AI in Public Administration: How the Ústí Region Elevated Communication with Citizens to a New Level

When the Ústí Region decided in August 2024 to invest financial resources into a pilot implementation of an AI chatbot on its website, the initial expectations due to the nature of artificial intelligence were skeptical. Today, after four months of operation, the numbers speak clearly:

🎯 Key Results:

• 92% accuracy of responses

• 80% user satisfaction

• 1917 inquiries answered

• 24/7 availability in 4 languages

How Does the ÚK Bot Really Work and What Can It Do?

Imagine needing information from the regional office - outside of office hours, or for example, on a Sunday evening. Instead of waiting until Monday morning, artificial intelligence answers you immediately. This is not science fiction, but a reality in the Ústí Region, where an AI assistant named ÚK Bot has been operational for four months. And the results? They exceeded the expectations of all involved.

Think of the ÚK Bot as a digital clerk who never sleeps and has encyclopedic and the most up-to-date knowledge about everything related to the Ústí Region.

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Top 5 Most Frequent Topics:

1. Transportation and Fares DÚK (Transport Ústí Region)

2. Contact Information for Regional Office Employees

3. Administrative and Official Affairs

4. Press Releases

5. Cultural Events and Happenings in the Region

Learning Live

It is fascinating to watch how ÚK Bot learns. During testing, it had about a 10-20% error rate, which gradually decreased thanks to:

🧠 Learning Process:

• Analysis of Real Questions

• Feedback from Users and Regional Office Employees

• Continuous Response Optimization

• Regular Updates to the Knowledge Database

Language Mix

Although the bot handles four languages, the statistics reveal an interesting usage pattern:

📊 Language Preferences:

• 94% communication in Czech

• 3% in English

• 2% in German

• 1% in other languages including Ukrainian

Practical Impacts for Citizens

What does all this mean for the average citizen? Imagine that:

• You don't have to wait for office hours

• You receive a response within seconds

• You have 50 inquiries available daily

• Information is available 24/7

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What Does the Ústí Region Say About ÚK Bot?

"The goal was to streamline and simplify communication between the office and the public," explains Jan Schiller (Governor of the Ústí Region for the term 2020-2024). And the data shows that it has been successful.

Listen to a short interview with former Governor Jan Schiller (2020-2024) regarding his impressions after deploying the AI assistant for the Ústí Region. 👇

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Jan Jelínek, head of the IT department at the Regional Office of the Ústí Region, confirms the project's success: "The chatbot has proven to be a reliable tool that significantly facilitates communication between citizens and the regional office."

LINK TO PRESS RELEASE FROM 05.12.2024

🏢 Benefits for the Regional Office:

• Standardization and Automation of Responses to Common Queries

• Systematic Collection of Data on Citizen Needs

• Continuous Operation Without Increasing Personnel Costs

👥 Benefits for Employees:

• Less Routine Work and Responding to Frequently Asked Questions

• More Time for Other Complex Tasks and Cases Requiring Human Intervention

🌍 Benefits for Citizens:

• Easy Access to Information

• Simple Navigation on Complex Office Websites

• Immediate Responses 24/7

• Multilingual Support

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The Future is Here

The ÚK Bot project shows that the future of public administration is in a higher level of digitalization and the integration of artificial intelligence into individual processes, a significant part of which is communication with citizens and the improvement of accessibility, quality, and speed of provided information.

The story of ÚK Bot is not just about a new trend or new technology - it's about changing the way public administration communicates with citizens in the 21st century. And the initial results suggest that it is a significant change for the better.