George Mason University and its RPA Initiative at the Center for Business Civic Engagement has released a paper outlining, specifically for a non-IT audience, the promise and opportunity RPA provides for the public sector.
The paper, written by the Center’s Director Dr. David K. Rehr and Dorin Mutaenu, details the practical impact of RPA on governments and the acceleration of RPA in the federal government that began in 2017 with the introduction of Cross Agency Priority Goal 6, Shifting from Low to High Value Work. It also looks at some of the most successful use cases the federal government has found for RPA.
It also notes research on the most common barriers cited by public sector employees who hope to implement the technology. Forty-one percent of those polled said security or credentialing was the biggest hurdle while 37 percent cited a lack of training.
The paper said Covid was a proving ground for RPA that government should learn from.
“Automation technologies have risen to meet and in many cases to exceed expectations improving the resilience of governments during the coronavirus crisis,” the authors wrote. “Additionally, while economies were falling, it has demonstrated its potential and reliability during urgent times, evidencing the need for more RPA in order to support the economic recovery, the transition to the digital economy and to increase government resilience.”