Page 83 - Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities - A U4SSC deliverable

Summary

• Governments around the world are at varying levels of readiness to procure, implement and
develop and use AI responsibly.

• New technologies need to work with existing technologies, processes and infrastructure, and
be able to adapt to future demands.

• When exploring how best to use new technologies like AI, working collaboratively with the
market can help to build internal capabilities, and save time and costs.

The problem

Every year in the UK, more than 40 million vehicles receive a standards test called an “MOT”. These
are carried out by more than 80 000 testers in around 23 000 garages across the country, generating
more than GBP 1 billion for the economy.

However, some vehicles were not being tested properly, which was endangering people’s lives.
Inspection of authorized garages was resource intensive and there was limited knowledge to target
these inspections effectively.

In support of the DVSA vision to help people stay safe on Britain's roads the digital team wanted

to explore data-driven approaches to help them conduct intelligent inspections of authorized
garages carrying out MOTs, to ensure that vehicle standards are enforced.

To do this, the DVSA wanted to work with supplier partners to collaboratively deliver improvements
as part of blended agile teams, and develop internal skills to use digital technologies.

When thinking about introducing emerging technologies into digital service infrastructure, it is
important to start with user needs to ensure that the right things are built.

Internationally, there is increasing recognition that when developing and implementing AI systems,
these need to be designed to be safe, fair and trustworthy. For example:

• in May 2019, 42 countries signed up to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) Principles on AI;

• in June 2020, the Global Partnership on AI was created to support the responsible and human-
centric development and use of AI, in a manner consistent with human rights, fundamental
freedoms, and shared democratic values, as elaborated in the OECD Recommendation on AI.

Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities | May 2023 69