---
id: "lib-2025-06-00-how-can-data-and-ai-drive-greater-public-value"
type: "library"
title: "How can data and AI drive greater public value?"
lang: "EN"
org: "EY"
source_type: "Report"
date: "2025-06-01"
week: "2025-W22"
url: "https://nosov.ai/library/lib-2025-06-00-how-can-data-and-ai-drive-greater-public-value/"
original_url: "https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/fr-fr/insights/government-public-sector/documents/ey-how-can-the-transformative-power-of-data-and-ai-drive-greater-public-value.pdf"
tier: "B"
tier_name: "Useful, limited"
tier_reason: "EY and Oxford Economics survey of 492 senior government leaders in 14 countries with 46 interviews; method is disclosed, but results are self-assessed and the pioneer segmentation is EY's own index."
summary_basis: "full-text"
original_minutes: "45"
tags: ["public sector", "data", "ai"]
---

# How can data and AI drive greater public value?

Tier B (Useful, limited): EY and Oxford Economics survey of 492 senior government leaders in 14 countries with 46 interviews; method is disclosed, but results are self-assessed and the pioneer segmentation is EY's own index.

Summary based on the full text.

## In short

The first of a two-part EY report on data and AI in government, based on a survey with Oxford Economics. Government leaders agree AI could cut costs and improve services, but few have deployed it. EY splits respondents into "pioneers" (top 20% on a readiness index) and "followers" and argues that pioneers built data infrastructure, digitised processes and analytics before moving to AI, and paid attention to workforce readiness at the same time.

## Key numbers

- 26%: government organisations that have deployed AI (excluding GenAI) partially or fully
- 12%: organisations that have deployed GenAI partially or fully
- 64%: respondents who agree AI adoption will bring significant cost savings and staff redeployment
- 2.4x: how much more likely pioneers are to report AI initiatives exceeding expectations
- 62%: respondents citing privacy and security as a top constraint

## What it reports

- 64% expect significant cost savings and staff redeployment from AI; 63% say AI can improve services; 61% expect GenAI to change how government works within five years; 58% say adoption must speed up.
- Deployment lags belief: 26% have deployed AI and 12% GenAI, partially or fully; 4% have no plans to implement AI.
- Pioneers vs followers: data and digital infrastructure deployed 88% vs 58%; processes digitised 58% vs 33%; analytics deployed 76% vs 33%. The gap narrows for AI and GenAI themselves.
- Pioneers are 2.4x more likely to report AI initiatives exceeding expectations.
- Top constraints: privacy and security (62%), strategic misalignment (51%), inadequate infrastructure (45%), ethics (42%), weak business cases (41%).

## How they got it

Survey of 492 government leaders (CIOs, CDOs, chief AI officers and similar) in 14 countries across national, regional, local and state-owned bodies, plus 46 interviews (38 public officials). Pioneers were identified with an equally weighted index on planning, metrics, workforce measures and infrastructure, normalised 0 to 100. EY used its own LLM tools and Microsoft Copilot to synthesise interview transcripts.

## Limits

- All adoption and outcome figures are self-assessed; EY names this as a source of bias.
- The pioneer index rewards foundations, so the finding that pioneers prioritise foundations is partly built into the definition.
- "Exceeding expectations" is a perception measure, with no cost or service data.
- Published as a lead-in to EY advisory services; the practical guidance is deferred to a second report.

## Why it matters for companies

The sequencing finding transfers beyond the public sector: organisations that report AI success did the data, process digitisation and analytics work first. For anyone building an AI case inside a large organisation, the barrier list is a usable checklist, with privacy and unclear business cases ahead of technology. Treat the pioneer premium as directional, since it comes from the same respondents who rated their own success.

Original: https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/fr-fr/insights/government-public-sector/documents/ey-how-can-the-transformative-power-of-data-and-ai-drive-greater-public-value.pdf