they can also collaborate with the managers in the processing of requests for justification, requests for the provision of documentation, verification of documentation provided or requests for correction.

In addition, the collection of evidence during the process provides reliable and verifiable elements that prove the performance of different operations by the robot, allowing an adequate monitoring of its operation, serving as an anchor point for possible reprocessing and for auditing purposes.

This initiative is aligned with the acceleration of the use of disruptive technologies and the development of skills of all employees for the modernization of the Public Administration. The project will contribute to advance towards the hyper-automation of the Junta de Andalucía, which refers to the generalization throughout the Junta de Andalucía of the use of innovative technologies:

• Automation of all types of administrative tasks: robotic automation (RPA), intelligent document processing (IDP), etc.
• Development of low-code applications of fast creation and scalability, thanks to the reuse of components.
• Use of Artificial Intelligence and advanced Machine Learning algorithms for the development of new digital solutions and services.
• Leveraging chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants to improve the user experience.
• Improved event processing through APIs and adaptive architectures
• Process automation: process mining, workflows and iBPN.

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

The Andalusian Digital Agency makes an innovative use of robotization technologies and intelligent document processing, articulating a new management model based on the reuse of components for greater scalability, reliability and increased performance. It contributes to the motivation of the manager by reducing monotonous tasks, allowing him to focus on more valuable activities, based on his specific knowledge. It is a work pattern that supports increased capacity in the face of peaks of activity and is a non-invasive technology compatible with current systems.

The aid management allows to homogenize manual processing, minimize start-up time and optimize costs. The manual work is replaced by the robotization, resulting in more efficient and error-free processes. It is not just about the application of a transforming technology, but also the consolidation of a centralized model for the entire Andalusian Administration that reuses it for an agile development of new public services.

What is the current status of your innovation?

This initiative began in 2020, coinciding with the first extraordinary aid that was granted in the pandemic in order to quickly manage and ensure financial sustainability. As of this presentation date in 2022, this project has already executed various aids in different strategic sectors. Now, we are working on the implementation of reusable assets for greater scalability, reliability and increased performance. Further, we want to develop a profile of skills and competence that are useful for innovation in the public sector.

Collaborations & Partnerships

The Andalusian Digital Agency is the promoter of the initiative, and it establishes synergies with the ICT managers of other bodies of the Andalusian Regional Government to adapt the systems to the robots or the robots to the systems. Also, those responsible for the management of aid in the different bodies are responsible for defining and calling for aid. In the nine processes underway, a total of four regional bodies are involved.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

More than 300,000 applicants have already benefited from the solution in a short period of time, essential for vulnerable individuals and families. Also, 200 managers are working for the robotization of aid in the eight Andalusian provinces, meeting their knowledge with the robot. The public employees benefit from it having more time for valuable activities, and the citizens' trust in the Administration is strengthened, benefitting from the greater agility and responsiveness.

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

The robotization process of aid is already working for strategic sectors. In total, more than 300,000 aid apllications have been managed so far for nine projects. Specifically, these would be the following examples:

• Nearly 95,000 hours freed up for managers of aid to SMEs and artisans.
• More than 75 robots working at the same time on employment aid.
• More than 1,000,000 of documents have been processed with artificial intelligence.
• More than 30 requirements have been automated (SMEs, sales fall, bankrupt companies, average number of workers, identity,

Current payment of taxes and fees, registration in the public bankruptcy, registry sanctions for contracting with the General Administration, etc.). The timely completion of the processing of these subsidies, with the pertinent verifications, allowed all beneficiaries to receive the aid, avoiding having to return the funds received for lacking management capacity.

Challenges and Failures

The need to provide a high volume of aid in a short period of time for the economic recovery after COVID-19 required defining and developing the aid processes rapidly, while coordinating between diverse actors. To this end, the work has been done while defining the processes, making the aid available as soon as possible and for the requirement be defined in the regulations in a robotized manner.

The robots’ identity also puts a challenge for the manager. Besides, there is a shortage of qualified employees that use these technologies, so it is needed to provide the resources and the change management that allows to adapt and use the model by all bodies, to build a consolidated model based on the continuous reuse of components to increase agility, and identify opportunities in which to apply it.

Also, the implementation of these processes must be followed by an effective communication, making a forecast on the demand and favoring the knowledge and application to the aid by the citizens.

Conditions for Success

The success of the initiatives depends, in the first place, on the coordination and alignment between the agents involved in the deployment and execution of the processes. In this sense, ADA is responsible for establishing clear guidelines to be followed by the technical staff and those responsible for the management of aid from other agencies, who provide the necessary support and contribute to the proper execution of the process, establishing a coherent roadmap for the achievement of its objectives. To this end, it has been implemented a methodology based on lean management standards, adopting the perspective of citizens, pursuing the simplification and continuous improvement of processes with the coordination of all administration agents, optimizing the management of time and resources.

In this sense, those responsible for aid management act as subject matter experts by clearly conveying the needs to the automation team, enabling the developments to be successful.

Replication

This automation model is replicable for all public administrations, since the calls largely share requirements and a similar processing model. It has already been implemented in different processes of strategic sectors.

The robotization of processes helps in the verification of identity requirements, data of self-employed, SMEs and companies, absence of sanctions and the provision of documentation or requirements necessary for the provision of a service.

Work is being carried out in the following sectors:

• Employment and self-employment: support for business solvency.
• Trade: subsidies for SMEs, aid to retail trade and the hotel and catering industry.
• Tourism: aid to active tourism companies, rural houses, etc.
• Transportation: grants to projects to minimize the economic and social impact of COVID-19.
• Housing: aid for residential rehabilitation and for renting to young people.
• Fisheries: aid for the temporary cessation of fishing activities.

Lessons Learned

We have learned some lessons from the initiative:

• There is a great opportunity for the rapid launch of aid when combining the implementation and definition of a process, that can be launched as a minimum viable product that can incorporate new functionalities as its development evolves.
• The aid process must be properly defined, providing as much detail as possible and clarifying deadlines, thus reducing process error rates and facilitating management.
• The parts previously developed should be selected for the new processes, since many of the automation modules can be reused with a “reusable blocks” methodology between different aids, that allows code to be reused between different robots.
• Finally, the human team must be prepared and coordinated, receiving the necessary tools and skills to respond with agility in the analysis and developments, carrying out an adequate change management that allows the managers to adapt and use the model in a generalized way.