Google Grant Helps Public Sector Workers Sharpen Tech Skills

Public sector agencies are still getting a grip on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace.

So are public sector workers, many of whom are anxious about how AI will ultimately affect their livelihood.

A grant from Google.org aims to help public sector employees not only familiarize themselves with artificial intelligence, but sharpen their technology skills in a number of other areas.

The tech giant’s philanthropic arm, which offers funding, mentorship and technical support to selected non-profits and other enterprises, is providing $2 million in funding to help InnovateUS expand digital skills training to more than 50,000 government workers across at least 15 states, according to a recent statement announcing the grant.

Governed by a coalition of public sector learning leaders in a handful of states, InnovateUS provides free online learning to public servants, focusing on data, digital and innovation skills. With the grant, the organization’s training will now include access to the Google Career Certificates program “to help advance proficiencies across critical areas like cybersecurity, data analytics and project management,” according to the aforementioned statement.

In addition to other support from Google.org, the funding will also help InnovateUS launch in-depth courses geared toward public sector workers. A course titled Human-Centered Design, for instance, “will teach public professionals how to design policy and services for those most affected.

The What Works course is designed to show how new technology “has been used to solve big challenges in other communities,” while Responsible AI for Public Professionals “will provide an introduction to the foundational elements of AI, use cases for government and associated risks and ethical implications.” In addition, Google.org will provide pro bono support that includes user experience researchers and designers, who will be charged with ensuring that course participants “can easily explore and access courses as we add more to the curriculum, and even propose their own.”

The new offerings build on InnovateUS’s existing programming, which includes weekly workshops on topics such as generative AI and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in a broader sense, for example.

InnovateUS is hopeful that government workers’ participation in such courses will help the organization be successful in “not only elevating the standards of public service, but also rekindling the essence of a government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people,’” with these programs and support from Google.org helping to “transform how the government operates and interacts with the communities it serves.”