Why AI projects fail because of data, and how a pragmatic data strategy creates the foundation for successful AI applications in municipalities.
Data Strategy and Quality: The Foundation of Successful AI Most failed AI projects in municipalities don''t fail because of the technology. They fail because of the data. A chatbot that quotes outdated opening hours. An automation system that can''t route applications because addresses exist in three different formats. An internal assistant that can''t answer questions because information is scattered and unstructured. The problem is well known: municipal data is often siloed, inconsistently maintained, partially outdated, or stored in incompatible formats. Every specialist application has its own data store, every department its own standards. These historically grown structures are the biggest stumbling block for AI applications — because artificial intelligence is only as good as the da