"Leading innovation in public administration"... Public Procurement Service develops AI agents "directly by employees"

[Financial News] The 'experimental innovation unit' that the Public Procurement Service has been operating since this year is producing visible results. Instead of relying on external developers, its own employees have taken on AI development directly and introduced AI agents that can be used immediately in their day-to-day work.
 According to the Public Procurement Service on the 20th, it recently established an 'In-House AI Development TF' and has been seeking to change how it works to respond quickly to a rapidly changing environment, including the spread of AI. The goal is to move away from a rigid work environment and operate the organization with a focus on performance and efficiency.
 The In-House TF has employees with in-depth knowledge of procurement identify areas for AI development and take charge of development themselves. It has also established a 'Procurement AI Portal' so that more employees can use the resulting tools. The portal currently offers 10 AI agents and 12 work programs that are being used in day-to-day operations.
 The AI agents include tools for intelligently preparing estimated prices, analyzing eligibility to participate in bidding, and managing materials requested by the National Assembly. Work programs include an integrated contract management program, a program for comparing and looking up unit-price standards by type of construction work, and a program for checking whether products recommended by the Innovation Product Scout are duplicates.
 Public procurement is considered an area where AI can have a significant impact because a large share of the work involves documents and regulations, such as bidding, contracting, and inspection. The analysis is that if AI takes on repetitive review and comparison tasks, employees can focus more on work requiring judgment and coordination, such as improving systems and supporting businesses. 
The Public Procurement Service was also selected last September as an 'operating institution for organization-tailored AI Champions,' supported by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. AI Champions are hands-on professionals who lead the AI transition in public administration. The ministry plans to train about 20,000 of them from last year through 2030. It selected seven institutions to operate the program, including the Public Procurement Service, the Local Government Officials Development Institute, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the Korea Customs Service, Busan Metropolitan City, Incheon Metropolitan City, and Gyeonggi Province. Following consultations, full-scale training is scheduled to begin next year.
 The way of working is also changing. Since last March, the Public Procurement Service has been working to identify and eliminate unnecessary 'make-work' within the organization. It overhauled performative events with little practical value and increased video conferences while making remote meetings the norm. In-person meetings were limited to 15 minutes, streamlining reporting and meeting practices.
 However, challenges remain if changes to the organizational culture are to become firmly established. It has been pointed out that as the number of AI tools created by employees grows, it will be important to ensure data security, verify the accuracy of their output, and establish a system for ongoing maintenance even when the staff responsible for development change.
 Meanwhile, the Public Procurement Service plans to expand its 'experimental innovation units' focused on core work, in addition to AI development. It will diversify workplaces by promoting remote work, work at smart work centers, and workations, and plans to create an environment where employees can focus on their work through more innovation experiments.
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter