Maryland's Lt. Aruna Governor Miller Hosts State and Academia Artificial Intelligence Summit

Annapolis, MD. -
Lieutenant Governor Aruna K. Miller supported by the Maryland Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subcabinet, the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT), and the Maryland Higher Education Commission, today hosted a State and Academia AI Roundtable. 

At the roundtable, leaders in State agencies and academic institutions, along with industry advocates and experts, mapped areas of shared interest with the goal of unlocking clear short-, medium-, and long-term opportunities for collaboration. 

One of many sessions aimed to brainstorm ideas to improve efficiencies across sectors through AI and research.

Leaders from both the state and academia sides spoke on the need to break down silos, and become more inter-connected to realize shared AI-related goals specifically around economic development. 

“Our goal is simple: get the best, most brilliant minds in the same room and admire the innovation that culminates from speaking face-to-face,” said Lt. Governor Miller. “Maryland aspires to be a national leader in AI research, innovation, business attraction, and talent development so we are getting in place the foundational pieces to ensure we are well placed to thrive in the AI revolution over the coming decade.”

The summit was attended by representatives from Johns Hopkins University, UMBC, Morgan State, University of Maryland, Towson, UMES, Bowie State, Coppin State, Salisbury State, the Naval Academy, and University of Buffalo - SUNY. 

On the state side, Secretaries Wu, Coker and Rai along with representatives from MDOT, Health, DoIT, and the Lieutenant Governor’s office participated, as well as Senator Katie Fry Hester, Delegate Terri L. Hill and Delegate Anne R. Kaiser.

The day-long event included productive discussions surrounding strategy, brainstorming sessions, and small group workshops, culminating in an exercise that helped state leadership and leading academics find practical opportunities to collaborate now and in the future.

Maryland’s Senior Advisor for Responsible AI, Nishant Shah, spearheads the adoption of responsible, productive AI across the state, leads the state’s first AI Enablement Team at DoIT, and facilitated its recent AI Roadmap. 

”We have an incredible opportunity to use AI to make the State more productive and to improve services for our constituents,” said Shah. “To realize that ambition, we’ll need deep partnership across sectors and a strengthened AI ecosystem in the State. Maryland is particularly blessed with leading academic institutions doing cutting-edge applied research in AI. Unlocking deeper collaboration between the State and Academia will help us increase our momentum and set us up for success.”

“Maryland’s higher education community is eager to collaborate with industry and legislative partners to advance AI implementation and strengthen our competitiveness nationwide," said Dr. Sanjay Rai, Maryland Secretary of Higher Education. "With our robust ecosystem of universities, research institutions, and technology companies, Maryland is uniquely positioned not only to adapt but to lead in this AI-driven era, driving innovation through research and development."

“Johns Hopkins is making a historic investment in Data Science and AI, growing our infrastructure and our research community in the foundations of AI and in diverse applications, challenges, and opportunities,” said Alexis Battle, Interim Co-Director for JHU Data Science & AI Institute. “We are eager to partner with government and industry to grow the ecosystem and together create a national hub for AI in Maryland.”