Microsoft 365 Copilot

Municipality of De Bilt

Copilot supports writing, summarising, e-mailing and preparing for meetings. With Copilot, we work more efficiently and improve our services. We use Copilot responsibly and actively invest in employees' AI knowledge.

Last change on 11th of March 2026, at 11:10 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Organisation and business operations

Begin date

10-2025

Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

https://www.debilt.nl/bestuur-en-organisatie/organisatie/privacy-en-algoritmes/algoritmeregister

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot is to support employees in common tasks such as writing texts, summarising documents, drafting e-mails and preparing for meetings. By performing routine tasks faster, Copilot helps employees free up more time for substantive work and collaboration.

Using Copilot helps increase efficiency and improve the quality of documents and communication. Residents and businesses notice this indirectly, for example because letters are clearer and response times become shorter. In addition, the application supports the development of digital skills and increases knowledge about generative AI within the organisation.

The municipality is also exploring the use of AI agents to further speed up work processes. These agents support specific tasks but are always deployed with explicit human control and assessment.

Considerations

The municipality deploys Microsoft 365 Copilot to support employees in their daily work. Its use saves time, improves the quality of documents and gives employees more space to focus on substantive tasks. In addition, Copilot contributes to job satisfaction and the development of digital skills.

At the same time, using AI also brings concerns. Copilot answers may contain errors and should therefore always be critically checked. There is also an explicit focus on privacy and careful handling of data. To avoid dependence on technology, clear agreements on use have been made and employees are trained in responsible and aware use of AI.

Copilot was preferred to other AI solutions because it is integrated into the municipal office environment, such as the Office applications (Word, Excel and Outlook). In addition, the extensive governance capabilities and Enterprise Data Protection (EDP) offered by Microsoft play an important role in this choice.

Human intervention

Microsoft 365 Copilot makes suggestions, but employees always remain fully responsible for the content they use. Copilot's output must therefore always be checked by an employee for accuracy and completeness. Copilot does not make decisions or perform tasks independently without human intervention.

The deployment of Copilot is solely supportive and always requires conscious assessment by the user. Employees are therefore trained in the responsible use of generative AI so that they can critically assess the generated output and adjust or correct it where necessary.

Risk management

he use of Microsoft 365 Copilot has identified several technical, legal and ethical risks. Examples include incorrect or misleading output, improper use of data and the risk of employees relying too much on automatically generated information. To mitigate these risks, employees are trained in the responsible use of generative AI. They learn to critically assess output, handle information carefully and follow applicable guidelines.

During the pilot phase, extensive research was carried out on which applications can be used responsibly. This included looking at data use, privacy, security and the potential impact on decision-making. Applications with a higher risk profile are tested in advance by the privacy officer and the information manager. This determines what is and is not allowed and what additional risk mitigation measures may be needed.

Legal basis

The European AI Regulation forms the basis for municipal policies around the responsible development and deployment of AI and algorithms. It aims to ensure that AI systems are safe, operate transparently and respect people's fundamental rights. The regulation distinguishes between different levels of risk of AI systems: the higher the risk, the stricter the rules. Generative AI, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, is particularly subject to transparency and human oversight obligations.

Besides the AI regulation, municipal policy is based on existing laws and regulations around information security and privacy, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, internal guidelines have been drawn up for the use of Copilot. These frameworks ensure that personal data are properly protected and that employees handle data and the use of Copilot with care.

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

Field not filled in.

External provider

Microsoft