Context
The project ‘Smart Assistant – Development of a chatbot for the municipalities of the LEADER Region Weinviertel Ost‘ aims to provide digital assistants to municipalities to help their daily online operations by automating routine tasks.
Objectives
The primary objective of the project is to automate routine tasks in municipal operations, thereby improving efficiency and accessibility. There are several reasons for the need for a chatbot program.
- Efficiency and convenience: a chatbot optimises communication by providing quick, automated responses to frequently asked questions. This saves time for both employees and citizens.
- 24/7 accessibility: a chatbot operates 24 hours a day and provides residents with access to information and services outside normal business hours.
- Cost savings: automating responses to common queries reduces the workload of municipal employees, which can lead to cost savings in this area.
- Efficiency: by providing quick and easily accessible information, municipalities can improve their services and residents’ satisfaction, because no one likes to wait for a long time.
- Adaptability: chatbots can be tailored to the specific needs and services of each municipality, ensuring their relevance.
Implementation
The implementation phase involves integrating the chatbot into the websites of the 58 municipalities within the LEADER Region Weinviertel Ost. The necessary software for this purpose is readily available on the market and is already in widespread use. However, like their human counterparts, the bots (robots) require training for their duties at the municipal office. Within the scope of this project, the bot will be specifically ‘trained’ to meet the needs of the municipalities within the LEADER Region Weinviertel Ost and made available to them. To achieve this, existing information from publicly accessible databases will be queried through central interfaces, and a ‘frequently asked questions’ database will be established for various municipal competencies, such as building permit matters. The content developed during this project will remain the property of the LEADER Region Weinviertel Ost.