Navigating the responsible use of AI in government procurement

Government procurement professionals are tasked with balancing the need for innovation while adhering to strict regulations. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, such as generative AI, presents both opportunities and challenges in this delicate equilibrium. This post provides guidance on how procurement can play a pivotal role in enabling the responsible use of AI within the public sector.

Procurement’s role in responsible AI implementation

Procurement professionals are at the forefront of verifying compliance with policies and regulations governing the use of technology within government agencies. When it comes to AI, this responsibility extends to verifying that potential partners meet or exceed the necessary qualifications and experience in implementing these tools responsibly.

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we have adopted a customer-centric approach to integrating responsible AI across the entire AI lifecycle. This includes providing customers, especially in the public sector, with the necessary tools, guidance, and resources to get started with purpose-built AI services, such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker Clarify, and much more.

By working closely with your technology and legal and policy teams, procurement teams can make sure that suppliers are aligned with their organization’s responsible AI principles and requirements, positioning themselves as valued business partners.

Navigating the evolving landscape of generative AI

The rapid growth of generative AI has brought both promising innovations and complex challenges for government agencies. Procurement professionals play a crucial role in navigating these developments, which include:

• Understanding how to appropriately regulate the use of generative AI within an organization.
• Using these technologies to enhance operational efficiency and improve the delivery of services to the community.

At AWS, our customer-centric approach to integrating responsible AI focuses on education, science, and the needs of our customers. This has led to the introduction of new capabilities in our generative AI applications and models, such as training to detect and block harmful content and implementing robust data privacy protections. Customers can build and scale with AWS on a foundation of privacy, security, and AI governance to transform at an unprecedented rate.

Enabling innovation within procurement regulations

Adhering to public procurement regulations while fostering innovation can be a delicate balance. Procurement professionals can use cooperative contracts, such as those offered by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and OMNIA Partners, to expedite the procurement process and onboard innovative solution providers.

Another avenue for innovation is through public-private partnerships, such as the AWS Public Sector Innovation Centers. In the Cloud Innovation Centers (CIC) at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Arizona State University, AWS, university staff, and student interns collaborate to use the Amazon culture of innovation and solve real-world problems for public sector organizations. The resulting open source solutions can then be deployed by other agencies with similar needs.

One example of an innovative solution developed through this program is the ScopeBuilder tool, which uses generative AI to assist the human in the loop during the Scope of Work (SOW) creation process. This cutting-edge solution, named “ScopeBuilder,” focuses on enhancing scope development for contracts, Bids, and RFPs, streamlining the creation of high-quality SOWs. ScopeBuilder leverages advanced generative AI capabilities to reduce common pain points in the procurement process, such as limited commodity knowledge, vague or unclear work scopes, and lack of clear milestones. The system employs a conversational AI interface that guides users through creating comprehensive SOWs, ensuring that even procurement specialists with limited knowledge of a particular industry can produce detailed and comprehensive documents.

By embracing these collaborative approaches, procurement professionals can unlock the potential of emerging technologies—such as AI—while verifying compliance with public sector regulations, achieving operational efficiencies, and promoting fairness in the industry.

Conclusion

Procurement professionals play a crucial role in the responsible implementation of AI within government agencies. By partnering with technology providers, using cooperative contracts, and fostering public-private collaborations, procurement can drive innovation while adhering to the law and prioritizing the needs of their customers.