From Bureaucracy to Digital Government: How Xertica.ai Helped the Tolima Government Transform Citizen Services
Context
The Government of Tolima in Colombia faced a reality common to many public institutions in the region: manual, paper-based processes with no traceability. Citizen PQRs were handled manually via email, without formal registration, leading to lost follow-ups and delays that often stretched into months.
In addition, the department’s mountainous geography made citizen interaction difficult—especially for older adults in rural areas—while younger residents perceived the institution as technologically outdated. “Our citizen service was very deficient; we had no digital transformation, we were still tied to paper and manual processes,” recalls Carlos Alberto Sanchez Alfonso, Director of ICT for the Government of Tolima.
The goal was clear: move toward a “paperless” policy, guarantee digital citizen services, and restore public trust.
Solution
In partnership with Xertica.ai, the Government implemented a comprehensive technological modernization plan based on Google Workspace, AppSheet, and Gemini:
- Licenses and cloud: 500 licenses were provisioned (400 Starter and 100 Standard), with scalable storage, advanced security, and video calls of up to 500 participants.
- Data migration: 18,050 GB of information were migrated, along with 420 email accounts, 189 archive users, and 187 shared drives, ensuring operational continuity.
- Training: 29 training sessions were conducted, including specialized workshops in AppSheet and change management.
- Gemini in action: Public officials began using AI to draft emails, summarize long documents, generate infographics, and conduct deep research using the Deep Research feature. Canvas was also leveraged to create presentations and visual materials in minutes.
- AppSheet for automation: Internal applications were developed to digitize processes and services, reducing dependence on paper.
“Gemini is, in my view, the best tool—it integrates with everything, drafts emails, summarizes documents, and even generates graphics. Today our staff already uses it in their daily work”, says Sanchez Alfonso.
Xertica.ai led the project using its X-Factor methodology, ensuring support in migration, configuration, training, onboarding, and knowledge transfer.
Results and Impact
The changes were immediate and measurable:
- 18+ TB of data migrated with full operational continuity.
- 500+ users working with new cloud-based tools.
- 29 training sessions delivered, with recordings available for ongoing use.
- Significant reduction in paper usage, initiating the shift toward a “paperless” policy
- Exponential growth in digital citizen services, rising from 8% to a projected 70% before 2027.
- Greater agility in citizen attention: faster, traceable responses to PQRs and internal processes.
“We went from being an institution frozen in time to an organization that now speaks about artificial intelligence, that automates, and that responds efficiently. Xertica.ai gave us the confidence to make that leap”, concludes Sanchez Alfonso.
