With the rise of AI, government leaders are taking a new role in understanding, governing and using the technology. In July, New Jersey started offering AI training — created in partnership with InnovateUS — to its state government workers, aiming to offer an overview of generative AI, best practices and strategies to reduce risk. In August, California started offering its own training. Now, Maryland joins a growing list of states educating its employees on AI use.
“By prioritizing best-in-class education, the state’s workforce will be able to identify risks and opportunities more quickly and implement this technology effectively and responsibly,” said DoIT Secretary and Chair of the AI Subcabinet Katie Savage in a statement.
The subcabinet was established earlier this year through a January executive order by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. It helps to facilitate ethical AI use statewide by fostering partnerships and establishing objectives. The subcabinet is expected to release policies, playbooks and road maps later this year to guide AI use in the state.
This AI training opportunity in Maryland will build on the state’s prior work in this space, including that of the subcabinet, to create “a culture of responsible innovation,” as detailed in the announcement. DoIT is also working to create a public AI inventory of active AI use cases. In addition, DoIT is working with other agencies in the state to guide low-risk, AI-related pilot programs. According to the announcement, the new AI training will help to create an educated workforce, which “will be a cornerstone of the state’s approach to GenAI use.”
The InnovateUS training was created with the help of input from more than 100 stakeholders across the private, public and education sectors.
“It really was a massive collaborative effort to ensure that we were creating something that was really for public servants and that would be responsive to what people felt they wanted and needed,” Beth Noveck previously told Government Technology. Noveck is the director of the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University and The Governance Lab. She is also New Jersey’s first chief AI strategist.
While Maryland, New Jersey and California are all teaming on this with InnovateUS, it is not the only organization supporting AI training efforts. For example, in Oklahoma, a partnership with Google is enhancing AI literacy. At the local level, a National Association of Counties AI training program aims to equip county officials.
