A new study by Implement Consulting Group and the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, funded by Google, says generative AI could greatly change Portugal’s public sector.
The research says using AI could increase the average productivity of public workers by up to 9% in the next ten years, adding about €1.2 billion each year to the country’s economy. The report also found that more than half of public workers already use AI tools, and 80% think AI will be very important within ten years.
AI could help make things easier between the government, citizens, and businesses by doing routine tasks like filling out forms automatically and making public procurement processes simpler.
Portugal is already working on this: the AI assistant on the Gov.pt website had over 17,000 interactions in its first month, solving 62% of cases without any help from people. However, Google points out that Portugal needs to fix some problems, like decisions being made in different parts of the government and risks of becoming too dependent on one company’s AI tools.
To help build local talent, Google.org is giving $1 million (about €860,000) to a project with INCO and Chance to train 7,000 university students in advanced AI skills and prepare them for their careers.
This program will work with places like the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém and the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar to make sure Portuguese students are ready for a future driven by artificial intelligence.
Related News