Strategic Intelligent Work: Zarion IPP2 Project
Background
The ‘Strategic Intelligent Work’ project addresses the development of new concepts/methods, processes, and technologies to support people centric and sustainable operations and the management of both transactional and knowledge work, in financial services - with a specific focus on the requirements of the Insurance Industry.
This project is being funded by Enterprise Ireland as part of the Innovation Partnership Program (IP 2021 1003) and follows from the prior ‘Intelligent Work’ project, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland.
We are focussing on using data to enable both tactical decision-making (i.e., real time operations management) and strategic decision-making (i.e., strategic management of work - organisation/business management focus). The research and technology development activity focuses on using the right data and evaluation metrics to provide evidence-based insights addressing key areas of insurance company operations.
It is anticipated that the proposed SIW concepts/methods, processes and technologies will enable ‘data driven’ operations management (i.e., managing people, processes, work, and the customer), to obtain the best outcomes for different stakeholders (i.e., company and shareholders, staff, society), across different benefit areas as defined in the triple bottom line framework (i.e., people, profit, and planet). This data driven operational management and assessment approach (‘Intelligent Work’) will also contribute to the strategic management of work. That is, operations trends data, can be used to model service delivery over time supporting strategic decision making. Critically, this strategic decision making will be evidence-based decision making. Data will be used to simulate different inputs and outputs in the areas of business forecasting, capacity management, and workforce management. This is termed ‘Strategic Intelligent Work’ (SIW). It is anticipated that the proposed concepts and technologies will have wider application – both for other types of financial services organisations (i.e., beyond insurance), and other industries requires better safeguarding in relation to human assets and the application of AI and machine learning to ‘human in the system’ problems (i.e. link between performance management, operations management, wellbeing protections and data analytics).New intelligent work concepts/systems must be premised on a rich picture of the human role and requirements from a worker and customer service perspective. Further, it must address the potential barriers to adoption and issues pertaining to stakeholder acceptability and organisational change.
Project Objectives
Our specific objective is to define and validate the conceptual, human factors, organisational, technical, and implementation requirements for a novel technology system which makes use of data about work/tasks, people, processes, customers, and regulation etc., to make the best strategic and operational and organisational decisions for the company, yielding benefits across the triple bottom line.
The TCD will advance the requirements and associated ‘proof of concept’ for the future ‘Strategic Intelligent Work’ (SIW) system, addressing the business needs of financial services organisations. This will include the role of both people and technology in relation to implementing ‘SIW’. In relation to technology, it will include the application of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), and the theoretical logic underpinning the algorithm.
This research and development will be achieved via an action-based research partnership led by Zarion and including Zarion data staff (research and development, data analytics, software development and product), TCD researchers, and customers of Zarion in the Insurance industry.
The Zarion team will develop the technologies, making use of AI and ML technologies.
Project Approach & Ethically Responsive Technology
This project uses human factors, operations management, business process analysis and artificial intelligence knowledge to define innovative and human-centred work concepts (i.e., the workplace of the future) which will optimise worker wellbeing, safety, productivity, and efficiency, using novel ‘strategic intelligent work’ concepts and allied technology systems. Critically, these systems will deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies in an ethical manner.
The project will adopt a principled approach to technology development and the application of AI and ML technologies.
In so doing, the project will make use of the ‘Human Factors and Ethics Canvas’ methodology and the EU guidelines for development of trustworthy AI.
Underpinning the project approach are several precepts:
- Human activity should not compromise the long-term balance between the economic, environmental, and social pillars (i.e., the triple bottom line).
- New concepts of ‘responsible business’ and ‘regenerative business’ reflect a shift from a model of responsibility to shareholders (i.e., shareholder primacy) to responsibility to all stakeholders (includes staff). The introduction of the tripartite labour collaboration includes a third stakeholder—society.
- Work is part of our wellbeing and a key driver of health.
- Many companies treat workers in terms of enterprise resources. Workers are more than commodities/resources. They are human beings! And there are benefits to designing workplace procedures and technologies with the human in mind. Further, there are benefits to employees and employers for promoting self-efficacy for employees.
- Workplace IT systems were historically introduced to promote efficiency – there was insufficient attention to issues around the human role in the system, promoting healthy work and worker wellbeing, enabling worker self-efficacy and augmenting team performance and trust. Now, there is a greater emphasis on fostering trust, the promotion of psychological wellbeing in the workplace, the avoidance of work-related stress and absenteeism and developing ethically aligned technologies (and specifically technologies that prioritize human wellbeing). This change is to be valued. This change is at early stage. We need to design the work and workplace of the future.
Funding
This research is funded under the Innovation Partnership Programme (Enterprise Ireland).
Publications & News Items
Cahill, J., Howard, V., Huang Y., Yeju, J, Ralph S & Dillon, A. (2022). The Future of Work and Work Systems: Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence for Designing Smart, Safe, Healthy & Ethical Work in Financial Services. Human-Automation Interaction: Manufacturing, Services and User Experience. Automation, Collaboration, E-Services, Vol. 10, Vincent G. Duffy et al. (Eds): Human-Automation Interaction. ISBN: 978-3-031-10779-5.
Cahill J., Howard V., Huang Y., Ye J., Ralph S., Dillon A. (2021) Intelligent Work: Person Centered Operations, Worker Wellness, and the Triple Bottom Line. In: Stephanidis C., Antona M., Ntoa S. (eds) HCI International 2021 - Posters. HCII 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1421, pp 307-314. Springer, Cham.
Cahill J., Howard V., Huang Y., Ye J., Ralph S., Dillon A. (2021). Addressing Human Factors and Ethics in the Design of ‘Future Work’ and Intelligent Systems for Use in Financial Services - Person Centered Operations, Intelligent Work & the Triple Bottom Line. In: Duffy V.G. (eds) Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics and Risk Management. Human Body, Motion and Behavior. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12777, page 3-13. Springer, Cham.
Yufie Huang & Joan Cahill (March 2021). AI, Employee Performance & Wellness: Towards a Law of Robotics in the workplace. The Council on Business & Society (March 2021) Website Article https://councilcommunity.org/2021/03/09/ai-employee-performance-wellness-towards-a-law-of-robotics-in-the-workplace/
Zarion Project Team (2021).
Cahill, J, Huang, J, Ralph, S & Dillon, A. (2021) Intelligent Work and the Triple Bottom Line.
Cahill, J & Yufie Huang (2020). Shaping the Future of Work in Financial Services Enterprises
Cahill, J (2020) Workforce diversity, workforce monitoring and robotic process automation (RPA) Inspire Event,
Diversity in the Analytics Sector Hosted by Central Bank of Ireland.
Project Partners & Contacts
For more information, please contact
Prof. Siobhán Corrigan scorrig@tcd.ie Centre for Innovative Human Systems
Prof. Yufei Huang yufei.huang@tcd.ie Trinity Business School
Mr. Stephen Ralph sralph@zarion.comZarion Ltd.