Executive summary
Recently, I was asked if I trusted technology. I answered yes because technology is built by people, and in the main I trust most people. Technology in the right people’s hands is a force for good. And it does great things when it is in service to us. Not simply to create cost efficiencies – although important – but to better meet people’s needs.
The past decade has seen citizen services begin the journey of digital transformation. We can verify our identity online, open our laptops securely with facial recognition, book GP appointments, and view our medical histories in an app.
It's hard to believe that all this is still relatively new. When I entered the workplace as a researcher at the Ministry of Defence, there were four dial-up computers between our team to scour information for senior analysts and ministers. They beeped and groaned as they slowly pulled what scant information there was on the World Wide Web.
Now, we live in constant information overload and the converse is happening with data – we are deluged. It's this data deluge that – if carefully managed - can deliver the x-factor for government services. It will move us towards greater personalization, prevention and proactive anticipation of needs.
We’re already witnessing the incredible stories about AI in healthcare with the recent announcement of a stethoscope that can detect major heart conditions in seconds. We – at Atos - have had the privilege to work with NHS Scotland and their partners to deploy into a pilot site, an AI tool integrated with the Scottish Breast Screening System (SBSS). This tool can identify signs of breast cancer, some that could be invisible to the human eye.
We must use emerging technologies to the advantage of society. It is part of the cure for governments to rebuild trust in vital services and support a strong society. Improvements in services will benefit the health, productivity and wealth of our entire country.
The social contract
Reshaping the way the British state delivers and serves people by becoming more tech-driven, productive, agile and mission focused is the stated aim of this Prime Minister. Enhanced, more robust and reliable citizen services are highly achievable through effective digital transformation and the continued scoping, proving and scaling of emerging technologies.
Whilst the information space needs to be cleverly regulated, secure and accessible, I believe that we can grasp opportunities and avoid difficulties by placing our planet and people at the heart of change. An example is our pioneering approach to AI career paths for grads and apprentices, plotting their progression through our company before we hire in the knowledge that entry roles will change.
It's the job of all leaders across politics, industry and society to help citizens embrace the new AI-age. To build trust we must be innovative with our thinking and lean into our deep British engineering roots.
We can build circular computing principles into solutions, refurbish and reuse laptops, ensure services are accessible to the hardest to reach and keep data safe, secure and sovereign so people know it is on our soil and under our rules. We must earn trust by building services that make a difference to people’s daily lives.
This means building future-ready foundations that allow for flexibility in scale, changes to data security, and the seamless integration of emerging technologies when they come on stream. When the foundation is right, we can overlay with smart applications that bring personalization and control to citizens whilst delivering cost savings.
At Atos, we design our digital workplace solution with an AI wrap as standard. This means that when an employer who uses our services is ready to take the leap into offering AI for their employees, they’re already ready for it. Our solutions are also ‘future ready’ by having sustainability, accessibility and security features built in from the outset.
We can do this all through a lens of social value-driven procurement, integrating community impact into contracts. This sense of purpose strengthens the bonds between business and society, drives change for communities and – from my perspective as a leader – gives my employees more reason to get out of bed in the morning and work hard.
Embracing change
The truth is that although we live in challenging times, things are better now for the average person than they have ever been. We are living longer, healthier lives. But we expect more from our services to keep pace with the changes in technology we’re living through. It is eminently achievable to fix the social contract and improve all citizen services.
To our government partners we bring systems integration know-how from your laptop and mainframe to AI sensors delivering real-time and predictive insights. Our engineers and scientists bring deep industry knowledge, constantly scanning for emerging technologies that could benefit citizens and a level of cyber resilience that has seen us defend against 80,000,000,000 threats to the Paris Olympics last year with no impact on service.
This magazine has been developed to discuss our views on how we can prepare for a future that’s hard to predict. Technological advancements cannot be rolled back. We are on the precipice of a new AI age. We must keep moving forward, adapting and changing to meet the needs of society.
