Vanguard Magazine

TeCHnOLOGy www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 35 help guard the health, safety, and produc- tivity of people in a changing workplace. For many organizations, this means pro- viding essential insights to support critical decisions on workplace re-entry, facilities management, workplace safety, and client and employee care. Accelerating Agility and Efficiency with Cloud While businesses have used the cloud to increase productivity and reduce costs, a recent McKinsey study suggests that up until earlier this year most enterprises were only 20 per cent of the way into their cloud journeys. COVID-19 has accelerated this pace, and many organizations are focusing on infrastructure to transform their work- space into a secure, highly collaborative, and productive environment that allows employees to access critical business appli- cations securely and remotely. Embracing a hybrid cloud environment is enabling orga- nizations to perform large scale transition of their workforce from the office to remote locations with minimal business disruption. Governments are not exempt from these expectations. Cloud computing has the potential to transform through commod- itizing routine services such as e-mail, web servers, and data storage. Cloud computing can also easily deliver services that are com- mon across government, such as account- ing, procurement, and collaboration tools. By increasing reliance on commodity com- puting, governments will have more time and resources to provide leadership and value where it is needed most. The key to continuing a successful vir- tual-to-physical transformation for DND, to taking advantage of new-found agility and innovation, lies in the cloud. Going forward, DND and the CAF will need to continue modernizing operations to real- ize the immense benefits of cloud-native capabilities: location independence, talent flexibility, scalability, resilience, interoper- ability, and seamless transition to a virtu- alized engagement and delivery model— what we call cloudified delivery. Canada's Conference of Defence Associations and the CDA Institute recently set an all-time attendance record since the organization was founded in 1932. Using the power of IBM Watson Media technology, they re- cently delivered a webinar to 1,100 par- ticipants in 27 countries. The Power of AI and Virtual Engagement By embracing cloud, governments are providing their workforce and the public with access to technologies that can really elevate the way we communicate. With the current, dynamic health and security situ- ation, people have more questions than ever before. Essential government offices have been swamped with massive call vol- umes and access to information requests. Large, complex organizations, like DND and the CAF, are drowning in raw data. This exponential demand and volume can be met with the power of digital tools that live on the cloud and use conversational AI. IBM's Watson Assistant was recently piloted by the City of Markham in On- tario to respond to COVID-19 related questions in real-time. This tool brings together years of investment in AI and speech recognition to guide users in dy- namic situations and free up important resources. Even more recently, the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB) launched a 24/7 virtual assistant to aid Texas veter- ans. In addition to answering questions re- garding loans, Veteran homes, and Texas State Cemeteries, the tool will also serve as a directory that can point Veterans in the right direction to find answers to com- mon questions outside the wheelhouse of the VLB, from inquiries on how to obtain a fishing license, up to 119 different top- ics. Given the resource efficiency and ef- fectiveness of these tools and procedures, and the speed with which they can be em- bedded (virtual assistants can be stood up in a matter of hours, in some cases), they are likely to become core business and op- erational tools in the post-crisis era. In order for DND to generate differenti- ation in the digital space, they should seek to create real-time experiences that pro- vide a marked edge over adversaries and allow for effective and efficient delivery of operations. AI can increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, free people of repetitive tasks, uncover new data insights, and enhance operations. Bell Textron, an American aerospace manufacturer, recent- ly piloted a project with IBM to apply AI to 100,000 historical records to provide instant advice on the most likely resolution for manufacturing defects, saving signifi- cant time and labour in the factory. Using AI and advanced analytics for sustaining their vertical lift systems, Bell Textron will be able to predict the remaining useful life of critical components, which is a huge driver for efficiency and affordability. Federal agencies are using AI to manage both real and perceived risks. It may be to identify insider threats, support military deployment planning and scheduling, and answer routine immigration questions. Agencies are considering additional uses that range from checking compliance with tax laws and regulations to assessing the accessibility of government products and websites. At IBM, we are addressing AI issues that include bias, security, transpar- ency, and job impact, all of which have im- portant insights that may be instructive for federal agencies. The Exponential Rise of Data in Defence The Government of Canada has a long history of data collection and according to IBM's Institute for Business Value, gov- ernment use of data worldwide has risen exponentially. Despite this long history and recent progress, government agencies face challenges in transforming data into actionable insights. They are not alone. Most organizations access only 20 per cent of their data as that is the amount that is searchable. The remaining 80 per cent of data is unstructured (think email, social medial, documents). As government makes open data more accessible, challenges include finding data experts and managing data accessi- bility, data quality, and data sharing. To respond to this challenge, businesses are

• Cover