Statistics South Africa (STATS SA) is a national government department responsible for collecting, producing, and disseminating statistical information to support policy development, planning, and decision-making. As the country’s leading official statistics provider, STATS SA is critical in delivering accurate and relevant data on various aspects of South Africa’s economy, society, and environment. With a mandate to promote transparency, accessibility, and inclusivity, STATS SA is committed to ensuring that its data and insights are readily available to all stakeholders.
Customer Challenge
As demand for accessible and responsive public services surged, STATS SA recognised the need to adopt innovative solutions to bridge the communication gap effectively. The inability to address this challenge would lead to decreased public trust, reduced stakeholder engagement, and potential delays in disseminating crucial statistical information. Such outcomes would hinder STATS SA’s ability to fulfil its mission and negatively impact the quality of data-driven governance and decision-making in South Africa.
Pax Divitiae deployed Amazon Lex, an AWS service for building conversational interfaces with advanced natural language processing (NLP) capabilities to achieve this. Amazon Lex enabled the development of a virtual chatbot agent to understand and respond to conversationally user queries. This allowed STATS SA to provide timely and accurate information to the public without human intervention.
Additionally, Pax Divitiae integrated the chatbot with AWS Lambda, a serverless computing service that allowed the execution of custom code in response to specific events. This integration enabled the chatbot to access and process STATS SA’s vast database of statistical information, ensuring that users received relevant and up-to-date responses to their inquiries.
Pax Divitiae employed Amazon Polly, a text-to-speech service that converted textual responses into natural-sounding speech to enhance the solution’s capabilities further. This feature particularly benefited users who preferred auditory interaction, ensuring an inclusive and user-friendly experience.
Throughout the project, Pax Divitiae provided extensive support services during the pre-and post-implementation phases. The team conducted thorough testing and training sessions to ensure a seamless transition to the new platform. Technical assistance and guidance were provided to ensure the successful deployment and operation of the chatbot solution.
Results and Benefits
Implementing the virtual chatbot agent for STATS SA’s Census 2022 project marked a significant milestone in South Africa’s statistical landscape. The humanoid bot, equipped with advanced NLP capabilities, served as a virtual companion, guiding users through the labyrinth of census statistics, answering queries, and demystifying complex data sets with unparalleled ease and clarity.
As a result, STATS SA experienced a 50% reduction in response times for public inquiries, significantly enhancing user engagement and satisfaction. The chatbot solution also reduced operational costs by 30%, minimising the need for human intervention in handling routine inquiries. By facilitating real-time interactions and providing timely assistance, the chatbot played a crucial role in advancing STATS SA’s mission to promote transparency, accessibility, and inclusivity.
The Overall Story
Customer Stories