Foreign Office now introducing AI-powered assistants in our city's administration
In a groundbreaking move, the city administration of Dormagen has introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant in its Foreigners' Office. This development, led by a local developer, is part of the city's commitment to being a digital pioneer within municipal administration.
Fritz Bezold, First Deputy Mayor of the city administration, hailed the AI development as an important step in the city's AI initiative and digitalization strategy. According to Bezold, the AI assistant is designed to streamline processes, relieve employees, and provide citizens with faster service.
The AI serves solely as a supporting tool in the verification process, with the control and final decision remaining with the employees. The AI is intended to help automatically incorporate the multitude of federal and state ordinances into the decision-making process, making it easier and more efficient for employees to navigate the extensive ordinance database.
The ordinance database, maintained by the federal and state governments, contains around 8,000 documents that need to be regularly updated and adapted. The Foreigners' Office has been using this database to access ordinances, administrative regulations, and legal provisions in foreigner law. With the AI assistant, the processing of specific requests and tasks is expected to become more efficient and legally secure.
Thomas Hegenbarth, Chief Digital Officer of the city administration, noted that the project is significant as it involves a local partner. He added that the solution's knowledge could potentially benefit other administrations in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond.
The total costs for the development and hardware of the AI solution are approximately 17,500 euros for services and 28,000 euros for hardware. Notably, these costs are entirely covered by state funding.
The success of the AI project in the Foreigners' Office could pave the way for the use of similar technologies in other specialist areas. The city administration is optimistic that this initiative will not only improve the quality of service but also set a precedent for the effective use of AI in public sector operations.
