AI for the public sector

The municipal software handles items of business, minutes and deadlines. In the following cases, applications, objections and statements are on the table that an administration has to check, justify and answer.

First, the building application. In the canton of Zurich, under § 313(1) of the Planning and Building Act, the local building authority first checks whether the documents comply with the regulations and are sufficient for the decision; otherwise it orders them to be changed or completed. Vectoryon compares the submitted plans and forms with the cantonal list of application documents and the municipality’s building and zoning regulations, lists missing documents and writes the draft of the request for further documents. The building secretary checks the list, the building authority orders the completion. Other cantons regulate the preliminary check in their own building law.

Second, the objection to a ruling. Vectoryon assigns each complaint in the objection to the file documents it refers to and writes a draft of the objection decision with reasoning and notice of appeal. For federal authorities, Article 35 VwVG requires that a written ruling is reasoned and contains a notice of appeal with the remedy, the appeal body and the deadline. For municipalities and cantons, cantonal administrative procedure law applies. Assessment, decision and signature stay with the responsible authority.

Third, public procurement. Under Article 27(1) IVöB, the contracting authority sets out the suitability criteria conclusively in the call for tenders or the tender documents, and under Article 29(3) it announces the award criteria and their weighting. The tenders received are compared with these criteria in a table, with missing evidence flagged, each with a reference to the page in the tender. The awarding authority decides on evaluation and award.

Fourth, the freedom of information request. Someone requests access to official documents. Vectoryon searches the file store for the documents concerned, marks passages with personal data or possible grounds for confidentiality and writes a draft reply. For the federal administration, a deadline under Article 12 BGÖ applies; cantons and municipalities have their own freedom of information laws. The responsible office decides what is redacted and whether access is granted.

Fifth, public participation in local planning. Under Article 4(2) of the Spatial Planning Act, the planning authorities ensure that the population can participate in planning in a suitable way. For a revision of the building and zoning regulations or a new regulation, residents, parties and associations send their statements. The assistant assigns each submission to the article or plan area concerned, groups identical arguments, counts them and writes a draft of the participation report. The municipal council decides how the municipality deals with the submissions.

Anyone in an administration who uses ChatGPT or a similar service for a letter or a summary can do so for texts without personal data. As soon as an enquiry contains a name, an address or facts from a file, a private account lacks the processing agreement and control over where the data is stored. More on this under ChatGPT and data protection.

Municipal software is something else. It runs the specialist procedures: residents’ registration, taxes, finances, building administration, records management. Vectoryon replaces none of these programs and does not intervene in them.

Vectoryon works alongside them, on email, calendar and documents from Microsoft 365 and on uploaded documents. It prepares the office work around an item of business: replies, summaries, minutes, appointments. A typical use: in the morning, the assistant summarises the new incoming items in a department’s mailbox and lists what needs a reply. How an AI agent works with tools is explained under AI agents.