When the Resident Portal and My Pages Get Smarter
AI is the talk of the town right now, and there’s a lot happening in the public sector. So far, much of the focus has been on how AI can streamline internal municipal operations. But we think it’s just as interesting to look at what AI can do when interacting with residents.
What happens when AI becomes part of the municipality's Resident Portal or My Pages?
We believe it could be much more than just a chatbot on the municipality’s website. AI can become part of digital resident services and help residents find the right information, understand it, and get assistance tailored to their specific situation.
It's also an area we at Onify are currently developing.
Residents should not be expected to understand the municipality's system
A municipality’s digital services often consist of many different components. The website, e-services, “My Pages,” and various operational systems all serve their own purposes. For those who work at the municipality, there is a logical structure to how everything fits together. For residents, however, this isn’t always as obvious.
Anyone who wants to apply for a building permit, track the status of a case, or find information about their property should not have to know which department is responsible for the matter or in which system the information is stored.
This is a key part of the concept behind a Resident Portal and the next generation of "My Pages": bringing together the municipality’s digital services around the resident, regardless of the systems behind them. With AI, it’s possible to take that concept even further.
From searching to asking
Today, much of digital self-service relies on residents finding the right information on their own. First, they need to find the right page on the municipality’s website. Then they might move on to an e-service and subsequently log in to “My Pages” to track their case. With AI, this process can be simplified.
The resident can start by asking a question. It could be something as simple as, “I want to build a garage. What do I need to do?” The AI can then help find relevant information and guide the resident to the right service or the next step.
But it becomes even more interesting when AI is integrated with the logged-in portion of the municipality's digital services.
When AI Becomes Part of the Resident Portal
A Resident Portal or My Pages can bring together information from multiple operational systems, e-services, and other data sources in one place. This provides AI with a completely different context than if it were simply searching through the information on the municipality’s website.
When a resident is logged in, there may be information about ongoing cases, properties, businesses, or other items that the person is authorized to view. That information can also become part of the dialogue with the AI.
In that case, it’s no longer just a matter of answering general questions. AI can help residents based on their actual situation and what they need help with.
Imagine being able to ask your property a question directly
Real estate is a good example of how this works. You’re logged in to My Pages and go to your property. There, you can ask the question, “What do I need to do if I want to build a deck here?”
Since you are already on the property, you do not need to start by explaining which property is in question. Relevant information about the property can be included in the inquiry and combined with other sources of information made available by the municipality.
The same thing can be done with a case, a business, or other items in My Pages. This is where we think AI becomes really interesting for resident services. Residents shouldn’t have to search for and enter information that’s already available. Instead, it can be used to provide better and more relevant assistance.
The information is available in more places than just the web
To make this work, it’s not enough to simply connect AI to the municipality’s website. Relevant information is found in many different places—in business systems, e-services, documents, and other data sources. Some of this information may already be compiled and available to residents on “My Pages.”
AI must therefore be able to use multiple quality-assured sources and understand the context in which the information is embedded.
At the same time, the municipality needs to maintain control. What information can be used, and what is the logged-in user authorized to view? How do we know which sources an answer is based on?
Information security, access controls, and the quality of the information will be at least as important as the AI model used.
Here's what we're working on at Onify
This is similar to what we're already doing with Onify's Resident Portal.
Today, we use Onify to gather information from back-end systems and make it available to residents in one place. "My Cases," "My Properties," and "My Businesses" are a few examples. Now we’re building on that with AI.
We are developing tools to enable users to ask questions using multiple quality-assured information sources and to incorporate information and context from the Resident Portal into the dialogue.
For example, this could involve asking a question directly from a property and including information about that specific property. The same principle can be applied to cases, companies, and other items.
This way, AI won’t become yet another separate channel that residents have to find. It will become part of the digital services that already exist.
The municipality should be able to choose an AI solution
Municipalities will make different choices regarding AI, and we believe that the Resident Portal needs to continue to function even as those choices change. That is why we are not basing our support on a specific AI model or vendor.
As part of this development, we are building support for integration with Intric and Eneo, among others. Work is now continuing on how AI can be used in conjunction with the information and features in the Resident Portal.
In this way, Onify can establish a connection between residents, various properties, and information from the municipality’s systems. At the same time, the municipality can continue to choose the AI solution that best suits its own environment and strategy.
Next-Generation My Pages
For us, the next generation of “My Pages” is about more than just gathering tasks from the e-service platform. It’s about creating a single digital entry point to the municipality where residents can access information and services from various departments and systems all in one place.
When information about, for example, cases, properties, businesses, and other entities is collected and organized around the resident, new opportunities are also created. The information becomes easier to find and use, but it can also be placed in a broader context. That’s where AI becomes a natural next step.
When the right information has already been gathered and organized, AI can help residents understand it, ask questions based on their own situation, and get further assistance. Not as a separate channel alongside “My Pages,” but as part of the digital service that residents already use.
That’s how we view our resident portal and the next generation of “My Pages.” A gateway to the municipality’s digital services, where AI can make the aggregated information even more useful.
