Case Study: City of Austin delivers accurate COVID-19 information to citizens with IBM watsonx Assistant

City of Austin - Customer Case Study

The City of Austin needed a faster way to answer a surge of citizen questions during the COVID-19 pandemic, as residents sought timely, trustworthy information without waiting on phone lines or navigating multiple web pages. IBM helped the city address this challenge with the IBM watsonx Assistant for Citizens chatbot, a solution designed for government pandemic communications and powered by Watson AI.

IBM deployed the chatbot on the City of Austin website and provided setup support, enabling it to go live in just one week and offer 24/7 answers to dozens of COVID-19-related topics. The assistant was continuously refined with machine learning and updated with the latest public health guidance, helping Austin improve answer quality over time and better connect residents to critical information and resources.

City of Austin

Alicia Dean

Communications and Marketing Consultant