The move is another reflection of the progress of technology in an area of government vital to public agencies — dealing with natural emergencies and other potential disasters. Much of that progress involves new geospatial and mapping tools.
Forerunner, founded in 2019 to focus on what the company calls “critical gaps” in floodplain management, just launched an AI-powered Spanish language translation tool, co-founder and CEO JT White told Government Technology. The company works with more than 130 communities.
That tool debuts as the National Weather Service said it would resume AI-assisted translations of its alerts, a feared casualty of federal Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting efforts — and a reminder of the importance that many officials and other people put on such gov tech services.
But that’s not all AI can do in this space, White said.
Artificial intelligence promises to help the company centralize data so that public agencies can have an easier time assessing hazards and risks — such as whether a home needs to be elevated to protect itself against flooding. AI can also help those agencies automate workflows.
At Forerunner, that means such tools as “elevation certificate automation,” which requires precise data collection and documentation; and the “auto-generation of letters,” via which AI can link to federal, state and local codes, and property inspections, to help make sure that projects and properties are compliant.
“We see how excited our governmental customers are about AI,” White said. “The enthusiasm far outweighs any sort of fear.”
That enthusiasm promises to build, he said, and more real and potential clients realize that AI can help in all the “places where data gets messed up and transcribed incorrectly,” White said. “AI will create a tremendous amount of productivity.”
But as powerful as AI might become, there will parts of hazard management where it probably won’t be too useful, he said. That includes those difficult conversations in which public officials tell residents that their houses have to be raised or otherwise improved or repaired to conform to codes.
“AI won’t help there,” he said. “It has to be human to human.”
