Free Innovation Training Program
Office of Data and Innovation's CalAcademy has partnered with InnovateUS to provide asynchronous and free training programs for state workers.
Not sure where to start?
We offer learning pathways to help you choose what to learn
Take a Course
Free, one-hour, live, online sessions with expert faculty to build practical skills you can use right away. Explore live and recorded sessions.
Human-Centered Design
Designed by Virginia Hamilton, this course gives participants a substantive overview of the human-centered design framework and offers opportunities to practice applying concepts from the course to your work.
The Innovation Skills Accelerator.
Based on research with thousands of public servants across three continents, our problem-solving curriculum gives you the digital, data and innovation skills to deliver more effective, equitable and engaged policies and services.
What Works: Fast Field Scanning with AI
This course is designed to help public professionals accelerate the process of finding and implementing urgently-needed evidence-based solutions to public problems. This course is brought to you in partnership with Results for America and Solutions Journalism Network.
Responsible AI for Public Professionals
Through hands-on activities, these free courses showcase the practical ways you can use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in your work as a public professional. Addresses what to do and how to avoid risks.
AI for Public Engagement
This free, self-paced course equips you with the skills to design, run and learn from meaningful engagement with communities.
Workshop Series
Free, one-hour, live, online sessions with expert faculty to build practical skills you can use right away. Explore live and recorded sessions.
Fall 2026 Schedule
The Prompting Lab
A weekly, hands-on practice lab led by public-sector AI leaders, using real prompts and real challenges across platforms to build practical skills.
Amplify: Mastering Public Communication in the AI Age (New)
Build clear, credible, and accessible communication strategies for explaining public programs, services, and AI use.
Democratic and Public AI: Practical Strategies for Buying, Building, and Governing AI
Understanding what “public AI” is, why it matters, how governments build it, and practical strategies to ensure independence and avoid vendor lock-in.
Worker-Centered AI Adoption in the Public Sector
Learn how to engage workers as partners in AI adoption to improve implementation, governance, and public outcomes.
Working with AI Agents in the Public Sector: What Works (and What Doesn’t)
Learn what AI agents are, how they can support government operations and public service delivery, and their responsible use.
AI Insourcing and the Government Product Model
Explore how governments can build, improve, and govern digital products using AI and stronger internal capacity.
AI and Cybersecurity in the Public Sector for the Non-Expert
Learn the security challenges posed by the use of AI in government and public-facing settings and how to reduce vulnerabilities.
Ideas in Action
The series brings together timely conversations on leadership, technology, service delivery, organizational design, and governance, always grounded in the realities of public sector work.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Predictive AI
Examine when using predictive AI can improve public-sector decisions, when it falls short, and what safeguards responsible use requires.
Practical Approaches to Evaluating AI for Public Benefit
Learn how to assess whether AI tools improve outcomes, strengthen services, and deliver public value over time.
AI for Public-Sector Procurement
Build practical skills to leverage AI to improve competitiveness, effectiveness, and efficiency in procurement.
AI in Public Health
Introduces public health leaders and practitioners to policies, tools, and skills to improve the health and well-being of our communities.
Using AI in Public Sector Legal Practice
Explore responsible uses of AI in government legal work, including research, drafting, document review, compliance, and policy analysis.
AI, Energy, and the Environment: Use, Policy, and Tradeoffs
Examine the energy and environmental challenges and opportunities of AI-related infrastructure and public-sector uses of AI.
Amplify: Mastering Public Communication in th…Coming UpExplaining AI: How Communicators Can Explain What Their Agency Is Doing with AI
Your agency is probably already using AI to process applications, flag fraud, or route services. Most residents don't know. When they find out, they'll have three questions: Who's accountable? Can it be wrong? What happens to my data? The communicators who can…
Democratic and Public AI: Practical Strategie…Coming UpHow Governments Are Buying AI Now
Governments and public bodies have many ways of acquiring AI tools: enterprise licenses, pilots, features embedded in software they already use, and heavily discounted offers built for the public sector. Each path solves some problems while carrying consequenc…
Working with AI Agents in the Public Sector:…Coming UpFrom Chatbots to Agents
AI agents are often described as the next generation of AI, but the reality is more nuanced. Most organizations move gradually from using AI for drafting and research to using AI that remembers context, automates tasks, coordinates workflows, and eventually ta…
AI Insourcing and the Government Product Mode…Coming UpThe Rise of the Citizen Developer
AI is expanding who can help build and improve government services. Policy experts, analysts, program managers, and frontline staff can now use AI-enabled tools to prototype applications, automate routine workflows, and solve operational problems that once req…