Bridging the AI gap: InnovateUS's mission to upskill the public sector

Tony Orlando is the General Manager of Specialty Sales for Google Public Sector.

Throughout my 20+ year career leading global sales and field organizations, I've seen technology revolutionize industries time and time again. But the impact AI is poised to have on government services is truly unprecedented and that’s why it is imperative for public sector professionals to learn about these technologies and how they can use them in their work.

Thanks to philanthropic investments made by Google.org, there are now exciting new programs available to federal, state, and local governments to learn about AI. Google.org provided $15 million in funding to two leading organizations serving the public sector - the Partnership for Public Service and InnovateUS - to upskill the U.S. government workforce in responsible AI. 

InnovateUS has free, online programming available for you and your teams to use. InnovateUS has already trained over 50,000 learners in over 100 government agencies. All programming is designed by public sector professionals and overseen by an advisory board of federal, state, and local government partners. InnovateUS’s mission is to improve lives by enabling public sector professionals to deliver more effective and equitable policies and services. States like New Jersey, Maryland, and California have announced that they will now make InnovateUS programs available to their whole workforce.

InnovateUS has three free AI courses for public sector professionals to take including What Works: Fast Field Scanning with AI, Responsible AI for Public Professionals: Using Generative AI at Work, and Responsible AI for Public Professionals: Scaling AI in Your Organization. They are currently in the process of developing their new course, Responsible AI for Public Sector Legal Professionals.  Additionally, InnovateUS offers workshops in AI and other innovation skills every week. I encourage all public sector workers to sign up for these upcoming training sessions and to watch InnovateUS’ archive of over 100 workshops. Some notable sessions include:

• Accessing AI Safely: Setting up an AI “Sandbox”

• What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference

• A State-Based Approach Generative Artificial Intelligence: Learning from New Jersey

• Public Engagement and Institutional Listening Through Generative AI

• Developing an Ethics Ecosystem for AI and Big Data

• Exploring the Potential of AI for Government Procurement Processes

With Google.org's support, InnovateUS will expand its reach to more than 100,000 public sector workers. Select public sector workers will also receive scholarships on behalf of InnovateUS for a Google Career Certificate in fields such as Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing and E-Commerce,  IT Support, Project Management, and UX Design.

Finally, a portion of the grant money will be dedicated to funding the future of the public sector workforce. InnovateUS works closely with the AI for Impact Cooperative Education (Co-op) Program, an immersive learning program where students work alongside professional advisors and public interest partners using AI and human-centered design to deliver impactful, cutting-edge projects that solve public problems. This equips students from across disciplines with cutting-edge AI skills to drive public benefit, positioning them as future leaders in AI.  

In its first year, AI for Impact partnered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and students worked alongside state agencies to improve the delivery of services and programs for Massachusetts residents using AI. 

Projects have included enhancing the MBTA's RIDE service to provide better accessibility for people with disabilities, creating a grants navigator to better connect farmers with agricultural and energy grant opportunities, and building a secure AI Sandbox for government employees to innovate with AI models.

I've always believed in the power of building high-performance teams and fostering a sense of purpose. The partnership between Google.org and InnovateUS embodies this philosophy. By investing in the responsible and ethical use of AI, public sector agencies are not just keeping pace with technological change—they're positioning themselves to lead innovation in service of their communities. By equipping public sector professionals with the knowledge and skills to use AI responsibly, we're paving the way for more efficient, effective, and equitable government services. To learn more about InnovateUS and to start engaging your workforce, visit innovate-us.org.