Maritime trade accounts for more than 80% of global trade by volume, making ports a foundational pillar of the global economy, according to UN Trade & Development (UNCTAD).¹ As trade volumes grow and supply chains become more interconnected, ports are asked to do more than move goods efficiently. They must coordinate increasingly complex operations, integrate data across fragmented systems, and enable safer, more predictable decision-making across a diverse ecosystem of stakeholders.

Meeting these demands requires a fundamental shift in how ports modernize their operating models to meet these demands, moving from siloed, reactive operations toward integrated, data‑driven, and intelligently orchestrated systems.

From Port 4.0 to Port 5.0: Capability over complexity

Port 4.0—widely used across the industry as shorthand for digitalized, connected port operations—laid the foundations through shared data, connected infrastructure, and more informed decision-making.

In our Ports of the Future framework, Port 5.0 is how we envision the next stage of operational capability—where ports orchestrate flows of goods, data, energy, and trust through integrated platforms and governed intelligence.

At a high level, Port 5.0 is about:

• Moving from visibility to coordinated action
• Embedding intelligence into daily decisions, with people in control
• Designing collaboration, governance, and security from the outset

This evolution is shaped by interconnected building blocks—from AI-supported control towers and connected inland corridors, to energy aware operations, trusted data collaboration, advanced optimization, immersive digital twins, and all hazards infrastructure resilience.

A new wave of enabling technologies

In the Ports of the Future framework, Port 5.0 is defined by a set of core operational capabilities. What has changed in the last 12–18 months is the maturity of technologies that now make these capabilities practical to deploy at scale.

• AI-supported operations
  AI systems can now assist with multistep operational workflows—monitoring conditions, proposing replans, and surfacing high impact exceptions for human decisionmakers—moving control towers from visibility toward orchestration, while remaining governed.
• Confidential computing for sensitive collaboration
  Hardware- based trusted environments enable organizations to process sensitive data while maintaining strong protections, supporting cross agency analytics and collaboration without compromising established data handling policies.
• Advanced optimization approaches
  Quantum-inspired and heuristic optimization methods help ports address complex scheduling and routing challenges—berths, yards, rail paths, labor, and inspections—particularly under disruption, when suboptimal decisions compound quickly.
• Digital twins and simulation
  Immersive digital twins increasingly serve as shared operational environments, integrating real-time data with simulation to support planning, training, and coordinated decision-making. AI-based simulation contributed to improved vessel punctuality and measurable operational gains, according to a case study of Busan Port,² illustrating the potential of these approaches when deployed thoughtfully.
• Security and governance by design
  As ports become data hubs, cybersecurity, identity management, and access controls are increasingly embedded into platform architecture from the outset.

Together, these capabilities help ports move from reactive operations to coordinated, system level performance—while keeping people in control and governance at the center.

Develop core operational capabilities

The Ports of the Future whitepaper explores these building blocks in depth, with real world examples and a pragmatic 24–36 month roadmap that helps ports move from vision to execution.

Explore Microsoft for public finance to help reignite the economy and drive financial accountability with public finance technology solutions.

¹ Shipping data: UNCTAD releases new seaborne trade statistics 

² In August container ship punctuality at 65.3% — World Ports Org 

The post Ports of the future: Building a framework for the modern port appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Yet social services leaders are under growing pressure to deliver both human outcomes and financial stewardship at scale. Backlogs, fragmented records, and manual evidence reviews strain frontline staff, while delayed verification and siloed data expose programs to error and misuse. The challenge is no longer choosing between inclusion and integrity. Modern eligibility systems must deliver both. 

Why does this matter now? 

The financial implications are significant. Around the world, governments are confronting the cost of improper payments, fraud, and administrative inefficiencies: 

• In the United States, the Government Accountability Office reports that 16 federal agencies estimated about $162 billion in improper payments in FY2024, with roughly 84% due to overpayments.¹ 
• In the United Kingdom, public sector analyses estimate £33 Billion to £59 billion annually in fraud and error.² 
• In Australia, the Australian National Audit Office reports that in 2021–2022, Services Australia delivered $124.7 billion in welfare payments, with an estimated 6.71% in overpayments.³ 
• In India, a government press note summarizing a quantitative assessment highlights ₹3.48 lakh crore in cumulative savings attributed to leakage reduction enabled by the country’s Direct Benefit Transfer program.⁴ 

At the same time, large-scale digital identity and cash transfer reforms around the world demonstrate  what’s possible when delivery systems modernize. These transformations show that improving both inclusion and fiscal stewardship is not only possible—it’s already underway. Modernizing eligibility is no longer just an IT upgrade. It is a service delivery transformation, a fiscal stewardship strategy, and a trust- building effort between governments and the people they serve.

Microsoft’s point of view 

Microsoft’s point of view is simple: modern eligibility is not about replacing human judgment with automation. It is about augmenting frontline staff with secure, interoperable, AI-enabled tools that fit into the systems governments already rely on. 

That’s why our approach emphasizes identity as infrastructure, evidence as data, and AI with humans in the loop—so agencies can modernize incrementally, maintain accountability, and adapt as policies evolve. 

What changes when eligibility is designed around real lives? 

When eligibility systems are designed around programs rather than people, friction is inevitable. Households move across life events faster than policies or systems can adapt, forcing staff to reconcile fragmented records, incomplete documentation, and outdated rules. 

Leading agencies are addressing this by treating eligibility not as a one-time decision, but as a continuous, connected process—grounded in strong identity, structured evidence, and shared data across programs. 

What modern eligibility looks like

Modernization is not a monolithic system replacement. It is a set of incremental, coordinated capabilities that governments can adopt without wholesale replacement.

Below are the core capabilities that define modern eligibility today. 

Identity as eligibility infrastructure 

Eligibility starts with a foundational question: Who is applying, and is it really them? 

Identity theft doesn’t just divert public funds—it can lock legitimate residents out of help. Treating identity as a side project is increasingly a risk. 

In South Australia, the Department of Human Services uses Microsoft Entra ID to strengthen identity protection through role-based access controls, multifactor authentication, and print and screen access safeguards. These steps help protect sensitive records and support secure self-service—without adding friction for legitimate users. 

Turning documents into usable data 

Documents are often the hidden tax on benefit delivery. Much of the delay in eligibility processing comes not from policy rules but from handling paperwork—reading scans, re-entering information, or chasing missing pages. 

The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs addressed this by using Azure AI Document Intelligence to extract data from paper forms and accelerate payment of childcare allowances. The Jenda portal also gives families visibility into application status and connects them to upskilling opportunities—illustrating how digitizing evidence can improve both speed and experience. 

Connecting fragmented records to see the full picture 

A resident may interact with multiple programs, often across separate systems. Fragmented data can lead to duplication, inconsistent decisions, or missed support. 

Singapore’s Central Provident Fund Board modernized its data management approach with Azure Databricks to serve more than four million people with a more holistic view—a strong example of how connected data improves outcomes while reinforcing integrity. 

Aligning eligibility with life events

Eligibility is not static. Circumstances change: employment shifts, caregiving arrangements evolve, households expand or contract. 

Modern systems use AI, responsibly and with humans in the loop, to: 

• Collect and structure evidence 
• Surface relevant context 
• Reduce administrative effort 
• Route complex cases to specialists 

The Washington, DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) built an AI-powered platform that saves 45 minutes per intake and expects even greater time savings for investigations, while enabling new features to be deployed faster and at lower cost. 

All AI capabilities described here align with Microsoft responsible AI principles and maintain human accountability throughout the process. 

Detecting anomalies earlier to protect funds

Fraud and error often exploit timing: delayed verification, siloed data, or missing crosschecks. 

European public sector fraud authorities are increasingly looking to augment AI‑powered analytics platforms with broader datasets, such as sanctioned entities and dormant companies, to strengthen early detection capabilities and help investigators surface potential risks sooner.

A practical path forward for social services and government leaders

Many eligibility modernization efforts stall because they focus on a single dimension—speed, cost reduction, or compliance—at the expense of the others. Microsoft’s approach is designed to advance service delivery, integrity, and trust together, using platforms that governments already operate and govern. That balance is what allows modernization to endure beyond a single program or funding cycle. 

Whether a program is just beginning modernization or aiming to scale next-generation capabilities, leaders can start with achievable, high-value steps: 

• Start where friction is highest: Identify the program with the heaviest documentation burden or the largest backlog. Early wins build momentum and trust. 
• Treat identity as foundational: A strong identity layer protects against impersonation and enables secure self-service for residents and staff. 
• Digitize the evidence pipeline: Use document intelligence to convert evidence into structured data so staff can focus on exceptions—not re-keying information. 
• Connect data to reduce duplication and missed support: A holistic view—especially at the household level—helps ensure decisions reflect real circumstances and prevents duplicative benefits. 
• Embed continuous integrity: Use signals, analytics, and network insights to focus oversight where risk is highest without creating barriers for eligible residents. 
• Measure what matters: Track speed, accuracy, integrity, and resident experience together. Modernization that improves only one dimension rarely endures. 

This is where Microsoft differentiates—enabling agencies to modernize eligibility without sacrificing accountability, trust, or program continuity.

A more trusted, human-centered future for benefits 

For social services leaders, the next step isn’t a wholesale system replacement. It’s identifying where eligibility friction is highest—and where stronger identity, smarter evidence handling, or connected data could immediately improve outcomes for residents and staff. 

Learn how agencies are applying these capabilities today and explore where modernization can start in your own programs.

Are you attending HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition in March this year? Make sure to check out the Microsoft sessions and expo booth.

¹US Government Accountability Office

²Global Government Finance

³Australian National Audit Office

⁴Government of India Press Information Bureau

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Public sector leaders face a pivotal moment: complex regulation, workforce constraints, and rising expectations for digital-first, no-wrong-door service experiences, while AI accelerates what’s possible. Forrester’s new Industry Cloud evaluation is timely because it looks beyond generic enterprise software categories to assess mission-ready platforms built for government realities: transparency, adaptability, and the ability to modernize with AI-native mission delivery while improving the reliability, responsiveness, and continuity of critical services.

Industry clouds for public sector: Where agentic AI meets mission-ready platforms

Public sector leaders aren’t just modernizing apps—they’re modernizing mission delivery. Microsoft empowers government mission leaders with an agentic AI platform: a secure, interoperable foundation where AI can move beyond answering questions to reasoning and acting across workflows with the transparency, policy controls, and compliance agencies require. 

At the center is Microsoft’s intelligence layer connecting the two oceans of government data (structured systems of record and unstructured documents, email, and operational knowledge) to close the intelligence gap that holds AI back. Work IQ brings context on how people and teams work across Microsoft 365; Foundry IQ grounds agents in authoritative policies, procedures, and institutional knowledge; and Fabric IQ unifies mission data into consistent meaning so agents can take action with governed, real-time insight. Together with Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform, and built-in governance through Microsoft security and compliance, agencies can harness their data, build mission centric agentic AI workflows, and scale agents that deliver outcomes.

• Deliver constituent service by connecting intake, contact centers, and case work with Copilot and agents that summarize, recommend next steps, and automate routine updates.
• Modernize permitting, licensing, and benefits with configurable workflows and low-code automation in Power Platform, grounded in authoritative policy through Foundry IQ.
• Strengthen compliance and oversight with governed data, auditable processes, and security controls that help agencies adopt AI responsibly while meeting sovereignty and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate mission operations across safety, justice, and resilience by unifying signals from people, systems, and knowledge so agents can support faster decisions and cross-agency collaboration.

What government agencies value most: Trust and measurable outcomes

Across government, the signal we’re hearing is consistent: leaders want modernization that earns trust and delivers measurable results fast—without forcing frontline teams to change everything at once. The strongest platforms are the ones that reduce administrative drag, connect data and workflows end to end, and make secure AI usable in the reality of public sector operations. 

Instead of copying and pasting, I enter information once and it shows up everywhere I need it. We can map our days faster, reduce human error, and get case plans in motion sooner.

Jayna White, Subject Matter Expert, Washington, DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA)

We also hear that AI only becomes transformative in the public sector when it can be deployed in a controlled environment, aligned to existing security protocols, and scaled quickly to the people doing the work. Sandia National Laboratories’ approach reflects a growing pattern: deliver the capabilities of modern models while keeping sensitive work protected within the agency’s boundaries.

We wanted the value of popular AI models, but we wanted to deploy that value in a very secure Azure environment. With this tool, we could take a snapshot of each new model released and give that to our employees without having to actually connect to a public model.

John Zepper, Information Engineering Executive Director and Chief Information Officer, Sandia National Laboratories

Together, these stories highlight the outcomes public sector organizations are prioritizing right now: 

• Faster, better-informed decisions with unified, person-centric case and mission data.
• Real time returned to frontline teams by eliminating re-entry, manual handoffs, and repetitive searches.
• Security-first AI adoption that fits government risk frameworks and protects sensitive work.

Extend mission outcomes with trusted partners

No single provider solves every government scenario out of the box, so extensibility matters. 

Microsoft provides a foundation across cloud, productivity, workflow, data, and AI—while partners add industry depth, localization, implementation services, and specialized workloads (including emergency response and dispatch scenarios). 

An open, interoperable posture—aligned to public sector standards—helps agencies avoid scenario-level lock-in while gaining the benefits of a governed platform. 

A platform path to responsible AI modernization

For government leaders evaluating industry cloud strategies, this recognition is a practical signal: 

• You can pursue AI-enabled modernization responsibly—with trust requirements front and center. 
• You can adopt a platform approach that scales across agencies and missions, instead of rebuilding the same capabilities program by program. 
• You can modernize in a way that supports compliance and sovereignty needs, while still enabling interoperability and innovation. 
• You can choose an approach that supports incremental adoption, meeting agencies where they are—whether starting with productivity and collaboration or expanding into data, low-code workflows, and mission systems. 

We appreciate Forrester’s recognition of Microsoft as a Leader in this inaugural evaluation, and we welcome the ongoing dialogue with public sector leaders on how to modernize services with AI—securely, transparently, and with the trust citizens expect. 

To explore the full evaluation, read The Forrester Wave™: Industry Cloud Solutions For Public Sector, Q1 2026.

Forrester disclaimer: Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.

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At Microsoft, we’re proud to partner with governments and innovators globally to advance AI-powered infrastructure. The latest Smart Cities World Trend Report, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, highlights how cities are moving from reactive planning to proactive resilience, using AI to anticipate, adapt, and act.

Moving from prediction to preparedness in Jakarta’s flood management 

In Jakarta, Indonesia, flooding has long posed a threat to millions of residents. The Jakarta Smart City program, in partnership with SAS,¹ deployed an AI-powered analytics platform that forecasts flood risks up to six hours in advance. By integrating data from rainfall sensors, river gauges, and weather services, the system lets authorities close floodgates, activate pumps, and issue alerts through the JAKI app before disaster strikes.

This shift from reactive to preventive action exemplifies how AI strengthens resilience. As Hannah Prior, Climate Resilience Lead for Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector, explains:

“We’re now entering an era where we genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen next… In the past, city planners would have said, ‘Let’s plan for a one-in-100-year flood.’ But those kinds of events have become far more common and therefore more difficult to plan for.”

Enhancing operations with AI: Evergy’s utility transformation 

In the United States, Evergy, a public utility serving 1.7 million customers across Kansas and Missouri, has embraced AI and automation to transform its operations. Using Microsoft Power Platform, Evergy developed over 275 automation solutions that save more than 120,000 hours annually. From drone image processing for power line inspections to intelligent data extraction for inventory management, AI is helping Evergy improve efficiency, reduce errors, and enhance resilience across its energy infrastructure.

These innovations not only streamline internal processes but also support Evergy’s transition to cleaner energy generation, with workforce adaptability and operational continuity in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.

Strengthening water resilience for future challenges 

In southern France, the Société du Canal de Provence (SCP) is tackling water stress through its REImu program, an intelligent water network initiative powered by Microsoft Azure technologies. By integrating IoT sensors, smart meters, and big data platforms, SCP can monitor consumption, detect leaks, and forecast demand across a 6,000-kilometer distribution network. The system also combines meteorological and agricultural data to provide adaptive irrigation advice and enhance drought preparedness.

The next phase will use AI to refine consumption forecasts and detect inefficiencies automatically, turning water networks into climate-resilient, data-driven systems.

Adopting a system-of-systems approach to plan for uncertainty

Beyond individual use cases, cities are beginning to adopt a system-of-systems approach, integrating data across water, energy, transport, and environmental domains to model complex interactions and plan dynamically. Platforms like Sentient Hubs in Australia exemplify this shift, allowing for near real-time scenario planning and collaborative decision-making.

“It’s really about moving from a static, five-year flood plan sitting in a PDF on a shelf to a dynamic, living plan that exists as a digital platform… People can access it at any time to understand, in near real time, what’s happening across their systems.”

—Hannah Prior, Climate Resilience Lead for Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector

This approach transforms resilience planning into an active, adaptive process, one that evolves with every new dataset and empowers cities to respond to uncertainty with confidence.

Advancing sustainability and efficiency through AI

AI’s value extends beyond resilience; it also helps cities meet sustainability goals. In Munich, Germany, the municipal utility Stadtwerke München uses Microsoft Azure IoT and Azure AI to optimize electric bus operations, forecast energy demand, and reduce waste. Ninety percent of Munich’s electricity already comes from renewable sources, and AI is helping the city move closer to full carbon neutrality.

In Singapore, the Smart P.U.B. initiative uses thousands of sensors and AI analytics to detect leaks and optimize water distribution, achieving 5% water savings and near-zero pipe bursts.² These examples show how AI can reduce emissions, conserve resources, and improve service delivery.

Building responsible, inclusive infrastructure for all

As cities scale AI-powered infrastructure, governance and fairness must remain central. Seattle’s 2025–2026 AI Plan sets a benchmark for responsible deployment, grounded in principles of innovation, accountability, fairness, and transparency.³ The plan mandates human oversight, bans harmful applications, and introduces a Proof of Value Framework to assess AI projects for responsible impact.

Used responsibly, AI can democratize resilience, making forecasting affordable and accessible, reducing bias in decision-making, and ensuring that infrastructure serves all communities equitably.

Microsoft for government operations and infrastructure

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Join us at Smart City Expo World Congress November 4–6

The journey toward resilient, sustainable infrastructure is underway, and AI is at the heart of it. From Jakarta to Kansas City, from Provence to Munich, cities are showing what’s possible when technology meets purpose.

To learn more about how Microsoft and our partners are helping cities build future-ready infrastructure, join us at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress. Discover the latest innovations, connect with global leaders, and explore how AI can help your city thrive amid uncertainty.

¹ https://www.sas.com/sas/partners.html

² High Fidelity Digital Twin-enabled Anomaly Detection and Localization in Singapore | The Year In Infrastructure | Bentley Systems

³ Seattle launches responsible AI implementation plan – Smart Cities World, September 25, 2025

The post How cities build resilient infrastructure with trusted AI appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

Three common themes emerged at these public finance, customs, and trade events.

1. AI is driving smarter, faster public sector services

AI is reshaping public finance, trade, and tax administration. At the 2025 International Trade and Trade Finance in the Digital Economy Conference, leaders explored how AI is driving productivity, resilience, and sustainable growth. With only 2–3% of global trade currently digitalized, the opportunity for efficiency gains is immense—a single electronic document can save billions in direct costs and create even more value in global trade.¹

AI-powered solutions are already delivering measurable results:

• Frictionless borders and trusted trader onboarding
• Empowered customs officers with real-time data and mobile tools
• AI-based risk management for fraud detection and compliance
• Sustainable logistics that reduce carbon footprints and improve efficiency

These capabilities are already in use—reducing goods clearance times by up to 30% and cutting document review durations by 90%.²

• The General Directorate of Customs of the Dominican Republic (DGA) recently modernized its back-office and customer service operations using Microsoft intelligent cloud solutions, reducing some tasks from seven days to just 24 hours.
• The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) uses technology innovation to access the latest data, promote new markets, suggest targeted opportunities, and invite clients to events.
• CSX uses AI and low-code automation to help customers track freight, manage shipments, and access rail logistics services through its online portal.

2. Building inclusive public services through collaboration

Transformation in public finance is a shared journey. The OECD Forum on Tax Administration’s Working Group on Tax Administration 3.0 highlighted the power of taxpayer ecosystem cooperation. Governments and industry partners are working together to build trusted, interoperable systems that allow:

• Secure data collaboration across agencies and sectors
• Quantum-safe digital identity and verifiable credentials
• Privacy-preserving technology with confidential computing
• Cybersecurity and access
• Contextual intelligent automation with AI agents

This collaborative mindset is driving the next phase of digital transformation, ensuring that modernization efforts are resilient, inclusive, and aligned with the needs of all stakeholders.

3. Putting taxpayers first with data-powered services

The shift toward taxpayer-centric, data-driven services is another recurring theme. Agencies are using real-time insights, digital identity, and privacy-preserving technologies to deliver:

• Personalized taxpayer experiences and simplified compliance.
• Outcome-driven investments that improve service quality and transparency.
• AI copilots that empower auditors, analysts, and citizens.

Examples abound: Estonia’s Bürokratt solution simplifies taxpayer experience with AI-powered natural language interactions, while the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs uses data-driven budgeting to enhance financial operations. In collaboration with the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), Microsoft has helped build intelligence tools that detect anomalies and empower tax agencies to become more efficient.

What’s next for AI in public finance transformation

As we prepare for the 6th Annual International Conference on “Real-Time Economy Development and Tax Administrations,” the focus is on interoperability, data trust zones, and AI-powered tax ecosystems. Microsoft will be contributing to this dialogue and sharing how our technologies are using real-time data services, secure collaboration, and next-generation AI agents for public finance agencies.

Across all these engagements, one message is clear: the future of public service is collaborative, intelligent, and taxpayer-first. At Microsoft, we’re committed to enabling this transformation through technology, partnerships, and a deep understanding of government missions.

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¹ McKinsey & Company, The multi-billion-dollar paper jam: Unlocking trade by digitalizing documentation, October 4, 2022.

² United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Advancing Digital Transformation: Global Insights into the Digitalization of Trade Procedures, December 29, 2023.

The post From vision to impact: Advancing public finance transformation through AI and ecosystem collaboration appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

To make every budgeted dollar count towards economic growth, finance leaders should shift towards informed budgeting. Informed budgeting uses performance metrics, citizen needs, and economic forecasts to allocate resources more effectively. Here’s how this approach can benefit public finance agencies and economies:

• Informed decision making: Get real-time insights into budget requests and the impact of budget allocations across government programs, agencies, and the broader economy.
• Economic resilience: Ensure budgets are adaptable to shocks and capable of sustaining critical services during crises.
• Financial inclusion: Allocate funds and programs to underserved communities and businesses to ensure that growth is widely shared.
• Cross-agency collaboration: Break down silos between departments to share data and insights for coordinated, strategic investments.

Traditional budgeting approaches are no longer sufficient. Many government finance systems still operate in analog silos, where each department plans independently, making it difficult to address outcomes that span multiple sectors. Legacy systems also limit agility. Analysts spend significant time gathering supporting information and manually modeling accurate forecasts or quickly simulating the reallocation of funds in response to changing economic conditions. The result can be budgets that are misaligned with real-world needs and policy goals or that lack timely impact.

To deliver proactive, transparent, and data-driven budgeting to the public, budget and treasury agencies need to modernize budget planning and execution. Microsoft collaborates with governments globally to unlock the new opportunities and capabilities that AI advancement bring towards the goal of economic growth.

Informed decision making

Informed decision-making is critical for public finance agencies because it ensures that budget planning and execution are grounded in real-time data and insights. This approach allows for more accurate forecasting, prioritization of resources based on actual needs, and strategic allocation that maximizes impact across individuals, communities, and businesses—while also enhancing transparency, accountability, and public trust in financial governance.

• Advanced data analytics and AI for forecasting: By using AI, agencies can analyze historical economic data and run ‘what-if’ scenarios with greater accuracy. The following solutions allow officials to proactively adjust plans rather than react.
  • Predictive analytics: Forecast economic trends and simulate policy impacts.
  • Natural language processing: Analyze public sentiment and policy documents.
  • Scenario modeling: Evaluate different policy trade-offs.
• Real-time reporting and analytics: Modern reporting tools like Microsoft Power BI and Azure data analytics let agencies to build live dashboards that track spending against KPIs. Live dashboards provide near-real-time visibility into fund usage and achieved results, allowing budget officers to monitor allocations and correlate spending with economic indicators for timely adjustments. Outcome-based budgeting becomes possible, linking allocations to metrics such as gross domestic product (GDP) growth or poverty reduction. This allows continuous feedback between spending and impact.

Economic resilience

To foster economic growth and resilience, government budgeting must become more predictive, agile, and outcome-focused. Leading agencies are transitioning from static annual budgets toward dynamic forecasting and continuous re-planning with modern technologies.

• Integrated budget management systems: Modern cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance provide end-to-end budgeting, accounting, and reporting on a single platform. This integration allows seamless data flow from planning to execution to audit, reducing errors and manual work.
• Process reengineering and automation for execution: Automation ensures that budgets are executed efficiently. With low-code automation, organizations are empowered to improve fund distribution, grants management, and procurement, allowing money to move out faster and more accountably.
• Cultural change: Transitioning from annual, siloed cycles to agile, collaborative budgeting requires a cultural shift. Agencies may need to update regulations for mid-year adjustments and foster a culture of data-driven decision-making and interdepartmental cooperation. Pilot projects can demonstrate quick wins and build support.
• Upskilling the workforce: Technology adoption is effective only when staff can interpret data insights and adapt policies as needed. Agencies should invest in training finance professionals in data science, AI, and modern systems. For public finance agencies, Microsoft offers training for enhance public sector services with generative AI, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, and finance-specific use cases with Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Financial inclusion

Finance agencies are expected to allow access to funds and programs while balancing inclusivity and reach across communities and businesses. To achieve this, they need insights into real-time needs and gaps. They must establish streamlined access as well as strong eligibility checks so they can move resources securely, effectively, and quickly.

• AI-powered taxpayer-centric models: Agencies can better understand the diverse needs of individuals and businesses by mapping life events to financial touchpoints. Collaborating with banks and financial technology companies creates a seamless service delivery. Agencies that conduct gap assessments with central banks and regulators can identify underserved populations and tailor inclusive strategies.
• Streamlined intake and eligibility checks: Service interactions can be simplified through unified customer accounts and identity systems, and low-code automation. This allows instant access through intelligent portals and virtual assistants while also accelerating decision-making with automated eligibility checks.
• Transparency and citizen engagement: Informed budgeting involves engaging the public by transparently sharing plans and results. Online portals allow citizens to view allocations and provide feedback, leading to better-aligned projects and increased trust.

Cross-agency collaboration

Achieving economic growth through budgeting requires collaboration across all government sectors—not just finance ministries. For example, a nationwide upskilling program might involve the treasury for funding, the education ministry for implementation, and the labor department for outcome tracking. If departments operate in silos, programs can falter.

• Unified data sharing: Modern platforms allow departments to securely share data and insights. Cloud-based data hubs and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform and Microsoft Teams allows for a consolidated view of economic initiatives. Planners can evaluate performance across all government sectors to inform future funding decisions.
• Cross-functional budget task forces: Some governments establish interagency teams to oversee major spending initiatives. These teams use digital project management and analytics tools to coordinate efforts. Collaboration ensures that support reaches the right beneficiaries at the right time, enhancing inclusion and growth.
• Security and compliance: Government financial data and cloud solutions require rigorous security and privacy, especially when data is shared across departments. Microsoft’s public sector cloud services emphasize compliance, identity management, and data protection, giving public finance officers confidence in the security and trustworthiness of the systems they use.

The impact of AI on informing budgeting

Government budget planning and execution is a structured process that ensures public resources are allocated effectively and transparently. From the first step to the last, the process and the people can be supported by AI.

Strategic planning and policy formulation are the initial steps where governments define macroeconomic goals and align departmental plans with national priorities. AI can enhance this phase through predictive analytics, scenario modeling, and natural language processing to analyze trends and public sentiment.

During budget preparation, ministries and agencies submit proposals that central authorities review and consolidate. AI streamlines this step by automating data validation, prioritizing projects using decision-support algorithms, and assisting users with chatbots.

During the legislative approval phase, AI tools can summarize complex documents, analyze stakeholder sentiment, and simulate the impact of proposed amendments. Once the budget is approved, execution involves fund disbursement, procurement, and project implementation. In this phase, AI supports robotic process automation, fraud detection in procurement, and real-time monitoring dashboards.

Monitoring and reporting follow, where AI detects anomalies, automates reporting, and uses geospatial tools to track project delivery. In the audit and evaluation phase, AI aids in text mining audit reports, conducting forensic analysis, and assessing program outcomes.

Throughout all stages, AI enhances transparency, interoperability, and capacity building, making the budgeting process more efficient, accountable, and responsive.

Success stories: Informed budgeting in action

• City of Columbus (US): Columbus modernized its financial management by adopting Dynamics 365 to handle its complex finances. This system oversees more than 150 departmental budgets, 3,500 capital projects, and 9,000 forecast positions with automated workflows and multi-level approvals, ensuring transparency and compliance. The city’s approach serves as a model for others upgrading legacy systems.
• City of Redmond (US): Redmond used Dynamics 365 to streamline operations and enhance financial visibility across 500 departments and 82 budget owners. The upgrade created automated workflows, centralized purchasing and accounts payable, and real-time data access. The city identified $3.6 million in savings and filled a $6 million public safety levy gap.
• Municipality of Breda (Netherlands): Breda modernized public service delivery by adopting Microsoft Copilot to address staffing shortages and heavy workloads, empowering 3,600 employees to focus on complex policy issues. Breda piloted more than 25 AI-powered use cases including document drafting, email management, and multilingual migrant support—saving up to 28 hours per employee monthly.
• Somerset Council (UK): Somerset Council used Dynamics 365 to unify five previously separate councils under a single compliant system, replacing 50 disconnected applications and four enterprise resource planning systems—all within 10 months. The council now oversees financial operations across 5,000 staff and multiple service areas with automated workflows, centralized data, and integrated reporting.
• Johor Corporation (Malaysia): JCorp used Microsoft solutions to unify its diverse business segments, eliminate silos, and accelerate data-driven decision-making across more than 500 users and more than 100 AI use cases. The organization centralized data, streamlined collaboration, and embedded AI into workflows for real-time insights, automated documentation, and scenario planning.

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Informed budgeting is transforming public finance from a reactive exercise into a proactive strategy for growth. By using data, cloud technology, and teamwork, governments can ensure public funds drive outcomes that lead to stronger economies and greater public trust.

The journey is ongoing. Microsoft and our partners are ready to assist your organization in this process. To learn more about how our technology and expertise can help your agency implement informed budgeting, visit the Microsoft for public finance page today.

The post Modernize public finance with AI: Informed budgeting for economic growth appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

“Potholes not only tell you about the state of your infrastructure,” noted a Harvard researcher in 2019, “they also tell you about the nature of participation in your city.”¹ A city that fixes a pothole promptly is not just responsive, its constituents feel empowered to engage with government. 

In recent years, expectations have only risen on what governments need to deliver, leaving many cities struggling to deliver services in ways people prefer while also running a gauntlet of budgetary, regulatory, and societal challenges. On the one hand, citizens want to access great city services on par with how they do their banking or shopping—that is, secure, personalized experiences on smartphones and computing devices, rather than exclusively in-person. On the other hand, governments face unprecedented pressures in terms of funding, regulations, staffing, and cybercrime. 

To bridge this gap, more and more city governments are looking to use the force-multiplying power of generative AI. Its ability to converse in natural language and reason over vast stores of data, then find answers, compose messages, and orchestrate actions is not only solving longstanding modernization challenges, it’s also opening incredible new frontiers in city services. 

Helping city governments evaluate, explore, and successfully deploy high-impact solutions with AI is now the primary focus of our work at Microsoft for government. In cities around the world, we have seen dramatic acceleration in generative AI innovation, with new solutions that are helping cities to: 

• Deliver personalized services.
• Empower the professionals who serve the public.
• Derive better insights and greater value from data.

The future of the smart city is already here—in Abu Dhabi 

The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, launched an ambitious drive around 15 years ago to make government services more accessible and service-oriented. In Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital, those efforts took a giant leap with the advent of AI, accelerating innovation that led to the launch of a new AI-powered government services platform in October 2024. 

Aptly called TAMM—which in Arabic translates to “consider it done!”—the platform began as a centralized portal several years ago and was revised to expand service offerings. With the application of new AI capabilities, it is now a one-stop digital hub, offering access to nearly 950 government services for citizens, residents, visitors, and investors. 

Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI service, TAMM uses advanced AI to deliver new classes of benefits. The platform offers real-world examples of how AI can transform smart cities by unifying services and inviting engagement in new and powerful ways. 

Here are three noteworthy ways that TAMM improves city service delivery. 

1. Serve people as they like, with personalized interactions 

TAMM is designed to remove barriers between government services and the people who need them. In many cases, that means no longer forcing them to go to government buildings to get things done. 

The new TAMM includes a generative AI assistant that provides every day service, offering personalized access to services such as license renewals, utility bill payments, permit applications, healthcare, and more. There’s even a new photo reporting app, where people can take a snapshot of a problem they come across (including, yes, a pothole) and the assistant helps to fill out a report and later sends updates on the progress of repairs. 

TAMM also helps to untangle bureaucracy to simplify common yet complicated tasks. The process of registering a car, for instance, was dramatically simplified. What previously required days of visiting buildings and standing in lines can now be done quickly through the app—which also recommends the right type of insurance policy and synchronizes it with registration. 

2. Deliver better results with a more energized and empowered workforce 

Because TAMM handles so many more routine tasks than before (such as responding to basic questions on services issues or applications), city employees can focus more on high-value service delivery. With live services including video and audio options, agents can deliver high-touch assistance while still maintaining user privacy. 

A good example of this is the case of a foreign worker who lived in Abu Dhabi for 10 years and was told by an immigration agent that she couldn’t leave the country due to visa issues. In tears, she opened the TAMM app on her phone and was connected to a helpline, where an agent quickly eased her anxieties. “I said I don’t know what to do, and the agent was literally amazing,” the woman said. “[The agent] said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s getting updated now’—and I was on my way.” 

The approach to innovation behind TAMM also reflects an important trend: equipping public servants to work like product teams so that city services evolve like platforms. The TAMM organization operates in a unique “factory” in Abu Dhabi that operates like a startup—agile, data-driven, and obsessed with user satisfaction. The city’s employees don’t just execute services; they co-innovate with citizens and stakeholders to create them. Real-time dashboards, productivity-enhancing agents, and a culture of continuous iteration are driving success and proving that empowering the workforce is the foundation of smarter cities. 

3. Keep cities moving with services that listen, learn, and protect 

TAMM is designed to help people better navigate government services by understanding and responding to user needs almost instantly. It recognizes multiple languages and offers the option for spoken conversations, intelligently walking people through a broad range of complex processes. For example, for a family with a person who has a disability, TAMM can help navigate special services, significantly streamlining a qualification process that previously took weeks.  

TAMM not only remembers previous conversations and knows the status of an issue or process, it is also deeply integrated across major government entities in the city. Service can be coordinated with in-person service centers or agencies who help housebound people in their homes.  

The TAMM platform is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI service and G42 Compass 2.0, a next-generation enterprise AI platform that provides sovereign cloud services. It also uses open-source models, including JAIS, a high-performing Arabic Large Language Model, and Azure OpenAI GPT-4.

The TAMM app now assists Abu Dhabi’s 2.5 million citizens to conduct than 10 million transactions a year. Helping to protect data and ensure privacy within these transactions is the world class cloud security provided by the Microsoft platform—reflecting our commitment to security above all in delivering AI services, as codified in our Secure Futures Initiative.

Keys for building a foundation of success with AI 

The noteworthy innovation happening in Abu Dabhi is a great example of a city realizing the transformative potential offered by generative AI. Many others are following the trend, and the results are exciting. 

As we look across the global landscape, we note a set of common factors that consistently underpin successful AI adoption. We would advise every city to consider the following: 

• A mission-first mindset drives smarter AI adoption. Cities that anchor AI initiatives in clearly defined public outcomes—such as reducing response times to citizen queries or improving access to social services—are better equipped to prioritize high-impact use cases and rigorously measure results. Aligning AI innovation with policy goals improves clarity and can also boost community trust.
• AI literacy must span the entire workforce. Successful implementations include investments to build AI literacy across all levels of the public workforce—from IT and data science teams to case workers and city clerks. With effective training and a culture of learning and sharing, cities have more empowered workforces and enjoy better outcomes.
• Strong data foundations are critical. Cities that proactively clean, integrate, and govern their data estates—including structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data—are better able to operationalize AI faster, more securely, and at scale. A modern data platform emphasizes robust privacy and access protections as prerequisites for AI success, helping civic leaders avoid common pitfalls such as model bias, incomplete datasets, or compliance gaps. 

Learn more about AI technology for governments

To help your city government make the most of modern cloud and AI technology, contact your local Microsoft representative or certified technology partner. Together, we can help you explore options, identify use cases, and transform your ideas into meaningful solutions.

• For in-depth guidance and resources on designing, deploying, and sustaining AI-powered solutions in city government, visit the Public Sector Center for Digital Skills.
• For workforce development and training resources and guidance tailored to cities and other government organizations, visit Microsoft Learn for Government.
• For more on how Microsoft is helping to empower governments with AI, read our blogs. 

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Sources:

¹ Harvard Griffin GSAS, “Pothole Politics”, January 2019.

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These are just a few of the incredibly broad range of scenarios in which people around the world look to government social services entities for help and support. In fact, more than half the world’s population (52.4%) are covered by at least one social protection benefit.¹ As these services expand, dedicated public organizations and agencies strive to administer benefits programs, enhance access to healthcare, and protect vulnerable populations—even as they face growing pressure to do more with less. 

Helping government agencies and organizations explore the potential of AI and build new solutions that deliver both near-term impact and long-term transformation is central to our work at Microsoft for Government. We cultivate longstanding partnerships with government organizations of all types to help innovate and deliver secure, trustworthy services that promote safety, health, and prosperity. 

How generative AI is opening new avenues of impact 

Fueled by a convergence of modern challenges, AI has quickly emerged as a uniquely transformative solution in delivering social services. Budgetary and workforce pressures, the proliferation of data, and constituents’ demands for services that mirror private sector offerings all add to the pressure. And that’s not to mention escalating cyberthreats and the complexity of business and technology.  

Generative AI—with its unique abilities to synthesize data, understand natural language, retain contextual information, summarize content, and write documents and code—is uniquely suited to help answer these challenges. With powerful solutions like Microsoft 365 Copilot, custom-developed agents and chatbots, and other innovations that integrate AI into regular workflows and processes, governments have the opportunity to not just fix the old but invent the new.  

Around the world, agencies and organizations have had remarkable success in early AI use cases designed to help improve efficiency, streamline service delivery, and gain powerful insights from data and predictive analytics. Here are three examples of critical impact we’ve seen in the past year:  

1. Enhance constituent experiences with easier access to information 

As expectations for fast, personalized digital services grow, many governments are seeing immediate impact with AI-powered chatbots or other virtual assistants to handle ranges of inquiries and assistance.  

These innovations are available at any hour of the day and are well equipped to handle large volumes of requests for help with things like licensing, transit, taxation, and more. They let people engage on the channel of their choice—such as phone calls, digital chat, and social media—and use different languages to rapidly get the right information, apply for benefits, receive updates, and report incidents. 

A great example is a chatbot called Boti, which the government of the City of Buenos Aires recently revamped using Microsoft Azure OpenAI services to revolutionize public interactions. Trained on an extensive government database, the chatbot uses natural language interaction to handle 2 million queries per month, helping citizens find services—everything from basic services like driver’s license renewals to public health information and personalized information for tourists. Along the way, it has lowered the operational burden by 50%. 

The beauty of these kinds of solutions is that they ease the burden of finding and getting the best possible service, even when people have little idea of who or what agency to contact. AI makes it easier for a constituent to explore their options. And then, when they do engage, they only need to provide their critical information one time.

Not forcing someone to continually supply the same information as they move through the system is a huge consideration in cases where people have experienced traumatic, emotional, or embarrassing events. Participation is strained when a person is forced to re-explain and re-live unpleasant experiences. So, AI’s ability to retain essential details through a case management process and retain context from queries helps ensure an experience that is not only more efficient but also more dignified.  

AI also plays a role in helping constituents when they are unhappy with their services. An AI-powered contact center, like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, can provide new levels of support that can enhance human decision-making. For example, an AI-powered contact center can trigger an escalation to a customer service representative when sentiment analysis detects a person getting frustrated or upset. Using intelligent routing, it can connect the constituent to the best representative based on context and need, and assist the representative by summarizing the person’s situation, suggesting optimal solutions, and even drafting response recommendations. 

2. Boost the efficiency and effectiveness of staff 

One of the most vital advances in the digital evolution of government is the shift away from cumbersome tasks involving antiquated websites, electronic forms, even paper-based processes, to automated, intelligent systems that not only ease data collection but also interpret data, learn from it, and even act on it.  

With AI acting as an intelligent, ever-present assistant, social services case workers and caregivers are able to focus more on helping people and spend less time on tedious tasks than before. These new tools give workers instant access to relevant information from across data silos—including unstructured data such as content in PDFs, files, websites, and even digitized hand-written documents—all of which had largely been unavailable to analysis before. 

For example, the Torfaen County Borough Council in Wales, United Kingdom, saw gains in productivity after they adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, which integrates generative AI into everyday applications including Word, Excel, and Outlook. The process of taking and recording notes, for example, has been dramatically simplified, which is freeing workers to spend more time engaging with residents and providing personalized services. 

With the help of AI assistance, a case worker can serve constituents far more effectively. Client meetings, for example, can be completely transformed. Meeting preparation can be done faster and far more comprehensively, with insights and recommendations gleaned from information across the enterprise, including from files that were previously inaccessible, restricted, or difficult to extract meaningful insights from. The meeting can be recorded and automatically transcribed, which enables the case worker to focus on their client versus note-taking. Afterwords, Microsoft Teams can transcribe and summarize the meeting, with details and action items imported directly into case management systems. 

3. Enhance processes and outcomes with advanced analytics 

Perhaps the most transformative aspect of AI is the power of advanced analytics. This refers to AI’s unique ability to turn raw data into actionable insights by identifying patterns, making connections, and even predicting outcomes. In health and social services, this can translate into a variety of useful benefits. 

For instance, AI can help turn the often-cumbersome process of evaluating applications for benefits or other social services into a faster, more precise, and user-friendly process. It can analyze information against policy rules, interpret regulations to help ensure criteria are met, and cross-check submitted data with official records. This means fewer errors that might lead to incorrect approvals or denials, and greater client satisfaction. 

Collectively, these abilities can transform important social services initiatives. For example, they play a crucial role in a new digital platform built by the Department of Human Services (DHS) in South Australia to modernize how high-risk domestic violence cases are managed. Previously, agencies relied on physical documents and semi-structured Excel spreadsheets to track cases, which hindered information sharing, decision making, and coordination across agencies. The new Family Safety Portal, integrating AI with Microsoft Power BI, transformed DHS’s domestic violence response into a proactive, highly adaptive, and evidence-based system. Referrals that once took days are now done in real-time, and 10 agencies now share data in a centralized system that is highly secure.  

In terms of improving public health and wellbeing, AI and analytic tools can collect, analyze, and report on public health or program data to gain a holistic view of individuals receiving services to improve care. A case worker, for example, can use AI to see beyond isolated data points and gain a far more complete view of a person’s situation, needs, and history. With less administrative burden, this provides critical context to ensure that the constituent receives precisely the right support and enhance care coordination and interventions.  

The other essential benefit provided by analytics is in the realm of fraud, waste, and abuse. By analyzing vast amounts of information in real time and leveraging data from past records and experiences, AI can spot patterns, identify irregularities, and flag suspicious behaviors far more effectively and faster than traditional methods. This can help organizations proactively detect and mitigate fraud risks—for example, by evaluating submissions as they arrive instead of through audits, automating verification in seconds by cross-checking IDs and application details, or comparing an applicant’s behavior with previous submissions to ensure they are legitimate. 

Move forward in your AI journey 

Virtually any government agency can derive immediate benefits from generative AI. However, to unlock the full power of modern analytics and advanced AI, an organization needs to modernize their cloud environment and ensure an AI-ready data estate.  

Every organization’s journey is unique, and it’s important to build a long-term strategy with trusted technology partners. To help your government organization take the next step, contact your local Microsoft representative or certified Microsoft technology partner. They can help explore options, identify use cases, and transform your ideas into meaningful solutions.  

Discover more

• Visit the Microsoft for Government website and read more of our blogs.
• Visit us at the European Social Services Conference (ESSC), in Aarhus, Denmark.

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¹ International Labour Organization, “World Social Protection Report 2024,” September 2024.

The post 3 ways that AI is driving the evolution of social services in government appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

With a growing demand for housing in this municipality of 200,000 people, the City wanted to ease the burden of obtaining a building permit. As with many government agencies, applications and inquiries used to be handled primarily in person. In 2024, however, the City decided to improve the cumbersome process with technology.  

Using Microsoft Copilot Studio and related cloud technologies, the City created a custom Copilot that reduced the permit approval process from 15 weeks to 5 to 7 weeks—“A giant leap forward,” according to Community Planning Director Jamie Tellier. Critically, with the help of low-code development, the copilot was conceptualized and deployed in only eight weeks.  

It’s just one improvement in a single government agency, but the City of Burlington story reflects a significant global trend. In the year or so since Microsoft’s core generative AI and Copilot offerings arrived broadly in the marketplace, first with Microsoft 365 Copilot and subsequently with developer tools, industry-specific solutions, and autonomous AI agents, the broad impact on governments is becoming clearer.  

At Microsoft for Government, making the most of cloud and AI is central to our focus on helping government agencies and organizations to solve some of society’s biggest challenges. As we work with government customers on a broad array of challenges and solutions, we continue to be amazed at the expanding impact of AI and modern cloud technologies, which are delivering far more than just efficiency gains. 

How cloud and AI are broadly transforming governments 

When it comes to operations and IT, governments worldwide face a set of uniquely difficult challenges. The community expects them to deliver a quality of service and user experience that matches what they get from the private sector. At the same time, governments face specific demands around compliance and security that most other sectors do not. Factor in shrinking budgets, aging workforces, and legacy on-premises systems that add cost and risk, and governments struggle to hold the line, much less to innovate.  

However, the advent of AI and complementary cloud solutions can offer help and advance both cost savings and innovation. For example, Microsoft 365 Copilot played a key role in the successful modernization of communications systems in the UK Home Office.  

A critical government department responsible for national security and public safety, UK Home Office urgently needed to modernize outdated systems to continue meeting national security and public safety demands. Working with Microsoft and technology partners Colt and Netcompany, they were able to drive a smooth migration of 63,000 users in just eight working days and minimized disruption to essential services.  

AI-powered support from Copilot played a crucial role in optimizing workflows, summarizing meetings, generating follow-up tasks, and offering real-time insights. The cost-savings it delivered also allowed the department to allocate resources to more strategic areas, reinforcing its commitment to delivering exceptional value for the public. 

As we look across government customers worldwide, we see three key areas in which cloud and AI are delivering new benefits:

1. Increase productivity and save time with personal assistants
   Productivity benefits are central to the value delivered by agents and AI. The core capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot are uniquely attuned to help address the frustrations surrounding repetitive tasks, serving effectively as tireless personal assistants.
   
   Interestingly, while 49% of professionals surveyed by Microsoft said they worry about AI replacing their jobs, 70% said they’d like to lessen their workloads by delegating as much of their work as possible to AI.¹
   
   A good case in point is the Torfaen County Borough Council in Wales, which is using Copilot to help respond to growing service demands even as budgets were reduced. Copilot’s seamless integration with everyday applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Teams meant that workflows were not interrupted. Employees then saw significant time savings in things like minute-taking tasks and summary reports. As Chief Executive Stephen Vickers put it, “It’s saving time and it’s delivering a better end product.”
   
   Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the Buckinghamshire Council in England implemented Copilot to improve productivity and staff wellbeing across selected operations. Employees reported 10 to 20% time savings on tasks such as transcribing meetings, creating reports, drafting emails, and handling customer inquiries. Project managers were able to take on more projects due to an average time savings of 30 hours per month. And customer service workers focused more on providing better assistance. As one put it, “With Copilot transcribing, I can focus completely on what the customer is saying, rather than worrying ‘Did I take that down right?’”
   
   Likewise, in early 2024, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) introduced Copilot as part of a modernization effort to revolutionize utility services. Internal operations were streamlined dramatically, as processes that had previously taken days, such as research and document drafting, were completed in mere hours. Critically, customer happiness remained consistent at a 98% rating, as internal efficiency soared.  
2. Automate government operations and reduce costs
   An additional category of Copilot benefits is the ability to reduce costs by automating operations and delivering insights and data visualizations that help people make informed decisions quickly. 
   
   Copilot can be integrated into many business systems, including customer relationship management (CRM) and contact center solutions, to provide contextual, AI-powered responses. This means that whether an agency is using Dynamics 365 or another CRM solution, Copilot can seamlessly connect to those systems and enhance existing workflows.
   
   In the United Kingdom, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is evaluating Copilot as an expansion of a highly successful effort to bring its nationwide driving test system in house after decades of outsourcing it. The new solution, integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365, has improved customer satisfaction rates from 80% to 96%, while saving a projected £15 million within five years.
   
   The agency’s deep investment in the Microsoft platform positions them to readily innovate with generative AI in ways that promise to, for example, power a data-driven approach to understanding drivers and the use of roads. “It’s still early days,” said Digital Operations head Alex Fiddes, “But I think this will help the DVSA respond at a far more rapid pace than it’s done in the previous three decades.”
   
   Copilots can also orchestrate complex, long-running processes with more autonomy and less human intervention. Microsoft Copilot Studio offers a subset of capabilities that allow for deep customization, which lets organizations tailor Copilot to their specific business needs without the need for costly development time or extensive modifications.  
3. Protect your data with secure and compliant enterprise-ready AI
   Security is obviously paramount for government organizations, which are not only among the most attacked sectors in the world but are often the most stressed due to staffing shortages and budget constraints. The good news is that Microsoft Security Copilot offers a powerful way for governments to make dramatic improvements in cybersecurity.
   
   Security Copilot is the first generative AI security product to combine the most advanced AI models with a Microsoft-developed security model. It is powered by Microsoft Security’s unique expertise, global threat intelligence, and comprehensive security products. This helps governments maintain a secure and compliant approach to security and privacy, it applies data classification labels to make sure the right people have access to the right data, and it helps protect unauthorized access with data loss prevention (DLP) strategies.
   
   At Oregon State University, Security Copilot is playing a central role in protecting vital research and sensitive data, including the personal information of students and faculty. After experiencing a major cybersecurity incident in 2021, the university created a new Security Operations Center (SOC) that integrates Microsoft Security solutions, including Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender. Security Copilot is used for essential tasks to help the security team assess and respond quickly to cyberthreats.
   
   In particular, Security Copilot holds promise in automating processes and addressing vulnerabilities, according to SOC Manager Emily Longman.

“Copilot for Security will boost our automation capabilities and help our analysts—who are college students—learn how to quickly write more Kusto Query Language (KQL), such as threat hunting with more advanced hunting queries, and more workbooks.”

Emily Longman, Security Operations Center Manager, Oregon State University

Our commitment to security above all 

As promising as AI innovation is, we recognize that progress will always depend on world-class security to help ensure safety, privacy, and regulatory compliance. Since Satya Nadella made security Microsoft’s top priority in May 2024, Microsoft has dedicated the equivalent of 34,000 engineers to advance the objectives laid out in the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a framework that provides a structured, comprehensive approach for enhanced cybersecurity across all Microsoft products and services. 

For governments, this commitment means that agencies and organizations can innovate with confidence in Microsoft advanced cybersecurity measures, compliance support, and risk management tools.  

Learn more 

To help your government organization take the next step in your cloud and AI journey, contact your local Microsoft representative or certified technology partner. They can help explore options, identify use cases, and transform your ideas into meaningful solutions.  

• Visit the Microsoft for Government website and read more of our blogs.
• To explore interactive demos showing how Microsoft 365 Copilot can deliver powerful experiences across many government scenarios, visit Microsoft solutions for government.
• To explore resources to ease deployment and adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot check out these enablement resources.
• To help users get the most out of Microsoft 365 Copilot, including help with effective prompts, visit the Microsoft 365 Copilot Skilling Center.

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¹ Work Trend Index Annual Report, Microsoft. 

The post The face of government service delivery is changing as AI and cloud capabilities continue to expand appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs.

• Data collection and processing at the edge: Providing secure, reliable, and low-latency data transfer and processing in highly sensitive and distributed environments.
• Secure communication and interoperability: Ensuring seamless integration and communication across different domains and platforms.
• Data security: Protecting sensitive information from cyber threats and unauthorized access.
• Real-time analytics: Providing real-time insights and analytics across a fusion of many different data types, to support decision-making.

By solving these challenges, decision-makers can act on near real-time updates and intelligence, enhancing situational awareness and enabling mission success.

How Microsoft Cloud helps solve legacy system challenges

Microsoft is well placed to respond to these challenges through the hyperscale cloud capabilities of Microsoft Azure, encompassing a global network of data centers, servers, and networks that power cloud services, including:

• The Microsoft Adaptive Cloud approach, which lets organizations use cloud-native and AI technologies across hybrid, multi-cloud, edge, and Internet of Things (IoT) environments. This helps defense organizations ensure consistent operations by extending cloud services to on-premises and multi-cloud environments, and it simplifies operations with centralized management, enhanced security, and seamless integration across diverse and complex environments. Additionally, it allows for easier application deployment and a common data foundation across environments.
• Azure Local, enabled by Azure Arc, which is a specialized offering designed to bring cloud computing capabilities directly to the edge, closer to where data is generated, and decisions need to be made. For defense and intelligence customers, this means enhanced security, reduced latency, and improved operational efficiency by processing data locally rather than relying solely on centralized cloud services. This approach is crucial for defense and intelligence operations, where timely and secure data handling significantly impacts mission success.

Adaptive Cloud and Azure Local solutions in action

By way of illustration, consider a joint task force assigned to secure a national border as part of a multi-domain operation (MDO). The objective is to identify and address potential threats, including unauthorized crossings, smuggling activities, and aerial incursions. This is achieved by using advanced technologies, which can potentially benefit the following warfighting functions:

• Land forces patrolling the coastline
• Naval units monitoring the sea lines of communication
• Air units conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection
• Cyber units ensuring secure communication and protecting against cyber threats
• Space units ensuring satellite availability for communications and geospatial intelligence collection

Let’s look at some specific scenarios and how technology can help achieve success:

Real-time data collection and edge processing

IoT data collection

Data is collected and processed directly from IoT devices in real-time, close to the source, reducing latency and enhancing security.

How it works:

• Ground sensors and drones equipped with cameras and motion detectors monitor coastline activities.
• Buoys and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) collect data on maritime traffic and environmental conditions.
• Drones and aircraft equipped with radar and cameras provide aerial surveillance.
• Azure IoT operations deployed on Azure Local securely process and normalize this data at the edge.

Edge processing

The data collected from sensors is processed and transmitted to Azure Local instances deployed at mobile command centers.

How it works:

• Local AI inferencing, such as Azure AI Video Indexer, allows the processing of data at the source. By conducting real-time analysis directly within an environmental context, defense organizations can respond faster and more accurately to emergent situations using AI and machine learning models to analyze patterns, detect anomalies, and provide actionable insights to field commanders.
• Azure Local supports both legacy systems and modern containerized applications, allowing the defense organization to run a mix of applications needed for the mission, from traditional command and control systems to advanced AI-powered analytics.
• Through edge processing, critical information can now be filtered prior to its transmission to the cloud—for instance, identifying potential threats, such as unidentified aircraft or submarines, and alerting the command center for appropriate action.
  • For all tactical units, where traditional terrestrial connectivity is limited or unavailable, low earth orbit (LEO) satellite connections provide connectivity to remote and mobile units, such as ships at sea, aircraft in flight, or land-based command and control nodes. Satellite communication can ensure continuous and secure data transmission, critical to information sharing in a joint operation.
  • Forward operating bases (FOBs) process data on Azure Local, securely transmitting it to the cloud using Azure ExpressRoute, which provides a private connection between the edge and Azure, bypassing the public internet and supporting encryption technologies like MACsec and IPsec to ensure data confidentiality and integrity.

Command and control (C2) situational awareness

The task force sustains a thorough and current operational overview by using data transmitted to Azure from Azure Local. With cloud technologies, command and control data flows seamlessly from collection to actionable insights. The C2 node assesses the situation and determines the appropriate response such as route planning, resource allocation, and threat assessment.

How it works:

• Real-time intelligence managed with Microsoft Fabric, a unified AI data and analytics platform, enables a C2 node to swiftly analyze data from the edge using technologies like Azure Event Hubs and AMQP for data ingestion, and Microsoft Power BI for visualization. The real-time hub provides a unified interface for managing streaming data sources, allowing for rapid decision-making and enhanced situational awareness. Data is further processed and made available to Azure AI Foundry, for use in advanced AI applications.
• AI Foundry uses this data to deploy AI models assisting commanders in analyzing battlefield data and suggesting optimal strategies—for example, using AI models to perform sentiment analysis on communication data from the field. By analyzing the sentiment of messages, AI can identify potential stress or urgency in communications, providing valuable insights to commanders. Additionally, AI can detect patterns and anomalies in the data, such as unusual movements or activities, and alert the command center for further investigation.
• Units can then swiftly adapt to the updated operational plan. Analyzed data and directives from the C2 node are sent to Azure Local. Military applications running on Azure Local Virtual Machine receive directives from the C2 node. The units reconfigure their routes based on the optimized path provided, ensuring efficient movement and resource utilization. They allocate resources as per the new directives, prioritizing critical areas identified by the C2 node. Additionally, the units enhance their threat assessment protocols, incorporating the latest intelligence to mitigate potential risks.

By using Azure Local, the joint task force’s multi-domain operation not only addresses immediate threats but also establishes a robust framework for ongoing border security enabling seamless coordination and integration across land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains. By extending Azure services and security to distributed locations, apps and data are better safeguarded against advanced threats, ensuring reliable protection and operational efficiency.

• Real-time situational awareness: Rapidly assess and respond to emergent situations ensuring the border remains secure.
• Enhanced security: Secure communication channels and robust cybersecurity measures protect sensitive information from cyber threats. This ensures that all units can communicate effectively and securely, maintaining the integrity of the operation.
• Efficient decision-making: Advanced analytics and AI-powered insights enable quick and informed decision-making. The command center can process vast amounts of data in real-time, allowing for swift and accurate responses to emerging threats.

Benefits of Microsoft Adaptive Cloud and Azure Local in defense operations

Enhanced security

• Hardened security posture: Azure Local instances are configured with secured-core settings and automatic data encryption by default, protecting sensitive military communications and intelligence data from cyber threats.
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration: Azure Local integrates natively with Microsoft Defender for Cloud, offering comprehensive monitoring and advanced threat protection. This ensures that potential security breaches are promptly detected and mitigated.
• Network Security Groups (NSGs): NSGs in Azure Local manage and secure network traffic within the Azure environment, allowing for control of inbound and outbound traffic to virtual networks, subnets, and network interfaces with defined security rules. These rules can permit or deny traffic based on various criteria such as source and destination IP addresses, ports, and protocols.
• Trusted launch: Enhance protection against sophisticated threats such as malware-based rootkits and bootkits with Trusted launch security. This includes secure boot, which guarantees that only trusted software is loaded during the boot process, and a virtual trusted platform module (vTPM), which securely stores keys, certificates, and secrets.

Operational flexibility

• Disconnected operations: In areas with limited or no connectivity, Azure Local supports disconnected operations, allowing joint forces to maintain situational awareness and make informed decisions even when not connected to Azure. Data can be synchronized with the C2 node once connectivity is restored.
• Flexible hardware options: Azure Local’s extensive catalog supports rugged hardware suitable for harsh environments, ensuring reliable performance even in extreme conditions.
• Scalability: In support of mission needs, additional Azure Local instances can be quickly deployed to new locations, providing the necessary computing and storage resources to support expanding operations.

Explore Microsoft for defense and intelligence

Learn how Microsoft Cloud can help achieve mission outcomes to promote stability and security:

• Contact your Microsoft representative or technology solution partner.
• Visit the Microsoft for defense and intelligence website

Microsoft for defense and intelligence

Explore solutions

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