AI Connect Webinar 5

Opinions expressed by invited speakers or program participants do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. government, its affiliates, or the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center.

The fifth AI Connect Webinar was held on Thursday, July 28, 2022, and covered the role of research and development (R&D) in trustworthy artificial intelligence applications.

Before diving into the R&D topic, program organizers along with participants Paola Gálvez from Peru and Romina Torres from Chile provided a recap of the São Paulo regional workshop and shared their experiences on site.

After the contextualization of the topic in the broader webinar series, Dr. Lloyd Whitman, Senior Director of the GeoTech Center, provided opening remarks that surveyed the United States federal R&D funding model and how it complements the country’s innovation ecosystem. Over 20 different government agencies coordinate with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as well as Congress to set R&D policy priorities and funding levels, respectively. Subsequently, Dr. Lynne Parker, Deputy United States Chief Technology Officer and Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office at the OSTP, outlined US priorities for AI investment and highlighted the development of trustworthy AI infrastructure. She also provided an oral recap of AI policymaking from the first US National AI R&D Strategic Plan in 2016 to the formation of the National AI Initiative Office in 2021.

The event concluded with a high-level panel, moderated by Dr. Whitman, in which discussants covered best practices for decision-makers to create country-specific environments that enable effective R&D of responsible AI technologies internationally. The panel featured Dr. Lynne Parker; Keith Strier, Vice President of Worldwide AI Initiatives at NVIDIA; and Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the Sony Group Corporation. The respective experts offered valuable insights into AI R&D priorities of the United States, Japan, as well as public and private partners around the world. These priorities include education and awareness efforts to ensure that AI technology is accessible to all possible users, identification of and responses to gaps in AI ecosystems, and the creation of environments that leverage regional strengths and capabilities to sustain collaboration between industry, academia, and policymakers.