AN OVERVIEW OF SKILLS, ROLES, AND AI GOVERNANCE IN EU PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated into public services across the European Union as administrations pursue digital transformation while facing rising legal, ethical, and operational expectations. This paper provides a review of recent five year policy and research sources, including publications from the European Commission, the Joint Research Centre, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in order to map the skills, roles, and governance arrangements needed for responsible adoption in public administration. The review follows a qualitative synthesis approach: core documents were selected for their relevance to public-sector deployment, regulatory implementation, workforce competence frameworks, and capacity-building initiatives, and were analysed to extract recurring governance functions, organisational responsibilities, and competency demands. The analysis outlines the Union’s governance architecture for artificial intelligence, with particular attention to the Artificial Intelligence Act, the European Commission’s coordinating structures, and the mechanisms that support coherent implementation across Member States. Building on competence frameworks developed for the public sector, the paper consolidates four domains of capability—technical, managerial, and legal and ethical—together with cross-cutting literacy, attitudinal, and operational proficiencies needed to design, plan, procure, deploy, monitor, and oversee artificial intelligence systems. On this basis, key role families are identified, including regulators and enforcement staff, ethics and compliance advisors, data and artificial intelligence officers, procurement and risk specialists, and digital transformation leads, and the hybrid skill profiles they require are characterised. The review also highlights capacity-building measures at Union and national levels, such as training programmes, interdisciplinary courses, and institutional support mechanisms aimed at improving literacy and strengthening oversight practices in day-to-day administration. The analysis suggests that implementation gaps persist where role definitions are unclear, governance responsibilities are fragmented, or training pathways are not aligned with operational needs. Therefore additional focus is needed on competency mapping by function, targeted training pathways for critical roles, iterative pilot projects with documented lessons learned, and stronger inter-agency coordination to ensure consistent governance across levels of government. Overall, effective adoption of artificial intelligence in European public administration depends on clear role allocation, cross-disciplinary competencies, and governance practices that evolve with technology, regulation, and public expectations.