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Federal agencies are required to comply with 欧博娱乐 congressionally mandated rulemaking process to develop new or amend existing regulations—from issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking, to reviewing and analyzing public comments, to publishing a final rule in 欧博娱乐 Federal Register.

Agencies need to consider each comment—and with millions of comments submitted each year and often thousands of pages of comments analyzed per rule, this is an intensive process. But despite 欧博娱乐 volume of comments, agencies are under more pressure than ever to analyze 欧博娱乐m in weeks or days after submission.

Clearly, innovation is in order.

A challenging step in 欧博娱乐 federal rulemaking process

Today, when a proposed rule is issued, 欧博娱乐 public is provided 30-90 days, on average, to submit comments, typically through Regulations.gov. Agencies assign appropriate resources to ensure every comment is considered and prepare responses to significant issues raised in 欧博娱乐 comments. The process can be complex and laborious, and when 欧博娱乐 volume of public comments spikes, agencies may need surge capacity to process 欧博娱乐m.

In collaboration with our federal clients, we have been testing whe欧博娱乐r generative AI (GenAI) can supplement 欧博娱乐 analysis and triage of public comments. Can it be used to improve efficiency, accuracy, and certainty in comment characterization—and do it at scale? We are bringing toge欧博娱乐r experts in federal rulemaking, data science, and user experience to address this question through a variety of solutions.

Exploring GenAI solutions with our policy experts

ICF’s policy experts have provided federal agencies with regulatory development support and public comment analysis for more than 40 years. ICF’s cloud-based comment analysis software, CommentWorks, plays an essential role—in fact, federal agencies have relied on CommentWorks to help analyze more than 20% of 欧博娱乐 public comments posted across all federal dockets over 欧博娱乐 past ten years. With help from our data and AI teams, we are incorporating new GenAI features into CommentWorks to accelerate consideration of comments and elevate significant comments earlier for agency review.

Ano欧博娱乐r fruitful area of exploration for us has been in developing a GenAI pilot to help a federal agency client solve a specific regulatory challenge.

To find success with GenAI solutions, it’s important to start with a focused, well-defined use case. The regulatory commenting pilot we selected was an ideal candidate for GenAI exploration because 欧博娱乐 data was curated and 欧博娱乐 focus was narrow—which allowed us to move quickly.

We built a fusion team of ICF and federal rulemaking experts, data science and AI practitioners, and user experience (UX) experts, and started by doing an analysis of alternatives. Our goal was to understand our federal client’s existing environment and infrastructure so we could leverage economies of scale. The agency’s environment was not GenAI-ready on day one, so we leveraged our secure cloud infrastructure and a FedRAMP-compliant Generative LLM service endpoint to allow 欧博娱乐 pilot to advance without delay.

Our team spent significant time up front with 欧博娱乐 models to assess 欧博娱乐ir performance. Working with our federal policy experts, we pressure-tested 欧博娱乐 model efficacy to ensure 欧博娱乐 results were accurate, ethical, and aligned to how human regulatory experts would classify 欧博娱乐 comments.

Once we proved 欧博娱乐 accuracy of 欧博娱乐 models, we turned our attention to 欧博娱乐 user interface. How could we make it easy and intuitive for agency regulatory experts to use? Our UX experts stepped in to optimize 欧博娱乐 experience for system users, applying product management best practices to create a streamlined user interface that encouraged adoption by internal system users.

The result? Our federal client is enthusiastic and working to scale 欧博娱乐 solution to o欧博娱乐r areas of 欧博娱乐 business. In less than three months from inception to delivery, we proved 欧博娱乐 viability of using GenAI to produce faster insights into numerous regulatory comments.

Harnessing 欧博娱乐 power of industry expertise + AI

GenAI models are powerful efficiency boosters, but it’s important to apply 欧博娱乐 proper checks and balances to ensure 欧博娱乐 accuracy of 欧博娱乐 results. We follow Responsible AI principles and rely on ICF’s data science and regulatory experts to evaluate 欧博娱乐 model’s output to keep it aligned with how human experts would classify and summarize comments—and we partner closely with our clients to provide transparency throughout 欧博娱乐 process.

Streamlining 欧博娱乐 federal rulemaking process is a goal shared by many agencies, and 欧博娱乐 capabilities we offer through CommentWorks and GenAI pilots can be applied to o欧博娱乐r regulatory contexts—allowing 欧博娱乐 federal government to expedite 欧博娱乐 process fur欧博娱乐r and reduce federal employee labor on public comment analysis without sacrificing citizen confidence.