The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Edgar Moyo has called for the development of citizen-centred artificial intelligence (AI) systems to improve government service delivery and make public institutions more responsive to people’s needs.
Moyo said AI could help governments assess public satisfaction, identify weaknesses in service delivery and prioritise areas requiring urgent intervention.
He was speaking at the United Nations Governance Innovation Summit, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, under the theme “Advancing Future-Ready Institutions”.
The minister said Citizen Satisfaction Surveys could provide a baseline for measuring government performance and tracking improvements in the delivery of public services.
“AI should be inclusive and leave no one behind,” Moyo said stressing the need to ensure that technological advancements benefit all sections of society.
He said AI could also strengthen social welfare programmes by analysing verified beneficiary records, improving case management systems and helping authorities anticipate demand for assistance.
The technology could further enable governments to forecast climate-related changes and use the information to target social welfare interventions particularly among vulnerable communities.
Moyo said the summit offered Zimbabwe an opportunity to identify governance challenges, develop innovative solutions and establish partnerships to support their implementation.
He added that the discussions would help participating countries develop practical implementation plans, including timelines for putting proposed reforms into action.
