Late September Button Insights

Welcome to the late-September issue of the Button Insight Newsletter!

The big story

AI in the public sector: Potential and pitfalls

AI has the potential to revolutionize public services through benefits such as predictive analytics and automated customer service—but there are serious concerns to consider as well.

Wherever government services can get more efficient, they offer double value: the public gets better services as users, and more bang-for-buck as taxpayers.

A growing source of digital project efficiency is machine learning, or artificial intelligence, and it has some clear paths to helping with the large datasets and step-based services of the online public service.

But in a sector where public trust is paramount, it becomes more important than ever to navigate AI ethically.

Read the full story here.

Community

Team Testimonial: Info-as-a-Service and GoElectric

In the Lessons Learned & Team Testimonials series, Button team members share our digital experiences, and what we learned on a personal level, with the community. Today Jenna reflects on Go Electric.

The project: Go Electric is helping B.C. make the shift to cleaner transportation. The program makes it easier for people and businesses to buy and own an EV.

What I learned: I participated in researching and designing an information-as-a-service offering: The Go Electric website. The purpose of the website is to educate British Columbians about electric vehicle rebate options.

The project involved:

• understanding the various personas who were likely to be considering an EV purchase

• creating exhaustive user stories

• experimenting with various information architecture options

• testing clickable prototypes with prospective users.

I learned so much about EVs and the importance of how this ties into our emissions reduction goals, and I met some amazing people too!

Empathy, care, and ethics in service delivery need to be a part of “the why”. Ethical considerations for working in the public sector often involve dealing with sensitive data (e.g. personal info, government records).

We’ve gained deep experience in the ethical considerations surrounding data privacy, security, and responsible use of technology. Insights into ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability in our digital projects are woven into our best practices.

Read more Lessons Learned & Team Testimonials here, or see more of our Success Stories here.

Worth Your Attention

What We’re Reading: How Big Things Get Done

There are the famous, ambitious success stories. Big ideas that quickly became big achievements. The Empire State Building, drawn up and built to over 100 storeys high all within 2 years. The iPod, taken from one employee’s desk to music lovers' hands within a year.

But there are also plenty of expensive blunders, in places all over the world. Almost all megaprojects end up over time, over budget, or both.

Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg has been called “the world’s leading megaproject expert,” and in this book he looks at the factors that make some projects succeed and others fail. He and Gardner lay out how these takeaways can inform your next project, whether it is a groundbreaking product or a regular home reno.

In Case You Missed It

Check out our blog posts from previous newsletters!

WHITEPAPER: Digital Transformation & Your Migration to the Cloud. Whether you're considering a public, private, or hybrid cloud environment, this guide will delve into the nuances of each setup. Read it here.

AN ILLUSTRATION JOURNEY: How Button’s new-look website got its amazing new illustrations.

KNOWING WHEN TO WALK AWAY: Avoiding a digital services disaster.

THE 40-HOUR WORK WEEK: Is it right for the sector, or contributing to the widespread burnout we see?

EMPLOYEE SHOWCASE: Meet Elliott, who brings a PhD in psychology to his work understanding user and stakeholder needs.

DON’T PLACATE ME! How to engage youth in digital transformation—without alienating them.

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