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This website was created by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI), part of the OECD Public Governance Directorate (GOV).

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Robot Incubator

Repetitive tasks for a civil servant involve between 3 and 6 hours a day, and generate delays in administrative processes and increase human errors. By innovating the automation of these tasks, using a free Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software, response times, costs and quality of service within the District institutions and to the citizen are improved.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

Repetitive tasks for a public servant involve between 3 and 6 hours a day, generating delays in administrative processes, and increasing human errors. These repetitive tasks take away from people the time that could be dedicated to activities that provide greater value to the entities and the citizen.

Our solutions are based in task automation using free Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software, we improve response times, costs and quality of service within the institutions and to the citizen.

  • Automate repetitive tasks with few resources.
  • Robotize repetitive tasks in a humanized way without people being afraid of losing their jobs.
  • Disseminate the proposed robotic solution without technical knowledge barriers.

Within each entity there are work teams that would be interested in improving their productivity through digital transformation, as well as teams with resistance to change or with legal barriers to change their processes, thus defining two types of market segments. Additionally, being a public proposal, SMEs that require resources to improve their productivity can also be included in the target market.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

  • Current Alternatives: In the market there are different commercial alternatives of RPA and its main actors are UiPath and Automation Anywhere which already have representatives in the Colombian market, but their costs are high and their target market are large companies.
  • Our Advantages: Automation of repetitive tasks without the need to invest in licensing or substantial resources.
    Empowerment of human talent in the robotization of repetitive tasks in a humanized way without people being afraid of losing their jobs.
  • Creation and use of robots without the need for specialized technical knowledge. Int is innovative, because so far the solution to the increase of repetitive tasks has been the increase of hired personnel or their temporary reassignment from other offices of the institution.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

The "Subred Integrada de Servicios de Salud Norte", in which four (4) robots for information uploading processes in SECOP II and one (1) robot for the configuration of ip phones were developed and implemented since the end of 2019.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

The North Sub-network where the robots were implemented generate annual savings of U$ 50K. In terms of time, the savings went from three weeks to less than one week and its execution is now performed by one person only instead of 20 people as before the implementation of the robots.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

So far, the key metrics of the Incubator are the savings in resources of the Entities where the robots have been implemented, which in the case of the North sub-network has been the savings of $ 200 million per year only in licensing.

As RPA solutions are implemented from the Robot Incubator, the metrics to measure its achievements will be the number of District Entities benefited, the number of robots implemented, the savings in man hours, process times and licensing costs related to the repetitive tasks implemented.

Finally, the metrics of greatest impact will be the increase in the productivity of the Entities and the increase in the efficiency of the services provided to citizens.

Challenges and Failures

  • Lack of dissemination in the District entities.
  • Fear of civil servants of losing their jobs when being replaced by robots in their repetitive tasks.
  • Lack of personnel with basic programming skills who can support the robots.
    Failures
  • Resistance to change in current processes, impeding progress in the implementation of robots.

Conditions for Success

  • Dissemination of the Robot Incubator and its benefits.
  • Training in programming fundamentals for those employees who wish to participate.
  • Support from the Management of the District Entities to implement development pilots or adaptation of existing robots.
  • Strategies to manage resistance to change".

Replication

So far, the robots created in the Northern Sub-network have been shared and adapted for their operation in two (2) other district entities, which shows their replicability provided that they have the support of the Management or Senior Management of the entities involved.
In order for the innovation to be replicated in the future, it is necessary the support in its dissemination, in the improvement and complement of the tutorials and video tutorials created so far and the support of the Management of each entity to implement robot pilots.

Lessons Learned

Faced with the growth of repetitive tasks, the solution had always been to hire more personnel, and although there were robotization options on the market, they were very expensive for public entities.

In the Northern Sub-network different factors came together for the emergence of robots:

  • Change in regulations that increased the number of repetitive tasks and decreased delivery times, making it unfeasible to continue transferring more personnel from other offices to provide solutions.
  • Emergence of a free software option for Robot Process Automation (RPA).
  • Staff with knowledge in innovation, basic programming and motivation to propose new ways of solution.
  • The experience to share is that with motivated people, challenging problems and the support of top management, innovation emerges.

Project Pitch

Supporting Videos

Status:

  • Implementation - making the innovation happen

Innovation provided by:

Date Published:

4 November 2022

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