At Microsoft for Government, our commitment is to help courts earn trust within their communities through solutions and outcomes that increase fairness, accountability, and transparency for all. We work with courts and other government agencies to transform court operations with technology that empowers everyone in the justice system—from judges to defendants, attorneys to prosecutors, and the many agencies and stakeholders across the legal ecosystem.  

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Courts face unique challenges modernizing technology 

Judges and government leaders recognize the potential of generative AI and cloud computing to transform operations and solve some of their greatest challenges. Here are four major areas where modern technology can help: 

1. Disparate systems across agencies and justice partners. Courts have traditionally been reluctant to adopt cloud-based solutions for a variety of reasons. This puts the justice ecosystem at risk as on-premises legacy systems and siloed data solutions don’t work together. The result is inadequate information sharing across agencies and stakeholders, compounding increases in costs and time to perform work. Moving court systems and data to Microsoft Azure can help streamline secure communication across the ecosystem for a human-centric approach and a 360-degree view of all stakeholders and their needs. 
2. Antiquated case management systems. Limited by disparate systems and disconnected data, many courts are hampered by bottlenecks in processes, an increased incidence of errors, and greater security risks. Interoperable case management systems that unify data and enable seamless, low-friction, and compliant court experiences, while reducing delays and gaps in data and operational costs. 
3. Limitations with hybrid hearings. COVID-19 revealed that many courts were inadequately prepared to deliver hybrid hearings when in-person sessions were not an option, resulting in numerous backlogs and delays. Cloud-based solutions, like virtual hearings, improved remote participation in all hearing types, with the exception of some trials. It delivers better evidence management and presentation capabilities, draft document sharing, digital court recording, and greater control over proceedings, as well as improves attendance.
4. Manual processes and limited analytics. Legacy approaches to data storage and management, including paper-based records management, inherently slow down processes and generate losses. These can be dramatically minimized with a modern cloud platform and enhanced productivity tools. Beyond improving records management, compliance, and security, a modern digital platform can improve interoperability across agencies, derive important insights from unified data, and enable new solutions that take advantage of generative AI capabilities. 

How Microsoft is helping courts to move to AI 

In our efforts to drive digital transformation with courts, we employ a high-level business architecture that meets the requirements of three main groups: court staff, external users, and administration personnel (court, state, and federal). We work with leadership to define potential applications and portal solutions for each, and define a baseline set of infrastructure requirements to enable them all.  

The goal is to help courts succeed in achieving these key benefits: 

• Increase agility and efficiency. Like all government agencies, courts must adapt to changing demands and requirements, and evolve their operations to improve flexibility and efficiency. The infrastructure of hyperscale cloud enables court systems and staff to scale and innovate quickly, while maintaining compliance and operational excellence. Generative AI can help the court staff execute critical court processes, like generating daily court correspondence workloads.   
• Accelerate delivery of essential services. The public expects fast, seamless access to government services, including courts. Hyperscale cloud and solutions powered by AI enable courts to deliver personalized experiences and inclusive programs that provide and improve accessibility and fairness for stakeholders across the justice system, helping to deliver better outcomes for all. Moreover, implementing generative AI solutions can help improve information sharing and communications across agencies and processes, bypassing the bottlenecks that can arise from legacy solutions.  
• Access advanced cybersecurity technology. Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and damaging, with ransomware attacks in particular targeting court operations across the United States. The hyperscale cloud provides world-class protection, with advanced security embedded into the platform to protect against the vast majority of known, preventable attacks. 

Most courts need to address infrastructure first—in other words, finish the migration to a hyperscale cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure that provides a secure and compliant multi-tenant infrastructure. The next step is to get data in order with a data analytics platform such as Microsoft Fabric, which can consolidate and manage data silos and lay the foundation for the era of AI. Then an organization can work with Azure OpenAI Service and begin exploring new use cases and solutions using generative AI. 

The list of customer success stories based on Microsoft solutions is growing, and includes the following: 

• The Orange County Superior Court (OCSC) consolidated more than 70 million paper files across three disparate case management systems into a single data warehouse, greatly improving efficiency and setting the stage to apply advanced analytics and build AI-powered solutions.  
• The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles was the first court in the nation to adopt a virtual hearings solution called Unicorn Digital Courtroom from Tech Unicorn, improving attendance and increasing efficiency in an estimated 37,000 hearings per month. 
• Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation built a search engine to give the public digital access to the court’s historical documents and other information to research cases, resolutions, precedents, and more. The AI-powered model enables access for anyone regardless of their knowledge of legal language.  

In my work with courts, I find that the major factor for success is leadership—visionary judges and leaders who drive culture change within the organization and shifting their mindsets around growth and opportunity. When I meet a judge or court leader who is considering the benefits, costs, and risks of modernization, I connect them with people in the same roles in other jurisdictions who have had success with their digital transformation journeys.  

The key is to make a commitment, take a strategic approach, and choose a technology partner who will be with you every step of the way. Transforming court operations is a long-term journey, but one that delivers benefits early and often. We are excited to work with our customers and partners to digitally transform court operations globally, and ultimately help provide fairness and justice through the courts for all. 

Learn more  

To learn more about how we can help in your court’s cloud journey, visit our website, read our Microsoft for Government e-book, or get in touch with your Microsoft sales representative or technology partner.

The post How the Microsoft Cloud and AI are transforming court operations appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

While navigating our way through COVID-19, courts were forced to dramatically change their well-versed practices to meet the ever-changing landscape. The courtroom has evolved from a pure physical domain to a hybrid of in-person and remote parties. Having an accessible, secure, and single source of truth, available through an integrated technology platform has never been more essential. As technical issues were solved and courtroom participants gained comfort with their new normal, hybrid courtrooms have become widely accepted and the norm and will continue to remain in some form. 

A changing landscape 

The continually evolving court landscape poses new and unique challenges for the judiciary and the public, demanding a great shift in court operations and administration.

• How do we ensure that all parties have fair, impartial, and timely proceedings, regardless of their location?
• How do we seamlessly integrate the various legacy systems across agencies, securely?
• What analytical insights can we arm court administration with to navigate the historical backlog challenges?
• Is this the time to build interoperability in the court system? 

And it is not simply COVID-19 that is driving change. In recent decades, growing case volumes and costs, along with tightening resource constraints, have prompted courts to seek technologies that facilitate more efficient justice administration while reducing costs. That has led to a smaller number of central court hubs. More courtrooms necessarily imply greater travel and logistical costs for courts staff, judges, police and other agencies, and parties. That makes a hybrid approach to justice almost inevitable. 

Microsoft’s extensive partner ecosystem has been a key component to the success and scalability of various judicial industry solutions. Learn more about modernizing court operations and see the solutions offered by our partners. 

Hybrid courtroom

As court hearings become hybrid, it’s important to identify gaps in the hearing experience that technology can bridge. While hybrid court proceedings may seem straightforward, developing an experience that allows courts to simulate a physical case hearing with minimal technology interaction and distraction is key. Quoting a judge, “Invisible technology is the right technology in the courtroom.” Technology within the courtroom is there to assist the proceeding, not hinder it. What does a truly integrated platform look like? Download the LACourtConnect Update to see an example of integrated platforms in a hybrid courtroom providing enhancements to the participants experience for remote appearances, including the ability to chat with other participants, monitor courtroom proceedings before the case is called, and more.

Data analytics

Courts across the globe are inundated with growing case backlogs. Traditional methods of analyzing vast amounts of data are tedious and time-consuming. Courts are looking at how they can put AI to work to maximize the use of data and modernize and automate selected processes. Machine learning systems built on Microsoft Azure provide critical analytics to derive actionable insights and intelligible data. With Azure, court employees can use natural language processing, form recognition, speech-to-text transcription, and translation services to index, search, and analyze text, images, PDFs, and audio or video files.   

How do we utilize AI to empower court operations to make better use of data and process cases more efficiently, to regain control of case backlogs? Learn more by downloading, AI-Ready Government: How Orange County Superior Courts Leveraged Data to Transform Operations.

Next steps

At Microsoft, and with our industry partners, we are building a justice management platform to meet these challenges, creating a single source of truth for all those involved in the justice ecosystem backed by the integrity and security Microsoft builds into all our products. Join us as we explore accelerating digital justice transformation in this upcoming blog series. 

Stay up to date on Microsoft’s global approach to public safety and justice by visiting the Microsoft for Public Safety and Justice website. 

The post The new world of court proceedings requires new set of digital tools appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Recently courts, like businesses and institutions worldwide, have been affected and required to modify processes. The unprecedented actions of locking down the globe presents many challenges, and unattended consequences, with the potential to impact the delivery of justice for all. While the court was racing to stand-up remote capabilities subsequent pressures including climate change, political unrest, and civil disturbances added to the complexity and urgency.

Courts have a great responsibility to our community given the continuity of justice is what keeps order and fairness. Those two elements become even more important in times of crisis. Many court leaders and administrators were fast to respond to the crisis. The quick adoption of remote working and virtual hearings capabilities helped keep the court open, eliminating backlogs. Meanwhile, court clerks were instrumental in helping the technology industry understand the unique requirements for a court

Microsoft worked with subject matter experts and the court customers to help develop a more tailored solution to meet the needs of a court. Virtual Hearings was the answer to the ask of customers to help replicate the functionality of the court process from a remote posture.

“… in our quest for digital transformation, with the aim of realizing expedited, efficient, and secure trials that are more user-friendly for court users especially during this time of public health emergency,” said the Honorable Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.

After several months of remote working, we have seen the technology evolve and adoption of the technology accelerate. The courts are learning that the ability to work remotely is not only advantageous for social distancing but an efficient and cost-saving measure that could enhance the services of a court. Technology savvy courts are realizing that they may not need the huge and costly infrastructures of a courthouse, that citizens can get levels of “self-help” from a digitally connected court, paper costs are reduced or eliminated with safer storage, auto redaction, and digital filing. Attorneys can quickly communicate and submit documents—regardless of time or location—to keep the pace of justice moving even when social distancing is no longer required.

Core to Microsoft’s culture, we have applied customer feedback to help evolve our technology to support the unique needs of courts. As our world evolves and changes, the needs of the court will as well. Microsoft, who embraces the mission of empowering every person and every organization on the planet is helping courts deliver on their promise of justice for all.

Watch a virtual hearing in action and learn more about Microsoft in Public Safety and Justice.

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