UK Government AI Copilot Trial Saves 26 Minutes Daily for Civil Servants

Here’s a summary based on the original article from PublicTechnology:

Major UK Government Copilot Trial: Key Findings​

Scope:

• 20,000 civil servants
• 12 government departments
• 3-month pilot (end of last year)
• Led by the Government Digital Service (GDS) and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

Key Results:

• Average time saved: 26 minutes/day per participant (about 13 workdays/year)
• Consistency: Benefits were found across all grades and most professions, though actual savings varied by role
• Adoption: 80% used Copilot with at least one M365 app
• Teams had the highest adoption (71%)
• Word, Outlook, Copilot Chat around 50%
• PowerPoint and Excel under 25%
• Usage:
• 39% used Copilot more than once daily
• 43% used it several times each week
• Only 2% did not use it at all

Professional Differences:

• Highest savings:
• Project delivery: 35 mins/day
• Commercial: 32 mins
• Operations, digital/data, comms: 31 mins
• HR, policy: 29 mins
• Finance, analysis: 25 mins
• Lowest:
• Legal: 19 mins
• Tax: 11 mins

User Sentiment & Value:

• 85% said Copilot provided good value to their department
• 63% felt job satisfaction and productivity would drop without it
• Average satisfaction score: 7.7/10
• Average recommendation: 8.2/10

Commonly Saved Tasks:

• Drafting written documents and presentations

Challenges Noted:

• The lowest satisfaction and time savings came from teams dealing with nuance/contradictory data (like policy roles), sometimes leading to more cautious usage
• Users identified needs for more effective prompting, skill-building, and concern about accuracy, reliability, dependency, and even environmental impact

Next Steps Highlighted by Government:

• Focus deployment on professions showing both highest and lowest time savings for further study
• More attention on accessibility use cases and inclusion (noted benefits for disabled staff)
• Continued tracking and evaluation through a dedicated AI adoption unit in GDS

Participating Departments Included:

• DWP, HMRC, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, DESNZ, DSIT, FCDO, DEFRA, Department for Business & Trade, Companies House, ONS, Welsh Government

Conclusion:
Microsoft Copilot helped deliver significant average daily time savings for a large cross-section of UK public sector staff, with most seeing value in its continued use, but its impact varies with the type of work and level of user skill/confidence.
Read the full report on PublicTechnology.net.
Let me know if you need the direct quotes, infographics, or a deeper dive on a particular department or role!

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Source: PublicTechnology Major government Copilot trial finds half an hour average time savings per day