Page 26 - FCW, May/June 2018

EMERGING
TECH
CHATBOTS
Chatbots Offer Citizen Services
Around the Clock
Q1. What is chatbot
technology and why is it
getting so much attention
now? apps with conversational user interfaces.
Artificial Intelligence Allows Agencies to Meet Peak Demands
A conversation with Franco Amalfi, director
of innovation, and
Dan Kuenzig, smarter government program lead, both with Oracle Public Sector, on the rise of chatbot technology and the promise it holds for government agencies.
towards messaging apps in the market. Six of the top 10 apps most commonly used in North America are messaging
Amalfi: A chatbot is a computer program that mimics human conversation using artificial intelligence and machine learning, via tools like Alexa, Cortana, Siri; or messenger applications like Facebook, Kik and Slack. We’re seeing more and more interest in this kind of technology today. The cloud offers more access to more computing power and enables IT departments to process much more data. Further, we’re seeing a surge in these capabilities, with interest from
all sectors -- banking, retail, utilities
– organizations that have a lot of consumers interacting with them on
a daily basis. It really helps provide a better experience for the user and saves costs for the organization as well.
Kuenzig: From a trends perspective, there are millions of mobile apps in the app stores but most people use less than 10 applications every day. We are also seeing that there’s a preference
Q2. What issues can chatbots solve for the federal government, and what is Oracle’s involvement in that?
Amalfi: A lot of government organizations are looking at chatbot technology as a way to augment
their contact centers and all the
other channels where they provide services to citizens. They’re looking
at this as a way to provide a better experience so people can get their questions answered faster and be
able to augment the work they’re doing. By doing so, agencies can focus their resources on more value-added activities versus having to answer generic questions people can answer on their own.
Kuenzig: Also, it’s important to keep in mind that agencies have inquiries from citizens at different times. They have service members,
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