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IT Workforce Planning and Development: Unlocking GenAI’s Full Potential in State and Local Government
03 May, 2024
Multiple sectors are already responding to the influence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology as it grows in application and scope, and state governments across the United States are no exception to this rule. As GenAI is expected to transform nearly every industry as it advances, it will push notable changes in state IT workforce operations, driving process optimization in the public sector and enhancing citizen service delivery.
While GenAI comes with promising benefits that are still unfolding, there are key challenges and concerns that must be responsibly considered. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) published a recent report in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, examining where GenAI implementation sits currently in state governments and how it is expected to impact IT workforces. The report is based on interviews with 49 state CIOs and provides guidelines to harnessing the full potential of GenAI.
Not if, but how: GenAI is driving US workforce transformation
McKinsey & Company reports that GenAI will unlock significant labor productivity in the United States, increasing by 0.5% to 0.9% each year through 2030, or 3 to 4% when combined with other automation technologies. The report was optimistic about the potential of GenAI, highlighting the potential to tackle mundane, routine tasks, giving workers more time and space to focus their efforts on higher-value activities that require original human thought.
With more time to dedicate to mission-driven, intellectually demanding work, NASCIO speculates an overall boost in workplace creativity and collaboration. GenAI is also expected to positively impact working conditions and hours, particularly enhancing existing jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and creative and business sectors, transforming roles instead of replacing positions outright.
Reflecting on state governments’ GenAI implementation journeys: Attitudes and progress
While GenAI adoption rates and approaches vary across state governments, a survey among state CIOs indicates that most states are already well underway with exploring the benefits and risks of the technology. 92% of states reported working on developing and implementing regulatory guiderails to scale up initiatives, with 80% collaborating with AI industry researchers and experts on use case possibilities. Notably, although roughly half of states have invested in GenAI workforce training programs, only 10% have explored the socio-economic implications of implementation, exposing a necessity for these types of assessments.
According to the survey, 80% of CIOs believe GenAI will strongly impact the public sector IT workforce, with a foreseen growing demand for data roles, security and risk roles, and AI roles. Moreover, roughly 2/3 of states are stressing a need to develop skills in responsible AI use, advanced cognitive abilities, and technological proficiency. CIOs predict GenAI’s contribution to productivity will mitigate existing challenges of backlogs and labor shortages, driving improved citizen services delivery.
The public sector as an IT laboratory? Initial use cases for GenAI in state government
The NASCIO McKinsey report shows that state governments are proactively experimenting with different GenAI applications, with many pilot projects being scaled for production. Advanced chat bots and query assistance are leading the way as practical applications, commonly being cross-governmental in scope, used to manage high inquiry throughput and reduce call center demand. After one state upgraded their site’s chatbot to leverage GenAI technology, monthly inquiries skyrocketed from 2,000 to roughly 30,000, indicating increased functionality.
State governments are also leveraging GenAI for other striking purposes, including serving as a copilot for workers in call centers and managing large volumes of data. GenAI is also expected to address state government’s persistent challenges with transforming legacy code into modern languages. Notably, using GenAI for content and document creation has been accepted as a feasible use case in the public sector.
Scaling GenAI initiatives: Significant hurdles to overcome
While NASCIO and McKinsey foresee positive transformations driven by GenAI, existing challenges related to data accuracy, security, and governance have risen to the surface, prompting multiple states to accelerate their data transformation programs. Skillset deficits are the prevailing source of concern among government CIOs, with difficulties recruiting talent due to competitive private sector salaries. Challenges related to bias, privacy and security also continue to be considerable hoops to jump through on the road to implementation.
Where to next: How state government CIOs can responsibly scale GenAI use cases
To fully capture productivity benefits of GenAI tools in the IT workforce and broader digital landscape, efforts from CIOs and diverse stakeholders to implement guidelines steering GenAI use continue to be necessary. Furthermore, government employers could benefit from ongoing workforce training implementation, as well as leveraging innovative recruitment strategies and hiring based on skills instead of credentials, widening the talent pool to address skill shortages.
The NASCIO McKinsey report suggests state government programs can proactively recruit based on projected demand by conducting baseline workforce capability assessments and anticipating skills needed for future initiatives. Moreover, despite challenges of offering less attractive salary packages compared to the private sector, state actors can lure talent by showcasing the significant societal impact of government AI projects.
The report further stressed the importance of CIOs leading the establishment and implementation of new employee training plans as part of an ongoing education initiative. Central hubs for state agencies, known as centers of excellence (CoEs) or innovation hubs, which have already proven to be beneficial for piloting new ideas and implementation schemes, can play a key role, serving as grounding points for training and collaboration across departments.
Shifting the focus towards a skilled and growing IT workforce in state and local government
As most states are well into the AI regulations and guidelines development phase, CIOs can begin shifting their focus towards growing GenAI initiatives through thoughtful workforce planning and development, filling current gaps in the talent pool and meeting projected skill demand. The collaborative NASCIO McKinsey report staunchly advocates for this pivot in objectives.
Through mitigating key risks and driving ethical and responsible scaling efforts, CIOs can unlock GenAI’s potential to support decision making efforts, improve employee working conditions, streamline government operations, and boost citizen service delivery. While such efforts will require a workplace culture change from the ground up, strides can be made through collaborating across multidisciplinary teams internally and with diverse external stakeholders.
Explore AI in State and Local Government
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