#Japan #Persol Group #Yokosuka #Yokosuka City #Tacit Knowledge

Revolutionizing Knowledge Management with AI in Yokosuka City

Persol Business Process Design, a subsidiary of the Persol Group based in Minato City, Tokyo, is dedicated to improving work environments under the vision of "Let's Work and Smile." Recently, they launched a pioneering project in collaboration with Yokosuka City's Accounting Department to visualize tacit knowledge among city staff through the application of call recording data. This initiative not only aims to enhance the efficiency of municipal services but also seeks to address the increasing need for streamlined operations in light of staff shortages and diverse resident demands.

Background

As human resource shortages pose a significant societal challenge, municipal governments across Japan are increasingly pressured to deliver public services effectively with their limited resources. This situation calls for urgent improvement in administrative efficiency, prompting many local governments to adopt digital transformation (DX) strategies, including the use of generative AI. Yokosuka City has distinguished itself by becoming the first municipality in Japan to implement ChatGPT in 2023, setting a trend for DX initiatives nationwide. From the outset, the city aimed to enhance internal administrative efficiency by leveraging existing manuals and procedures in their ChatGPT implementation.

Given their expertise, Persol Business Process Design had previously supported Yokosuka City’s General Affairs Office. Noticing the need for a method to convert staff tacit knowledge into usable data, the company was consulted about potential applications of generative AI to achieve this goal. They articulated a strategy to effectively visualize the tacit knowledge held by employees, earning the city’s agreement to further explore practical implementation methods.

To kick off this initiative, Persol focused on the Accounting Department, which frequently handled inquiries that required specialized knowledge, making the creation of knowledge data challenging. The project involved transcribing audio recordings from inquiries made through town hall phone lines into written text, thus turning these implicit insights into tangible knowledge data.

Overview and Results of the Pilot Project

1. Data Collection and Knowledge Draft Generation

Pilot Objective: Connect a simple call recording device to staff telephones to capture conversation data—focusing on phrases used during inquiries, categorizations of questions, and implicit knowledge conveyed. This audio data was then transcribed using generative AI.

Results: of the total 1,427 recorded calls, 870 were deemed effective for knowledge creation.

2. Analysis and Structuring via KCS Methodology

Pilot Objective: Using the transcribed call data, simulate the knowledge management process with human involvement to mine knowledge (new registrations, reuse, and updates).

Results: 499 knowledge pieces were created, achieving a creation rate of 57% from effective recordings with 156 entries classified as high-frequency knowledge relevant to common inquiries.

Insights Gleaned from the Pilot

The project effectively visualized several aspects:

• - Telephone operations within the Accounting Department (incoming/outgoing calls, departmental breakdown, response times, and frequencies).
• - Inquiry experiences of callers, including background, questions, and context.
• - Staff tacit knowledge regarding decision-making points, categorizations, and solution methodologies.

Some high-frequency knowledge derived from the pilot was integrated into a chatbot for Yokosuka City employees, enhancing self-service capabilities.

Strengths of Persol Business Process Design

In the domain of inquiry response knowledge management, it is important to recognize that inquiries do not always correspond directly to knowledge one-to-one. Respondents are trained to piece together necessary information requested by inquirers from a variety of angles. Persol’s capability to include the unique insights of responders in the constructed database enhances their approach.

Future Prospects

The results from this pilot project will help visualize and structure the tacit knowledge of staff telephone interactions. By developing a robust data infrastructure for generative AI learning and analysis, this can significantly boost operational improvements within Yokosuka City Hall. Furthermore, utilizing insights from this undertaking, Persol Business Process Design aims to promote DX and efficiency across various municipal governments nationwide, contributing to solutions for broader societal issues.

About Persol Business Process Design

Persol Business Process Design offers business process outsourcing (BPO) services by combining their expertise in process design, organizational and human resource management, and staff development with cutting-edge technologies like AI. Their mission is to innovate all types of work and organizations, building a society that supports better working environments. The Persol Group’s vision, "Let’s Work and Smile," drives their diverse initiatives focused on human and organizational needs, contributing to more sustainable societal advancements and achieving the UN's SDGs.