It was amidst global economic headwinds and inflation levels not seen in decades that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released her fall economic update last month.Though Halloween had just passed, observers would be forgiven for finding the fiscal forecast a bit frightening. Freeland didn't mince words in delivering it, warning that the country is about to enter a period of turbulent economic times.Inflation and supply chain disruptions continue to increase the cost of living and reduce spending power. The cure for inflation - increasing interest rates to slow economic growth - comes with the unappealing side effects of lost jobs and higher unemployment. And while the finance minister didn't say it, the update made it clear that the risk of a recession is rising.Given the context, it's perhaps unsurprising that the fall forecast, which usually contains significant spending promises along with economic projections, offered relatively little in the way of new measures to help Canadians manage surging costs for housing, groceries and fuel.“We cannot reimburse every single Canadian for all the costs of inflation caused by a global pandemic and by Putin's invasion of Ukraine,” Freeland said by way of explanation.The finance minister has already begun making the rounds to manage internal expectations for the upcoming spring budget, telling cabinet colleagues in a leaked letter that any new spending must be supported by cuts within their own departments. Those cuts will not be easy to find. As the House budget officer said in June, meeting the government's own spending targets will be an “exceptional challenge.”All told, the government finds itself in a tight spot, and in urgent need of some outside-the-box thinking.Enter intelligent digital automation.The technology involves the use of software robots to perform repetitive tasks previously done by human employees. A game-changing breakthrough, it allows government employees across an organization to interact easily and quickly with the software to deliver dynamic advances in services.Software solutions such as the one offered by Blue Prism are helping governments around the world improve the way they work to streamline operations, free employees from repetitive tasks to allow them to make higher value contributions and greatly improve service delivery to citizens interacting with the government.In Australia, the use of Blue Prism's intelligent automation software was found to have returned more than 80,000 employee hours back to the country's Central Government Revenue Department. And at a European ministry of transportation, it produced a 93% reduction in processing time to complete mission-critical reports.The current context presents critical opportunities for the federal government to find process solutions in the pursuit of savings. A coordinated, government-wide strategy to accelerate the implementation of intelligent automation processes at this juncture could provide enormous benefits. It would yield effective and more streamlined processing and more efficient use of personnel as the government seeks to balance its policy priorities with its spending restraint. And, crucially, it would deliver operating savings across the breadth of government operations.The federal government is already leading on its transition from legacy systems to a fully digital operation, as outlined in Canada's Digital Government Strategy and subsequent Digital Ambition 2022 release by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier in August.  This multi-departmental initiative is ongoing, and the government deserves credit for important innovations in this area. The Digital Comptrollership Program, for instance, will provide better reporting capability, significant savings and operational efficiencies by standardizing the government's various departmental financial management systems to take advantage of modern technological solutions.While such initiatives demonstrate the potential of automated intelligence, the government in its own assessment has pointed out that the overall modernization is a challenging endeavour. And at the same time, the post-COVID economic turmoil confronting the country leaves no doubt of the urgency of moving the federal government's service capabilities to a higher and more efficient level as quickly as possible.That urgency is surely not lost on Freeland, who faces more difficult decisions as she prepares the spring budget. After two years of pandemic support spending, her government would surely like to ramp up spending on core priorities such as fighting climate change and strengthening the healthcare system. Cabinet ministers are clamoring for cash to fulfill their mandate priorities and for projects and programs of regional importance. The NDP, with whom the government struck an agreement to secure its support until 2024, has vowed to force the Liberals to move on dental care and housing costs. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party is pressuring the government to reduce its spending and reign in inflation.But with challenges come opportunities. Prioritizing the stepped-up acquisition and use of intelligent automation can open the door to expedited digital modernization across the government. As a proven technology, it can be quickly deployed as a win-win for citizens, governments and public servants, helping the government find the cost savings it needs to fund the programs it promised Canadians while addressing significant backlogs in certain program delivery areas.With a tough economic road ahead, it's time for Freeland and her government to think creatively. Intelligent digital automation offers a light at the end of a long tunnel.James Spencer is the interim Vice President of Government Sales, and the Director of Government Solutions Engineering for North America at SS&C Blue Prism. He is passionate about the intersection of technology and public sector innovation, and has a strong technical background in RPA, analytics and AI/ML. James prides himself on having spent the last five years at SS&C Blue Prism serving as a trusted advisor to a myriad of North American federal, state and local leaders looking to drive transformation through planning, implementing and scaling intelligent automation initiatives.