AI in Social Protection (Online Resources Global Alliances for Social Protection)

Background

• Need: Identifying and reaching households through social protection programmes is a major challenge in many partner countries, as systematic data on people's socio-economic situation or population and civil status registers are often missing or incomplete. A lack of data exchange and a lack of global standards for this means that programmes are often incompatible with each other and efficient service provision is hindered.  

• Response: German International Cooperation is supporting digital transformation and innovation in social protection to increase efficiency and … eventually improve delivery of social protection systems. 

• Specifically: GIZ (German implementing organisation in International Cooperation) with support of German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Commission (EU) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through its global programme “Global Alliances for Social Protection” is promoting digital solutions and standards that can be used to organise social protection systems in a needs-oriented, efficient and transparent manner and that can be adapted quickly in times of crisis. 

• In its effort to support digital transformation in social protection the Global Alliances for Social Protection is facilitating 2 global initiatives:

  • openIMIS initiative – which is developing & implementing a digital publc good for the management of health and social protection programs

  • Digital Convergence Initiative in Social Protection (DCI) – which is leading the development and implementation of international standards for improved interoperability in social protection

• Like in the digital transformation of other sectors, also in social protection, AI plays an important role. It has the potential to greatly enhance the efficiency and adaptability of social protection systems, including in health insurance. For both the openIMIS and DCI initiatives, AI helps to leverage data more effectively, automate processes, and improve decision-making, which can significantly improve outcomes in social protection.

• Approach of the Global Alliances for Social Protection:

  • Building on global partnerships with multi- and bilateral (e.g. WB, ILO, WFP) organisations and close cooperation with partner countries

  • Facilitating knowledge exchange and engaging in capacity development helps to jointly engage and move ahead will all relevant actors in the field, on the policy and implementation level

Description

Over the past years the Global Alliances for Social Protection, through their initiatives openIMIS and DCI, have been building strong partnerships on the topic of AI in Social Protection with manifold actors in the partner countries, with subject-matter experts and organisations like ADB, ISSA, WB, ILO, WFP). They jointly initiated and conducted diverse activities, which are captured hereafter. As all partners in the sector are continuing to learn from each other and develop these solutions together, it remains their objective to create systems that are more efficient, transparent, and responsive to the needs of the populations they serve.

Learning Resources in partnership with …

• June 2020: publication on “AI in Social Protection - Exploring Opportunities and Mitigating Risks” in partnership with ADB AI in Social Protection | socialprotection.org

• Since 2021: Development of AI claims adjudication module by openIMIS in

  • Which can be used integrated in the openIMIS social health protection solution OR

  • As stand-alone module to be integrated in existing digital health Insurance solution

  • Nepal has been working to integrate the AI module in social health insurance under the Health Insurance Board in Nepal (to assist in claims review of more than 15.000 claims a day)

• Jan 2023: ISSA Webinar Artificial Intelligence applications in health care, https://www.issa.int/events/webinar-2023-01-31, organized in partnership with the Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) at the United Nations University, introducing openIMIS AI module

• Nov 2023: (Nov 2023), pre-conference session at General Meeting of Asian e-Health Information Network (AeHIN) on AI in Health Insurance, together with JLN and BPJS Health Insurance in Indonesia; full documentation:

  • full documentation https://openimis.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OP/pages/3662807178/AI+in+Health+Insurance Parallel Session Set B https://asiaehealthinformationnetwork.org/aehingm2023/presentations/

• Nov 2024: AI for Social Protection Workshop, funded by BMZ, ADB and EU; co-hosted by ADB, DCI and GIZ and in partnership with WB, WFP and ISSA event website incl. agenda AI for Social Protection (eventsair.com)

  • 122 participants from 22 countries - social protection experts, policy makers, country representatives, technology specialists, and AI software providers - gather to brainstorm opportunities to harness AI’s transformative potential in social protection, share stories about how AI has already been used, and voice their concerns about the risks and challenges … and discuss the question: on what’s the way forward?

  • Delegates shared country experiences e.g. from Nepal, Singapore, Pakistan …

• Dec 2024 (onwards): Cooperation GIZ-Amref to facilitate a learning exchange and developing an e-learning course on a concrete application field of AI in social protection --> AI for health insurance (claims management & fraud control)

  • in cooperation with the Amref Health Network, which has vast experience in health systems and capacity building

  • in cooperation with AI experts Simona and Tim

  • with the contribution of experts from health insurances in some of our partner countries – Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cambodia and Nepal

• Apr 2025 (onwards): Facilitating an AI Help Desk (in social protection) in partnership with …

  • Support governments in identifying and introducing relevant AI solutions in social (health) protection

  • offer webinars, guidelines, support on review processes and tendering processes

• May 2025: Launch of e-Learning course AI for health insurance

• xx 2025: AI-supported … on socialprotection.org

*highlighting cooperation between Sector Initiative, GASP and bilateral programmes on AI for social protection