AI for better governance

Complex problems are challenging to solve. As the world becomes more interconnected, and public problems get trickier to address, those responsible need data and tools to make effective decisions and implement enduring change.

That's where Artificial Intelligence can help.

We're working to help decision-makers tackle complex public problems by using AI in innovative and new ways. We're building AI tools that analyse data and generate actionable insights, so decision-makers can make evidence-informed decisions and support the achievement of sustainable development. At the same time, we'll be undertaking social and policy research to ensure our AI solutions meet the needs of decision-makers.

By developing AI approaches that shift monitoring from low technology, human-resource intensive, data collection to a faster, more comprehensive, accurate, predictive and transformative system, we aim to address the limitations of conventional approaches. These solutions will provide:

• Shorter timeframes between data collection, analysis, and availability.
• More accurate, consistent and complete data to inform decision-making.
• Capacity to (dis)aggregate or transpose data to different scales or geographies.
• Advanced data analytics (enabling reduced complexity and forecasting).
• Improved AI design and interface functionality through deep understanding of the decision-making environments where AI-enabled evidence may be used.

We apply the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an organising framework to inform the outcomes of our work. The SDGs cover many aspects of public decision portfolios including economic, social and environmental areas. Our long-term vision is to build AI tools that can monitor and support forecasting and analytics across all policy areas within Australia and elsewhere.

This program is a partnership between the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash IT,  Monash Data Futures Institute, and the Better Governance and Policy Initiative.

Throughout this work we will be engaging with public decision-makers to continually refine our understanding of what's needed, to ensure we build a suite of tools that have tangible value.

If you're a public decision-maker, we'd love to hear from you.

We are running an online survey and interviews to understand: the role of data; areas of priority policy focus; and what functionalities will aid decision-makers to achieve strategic policy or organisational goals. We will also be holding a workshop to discuss the findings, and provide opportunities for decision-makers to provide feedback and engage with AI prototypes.

If you'd like to get involved or learn more about the program, please contact us at  ai-policy@monash.edu