[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER]
ACA.UH, CALLING TO ORDER THE SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2024 COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING.
UH, WE ARE MEETING HERE AT, UH, CITY HALL IN THE BOARDS OF COMMISSIONS ROOM, ALTHOUGH, UH, MANY COMMISSIONERS ARE ATTENDING, UH, VIA VIRTUAL WEBEX.
UH, IF MEMBERS OF PUBLIC ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING OR, UH, WATCHING, UH, THE VIDEO CONFERENCE, YOU CAN FIND IT ON A TXN, UH, WITHIN THE AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV, UM, SITE.
UH, WE'LL START WITH A ROLL CALL VOTE, AND, UH, JUST TO KEEP THINGS, UH, STRAIGHTFORWARD, I'LL, UH, I'LL FIRST INTRODUCE MYSELF AND I'LL CALL ON EACH OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS.
UH, STEVEN APODACA, AND I AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO, UH, COMMISSIONER SUPTA, SUBMIT SUPTA, DISTRICT 10.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, COMMISSIONER BRIAN WILLIAMS, DISTRICT ONE COMMISSIONER, HERITAGE COMMISSIONER SUZANNE HERITAGE, REPRESENTING DISTRICT FOUR.
COMMISSIONER GABRIEL KU REPRESENTING DISTRICT SIX.
AND, UH, COMMISSIONER PINA VIA COMMISSIONER PINILLA, REPRESENTATIVE
SO THAT, UH, UH, MEETS OUR QUORUM REQUIREMENTS.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
WITH THAT, UH, OUR FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, AND, UH, WE HAVE, UH, TWO ESTEEMED, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, UH, HERE WITH US AT CITY HALL.UM, LEANNA LAY FROM OPEN AUSTIN, AND KEVIN WELCH FROM EFF AUSTIN.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO LEONI, UH, FOR HER PUBLIC TESTIMONY.
I'M LEONI LAI, AND SHE, HER AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE.
I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPEN AUSTIN, WHICH IS ALSO KNOWN FORMERLY AS THE CODE FOR AMERICA BRIGADE.
BEFORE CODE FOR AMERICA DISBANDED ITS BRIGADE SYSTEM TESTIMONY IS SHORT.
SO I'M GONNA START WITH BOTTOM LINE UPFRONT.
KEVIN AND I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK FURTHER WITH ANY COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN HOW THE CITY INTEGRATES AI INTO ITS DAILY WORK.
THIS IS A MATTER OF ACCESS DISCRIMINATION, AND AS KEVIN WILL OUTLINE, AS KEVIN WILL SHARE PRIVACY AND SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI BLUR PEOPLE'S PRIVATE AND PUBLIC LIVES EVER SINCE.
RESOLUTION 20 24 0 2 15 DASH OH TWO FOUR, WHICH CREATED THE AI ETHICS COMMITTEE CONCERNED RESIDENTS HAVE APPROACHED EACH OF OUR ORGS OPEN AUSTIN AND EFF AUSTIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT QUOTE, INTEGRATING AI INTO DAY-TO-DAY CITY WORK MEANS EXACTLY, AND HOW THAT AFFECTS PUBLIC DAY-TO-DAY LIFE.
KEVIN AND I HAVE SPENT THE PAST FOUR MONTHS SITTING ON THAT SAME COMMITTEE AND SPEAKING TO VARIOUS OFFICES, ELECTED AND OTHERWISE.
WE NOW UNDERSTAND THAT CTMS 16 PAGE DOCUMENTS CALLED THE GENERATIVE AI STANDARDS IS MOSTLY MOTIVATED BY CITY EMPLOYEE QUESTIONS AROUND USING CHATBOTS.
AND WE KNOW THAT A RECOMMENDATION OF SOMETHING IS GOING TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE AT SOME TIME, BUT BECAUSE TIMELINES ARE UNCLEAR AND WHO'S INVOLVED IS ALSO UNCLEAR.
PUBLIC CONCERNS REMAIN UNADDRESSED.
THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY PUBLIC CONCERN.
WILL THE USES OF, WILL THE USES BE INNOCENT, LIKE TRASH PICKUP OR 3 1 1 SERVICE, FOR EXAMPLE, OR MAYBE THERE'LL BE MODERATE IMPACTS, LIKE DIFFERENT TRAFFIC PATTERNS.
UM, WHAT ABOUT HIGH STAKES IMPACTS LIKE YOUTH JOBS OR SURVEILLANCE? WE WANNA SEE STRONG UNIFORM SAFEGUARDS ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS TO PREVENT HARMFUL OUTCOMES LIKE FALSE INFORMATION AND MISREPRESENTATIONS.
OUR GROWING COALITION, WHICH INCLUDES MEASURE AND ENCODE JUSTICE, IS WORKING TOGETHER TO PROPOSE THOSE SAFEGUARDS LIKE AN ETHICS COMMISSION AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING SO THAT WE CAN THRIVE ALONGSIDE THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY.
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN OVERARCHING PRIORITY TOWARDS ACCESSIBLE, USABLE, AND CONSISTENT CHANNELS SO THAT RESIDENTS CAN REPORT ANY HARMFUL OUTCOMES THAT THEY SEE.
WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CITY'S INTERNAL BUREAUCRACY, AND WE DON'T CARE ABOUT AN EXPEDITED TIMELINE, BUT WHAT WE DO CARE ABOUT IS THAT AN IMPLEMENTATION, WHATEVER THAT LOOKS LIKE, IS TRANSPARENT AND THAT IT IS FAIR.
[00:05:01]
MUCH FOR THAT LEONI, KEVIN.MY NAME IS KEVIN WELCH, HE, HIM, I LIVE IN DISTRICT EIGHT, AND I AM THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD AT EFF AUSTIN, THE OLDEST MEMBER OF ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION'S, EFA, OR ELECTRONIC FRONTIER ALLIANCE.
THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING WITH ME TODAY ON BEHALF OF EFF AUSTIN.
AND THANK YOU AS WELL FOR LISTENING TO LEONI FROM OPEN AUSTIN, WHOSE REMARKS WE HAVE JUST HEARD.
I WOULD LIKE TO BOTH AGREE WITH THE ISSUE SHE HAS RAISED WITH YOU AND BUILD ON THEM FURTHER.
EFF AUSTIN IS A LOCAL DIGITAL CIVIL LIBERTIES ORGANIZATION, AND WE ADVOCATE ON NUMEROUS ISSUES RELATING TO HOW TECHNOLOGY INTERFACES WITH ITS USERS AND AFFECTS THEIR RIGHTS TO FREE EXPRESSION AND PRIVACY.
WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS RECENTLY BEEN TAKING THE TOPIC OF REGULATION AROUND GENERATIVE AI SERIOUSLY, AND HAS ALREADY INCLUDED US IN A NUMBER OF THE ONGOING CONVERSATIONS RELATED TO THE DRAFTING OF THESE REGULATIONS.
WE ARE PLEASED THAT THE DIRECTION OF THE INITIAL DRAFT OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THESE CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE.
PLACES OF CONCERN THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED AMONG OUR MEMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE REVOLVE BOTH AROUND TWO CENTRAL ISSUES.
ONE, IT IS UNCLEAR IF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL PURELY REMAIN JUST THAT RECOMMENDATIONS AS OPPOSED TO A BINDING ORDINANCE OF SOME KIND.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT OVERLY BROAD REGULATIONS WOULD HAMPER THE ABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS TO SET THEIR OWN STANDARDS AND DO THEIR JOBS EFFECTIVELY.
AND WE AGREE WITH THIS REASONING, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE CERTAIN HIGH RISK USES, NAMELY ANYWHERE THAT INVOLVES PLACES WHERE AI MIGHT BE GATHERING DATA ON CITY EMPLOYEES OR CITIZENS AT LARGE, ANALYZING THAT DATA, MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS OR DECISIONS BASED ON THAT DATA, AND INGESTING THAT DATA FOR STORAGE OR MODEL TRAINING, THAT IT WOULD BE NICE TO SET A BASELINE OF SOME KIND AROUND.
SO THAT SAID, RULES MUST BE FOLLOWED BY ALL DEPARTMENTS.
AND SECOND, WHILE THE INITIAL REGULATIONS OFFER GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYEES USING GENERATIVE AI AND SAID GUIDANCE IS NECESSARY AND APPRECIATED, WHAT MANY SYSTEMS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT AND LACK CLARITY ON IS WHAT REGULATIONS WILL EVENTUALLY GOVERN PUBLIC FACING USES OF THIS TECHNOLOGY.
IT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT MOST CITY DEPARTMENTS DON'T HAVE IMMEDIATE PLANS TO ROLL OUT GENERATIVE AI IN WAYS THAT WOULD DIRECTLY INTERFACE WITH THE PUBLIC, SUCH AS OFFICIAL CITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND MEDIA SERVICE CHAT BOTS, GRANT EVALUATIONS, ET CETERA.
AND WE WELCOME THIS SLOW AND CAUTIOUS APPROACH.
THAT BEING SAID, WE THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO BE STARTING THESE CONVERSATIONS AND CRAFTING THESE RULES NOW AS IT'S MUCH EASIER TO BUILD IN PROTECTIONS AS FAR AS PREVENTING THINGS LIKE THE MISUSE OF CITIZENS' PERSONAL DATA.
NOW, AS OPPOSED TO LATER, GENERATIVE AI AS WELL AS AI AS A TECHNOLOGY MORE BROADLY, HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GATHER AND LEARN HIGHLY SENSITIVE THINGS ABOUT CITIZENS, RANGING FROM DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION TO MEDICAL HISTORY, FINANCIAL INFORMATION MOVEMENTS ABOUT THE CITY WHOM PEOPLE SPEND TIME AND ASSOCIATE WITH THE CONVERSATIONS THEY HAVE, ET CETERA.
AND IN CERTAIN HIGH RISK SITUATIONS CAN AFFECT IF PEOPLE GET A JOB, HOW HARSHLY THEY'RE SENTENCED FOR A CRIME AND EVEN THEIR LIFE IN THE EVENT OF MISIDENTIFICATION VIA SOMETHING LIKE A FAULTY FACIAL RECOGNITION MATCH.
AS WANI HAS SAID, MISUSE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY COULD CONTINUE TO EXACERBATE AND WORSEN MANY OF THE BIASES IN SOCIETY AND RESULT IN A LACK OF EQUITY AND ALL CITIZENS BEING TREATED EQUALLY AND FAIRLY UNDER THE LAW.
WE HOPE THAT OUR TESTIMONY TODAY HAS SPARKED YOUR OWN INTEREST IN CONTINUING THESE CONVERSATIONS WITH US, AND THAT THOSE OF YOU AT CTTC AS WELL AS OTHER RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS LIKE CTM, ET CETERA, WOULD LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH US FURTHER IN THE CONTINUED EVOLUTION OF FIGURING OUT HOW THESE FINAL REGULATIONS AND ORDINANCES SHOULD LOOK.
WHETHER THAT TAKES THE FORM OF A STAFF BRIEFING OR WHATEVER OTHER MEANS YOU ALL THINK MIGHT BE PRODUCTIVE, UM, WE LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, DISCUSSING THAT WITH YOU FURTHER.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, AND I THINK I AND LEONI ARE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF THERE ARE ANY.
AMAZING THANK YOU BOTH, UH, LEONI AND KEVIN, UH, FOR THAT TESTIMONY.
UH, I SHOULD MENTION, UH, I HAVE ALSO SERVE ON THAT BODY, THE AI, UM, WORKING GROUP WE'VE MADE.
WE TOOK COLLECTIVELY, UH, ALONG WITH LEONI, KEVIN, AND MANY OTHERS, WE'VE MADE A NUMBER OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY INNOVATION OFFICE.
UM, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IS VERY MUCH A FIRST STEP.
UM, AND THAT BODY WILL BE COMING, UH, TOGETHER PERIODICALLY TO MAKE SUBSEQUENT RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, UH, FOR A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.
UM, I I WOULD LOOK AT, UM, THE REST OF THE COMMISSION'S INTEREST IN FORMING A WORKING GROUP SPECIFICALLY AROUND THIS.
UH, PERHAPS WE CAN ENGAGE WITH YOUR SEPARATE ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHERS, UH, TO MAKE, UH, MORE, UH, MORE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL.
UH, BUT WITH THAT, I WANNA TURN IT OVER TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
UH, IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, UH, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND, UH, WE CAN RECOGNIZE YOU.
[00:10:01]
SO I'M REALLY LOOKING AT THIS AS REALLY TWO, UH, ISSUES.I WOULDN'T QUITE DESCRIBE THEM AS PROBLEMS, BUT CERTAINLY TWO ISSUES.
NUMBER ONE IS GETTING STARTED.
WHAT ARE THE INITIAL CONDITIONS THAT WE MUST ADOPT SUCH THAT WE START OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT? AND SECONDLY, MOVING FORWARD, I SEE A CONTINUING, UH, INTEREST IN, UH, MONITORING, UH, HOW THIS TECHNOLOGY EVOLVES AND IS APPLIED SO THAT IT NEVER VEERS OFF THE PROPER PATH.
AM I READING IT RIGHT? AND IF SO, UM, IS THERE A NEED FOR A SEPARATE COMMISSION THAT CONSTANTLY MONITORS THE, THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS TECHNOLOGY? WAS THAT QUESTION TO ME? COMMISSIONER SUPTA? OH, TO ALL, ALL OF YOU.
UM, I MEAN, MY PERSPECTIVE IS LIKE THIS TOPIC AREA, UH, CERTAINLY COVERED UNDER, UNDER OUR COMMISSION.
EVEN OUR, SOME OF OUR REVISIONS TO THE BYLAWS, UM, THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN QUEUE, UH, INCLUDE MENTIONS OF AI.
UM, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD CERTAINLY REVISIT.
ALSO INTERESTED TO HEAR, UH, FROM LEONI AND OR KEVIN ON THAT QUESTION.
SO WHAT I HEARD COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA WAS WHAT IS ENTAILED IN CREATING A NET NEW COMMISSION? UM, AND SHOULD A COMMISSION WITH THE SCOPE OF MONITORING BE ONGOING? AND WHAT WE HAVE GATHERED WHEN WE'VE BEEN SPEAKING WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, DATA ORGANIZATIONS AND EQUITY ORGANIZATIONS, UH, IS THAT THEY DO HEAVILY ADVOCATE FOR THE CREATION OF A NEW COMMISSION.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT ALL GOES INTO Y'ALL'S BYLAWS.
LIKE IS IT DIFFICULT TO CREATE A NEW COMMISSION THAT, IS IT SUFFICIENT TO HAVE A WORKING GROUP? I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, BUT THE SCOPE THAT FOLKS ARE PROPOSING AND, UH, THE COALITION THAT WE'RE GROWING IS TO HAVE THAT CONTINUOUS MONITORING, NOT JUST OF, NOT JUST MONITORS, IF THAT'S A WORD OF 11 COMMISSIONERS, BUT PEOPLE FROM THE PUBLIC MM-HMM.
UM, I WOULD AGREE WITH WHAT LEONI SAID, AND I, I DO THINK ONE THING THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT IS THAT THIS CON IS THAT HOW WE GO ABOUT DOING THIS, UM, NEEDS TO INCLUDE ALL CITIZENS AND STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CITY.
IT'S VERY EASY FOR THESE CONVERSATIONS TO BE DRIVEN BY MORE TECHNOL TECHNOLOGICALLY, UH, LITERATE PEOPLE, LIKE I ASSUME EACH OF THE COMMISSIONERS OR ME AND LEONI AND, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE MEAN WELL.
BUT IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT THE COMMUNITIES THAT WILL BE MOST HEAVILY IMPACTED BY THIS TECHNOLOGY NEED TO FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A STAKE IN THIS.
AND SO A LOT OF THAT, AND THIS IS WHERE WE COULD LEAN ON WHAT MEANS THE CITY HAS, I THINK A LOT OF IT INVOLVES MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THAT CITIZENS IN AFFECTED COMMUNITIES WHO WILL CARE ABOUT THIS.
THERE ARE TIMES THAT THEY CAN SPEAK TO THEIR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OR COMMISSIONS, UH, PUBLICLY TO AIR THEIR CONCERNS, BOTH FROM A TECH AND NON-TECH BACKGROUND, WITH THOSE NOTIFICATIONS BEING DONE IN A WAY THAT THOSE CITIZENS WILL ACTUALLY SEE IF IT'S BURIED SOMEWHERE ON THE CITY WEBSITE, UM, CERTAIN CITIZENS MAY OR MAY NOT EVER EVEN KNOW IT'S EVEN HAPPENING.
UM, I DO KNOW, UH, GOING OFF, UM, SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN GOING TOWARDS, UM, IN OUR ONE SHEET, UM, WE HAVE SPECIFICALLY BEEN, THE COALITION'S BEEN CONVERGING ON THAT.
ONE THING WE MIGHT LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN IS THE CREATION OF A RESPONSIBLE AI ETHICS COMMISSION SPECIFICALLY TO LOOK AT THIS AREA AS A WHOLE BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY CTTC TECH COVERS A LOT OF GROUND, BUT THIS IS A VERY FAST MOVING AREA OF TECH WITH BIG IMPACT.
I THINK HAVING A COMMISSION DEDICATED TO IT COULD POTENTIALLY, UM, BOTH ALLAY CITIZENS CONCERNS AND ALSO MIGHT MAKE IT WHERE FROM THE COMMUNITY WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET PEOPLE WHO SPECIFICALLY HAVE THIS EXACT TECHNICAL EXPERTISE.
I WORK IN FULL STACK WEB DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I'M NOT A MACHINE LEARNING ENGINEER.
IT'S A VERY PARTICULAR SKILL SET, AND WE NEED PEOPLE WHO HAVE THAT SKILL SET, I WOULD HOPE, ON, UH, SUCH A COMMISSION SO THAT WE CAN, UM, MAKE APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I KNOW THE CITY CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE A CHIEF AI OFFICER.
PROBABLY THERE'S NOTHING IN THE BUDGET TO AFFORD THAT, UNFORTUNATELY.
BUT A COMMISSION MIGHT BE A GREAT WAY.
I KNOW THIS TOWN HAS PEOPLE WITH THE EXPERTISE WE NEED A COMMISSION MIGHT BE A GREAT WAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM, I THOUGHT I SAW COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS RAISE HIS HAND.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. HELLO, UH, MY NAME
[00:15:01]
IS BRIAN WILLIAMS. UM, I AM AS JUST SPOKEN, UH, ONE OF THOSE COMPUTER PEOPLE WHO, WHO DOES UNDERSTAND THIS TECHNOLOGY AND THE RAMIFICATIONS IT CAN HAVE ON A LARGE BODY OF PEOPLE.UM, I HELP BUILD THESE TECHNOLOGIES AT TIMES FOR SOME OF THE CLIENTS I HAVE IN MY PRIVATE INDUSTRY DEAL IS, UM, I SAY THAT TO SAY THAT, UH, FIRST TO VALIDATE WHAT THE TWO OF YOU HAVE JUST SAID.
UH, ALL THE CONCERNS THAT YOU'VE RAISED ARE EXACTLY RIGHT AND ACTUALLY, SHORT
UM, I'M A PART OF AN AFFECTED GROUP THAT IS, UH, ROUTINELY MISIDENTIFIED BY VISION MODELS, RIGHT? MY SKIN TONE IDENTIFIES ME INCORRECTLY VERY, VERY OFTEN.
MY BEARD IDENTIFIES ME AS A SHADOW, RIGHT? THIS ISN'T A SHADOW, IT'S MY BEARD
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, LIKE OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE, MAKE IT NECESSARY FOR US TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON HOW AI IS DEPLOYED AND USED IN SERVICE OF CITIZENS WITHIN THE CITY, UH, RATHER THAN IN SERVICE OF THE CITY ITSELF, I GUESS I'LL SAY, UM, IS MY TOP CONCERN AS A PERSON HERE.
UM, I WANNA SEE AI MAKE IT EASIER FOR CITIZENS TO GET MORE OUT OF THEIR GOVERNMENT.
UM, SO IF IT'S UP TO ME, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT CODIFIED IN SOME WAY AND POLICED IN SOME WAY TO WHERE THE AI STAYS FAIR AS IT CHANGES OVER TIME.
UM, SO I SAY, FIRST I APPLAUD THE WORK THAT YOU'RE, UH, DOING AND REPRESENTING.
UH, SECOND, IT IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT WE'RE GIVING IT CREDIT FOR.
AND THIRD, AS A COMMISSIONER, I'D JUST LIKE TO BE AN ALLY.
I'D LIKE TO BE HELPFUL IN MAKING SURE THAT WHAT WE ULTIMATELY DO AS A CITY WITH AI IS IN SERVICE OF THE CITIZEN.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. UH, YES, UH, SECOND EVERYTHING YOU SAY, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. AND, UM, SO HAPPY YOU'RE SERVING ON THIS BOARD, AND, UM, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CHATTING AND WORKING WITH YOU FURTHER ON THIS ISSUE.
UM, I THINK AS A, AS A NEXT, AS A TACTICAL NEXT STEP, WHAT WE'LL LOOK TO DO IS, OH, UM, I THINK, UH, I'LL GET TO YOU JUST, UH, IN ONE MOMENT.
I THINK WHAT WE'LL DO AS A TACTICAL NEXT STEP IS, UM, WE'LL ADD THIS ITEM TO OUR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND, UH, CREATE A WORKING GROUP TO POTENTIALLY ENGAGE WITH YOU ALL AND OTHERS, UM, TO RECOMMEND NEXT STEPS TO CITY COUNCIL.
UM, COMMISSIONER WACO, I'LL GIVE YOU THE LAST WORD ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, I'M TRYING TO BE SUCCINCT.
UM, KIND OF PIGGYBACKING OFF COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, I, I WORK WITH AI EXTENSIVELY, PARTICULARLY AI GOVERNANCE.
THIS IS AN EXTENSION OF MY WORK CONVERSATIONS.
UM, WITH TEXAS HOUSE BILL 2060, THEY WERE TRYING TO MOVE SOMETHING AND GALVANIZE A STRONGER IDEA OF WHAT AN AUDITABLE FRAMEWORK WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR, UH, AI SYSTEMS. THE ISSUE IS SCOPE.
UM, AT THE TIME THE AI ACT IN EUROPE WASN'T FORMALIZED LIKE IT IS AS OF LIKE ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO.
AND THE ISSUE THAT WE REALLY ENCOMPASSES THAT, UM, THERE IS A STRONG MISINTERPRETATION IN EXACTLY WHAT AN AI SOLUTION IS.
THERE'S A STRONG MISINTERPRETATION IN WHAT THE RESULTS PROCURE, AND THERE'S AN EVEN STRONGER MISINTERPRETATION OF THE SCOPE.
AND SO IT ALMOST LOOKS LIKE THERE'LL HAVE TO BE A TRIFECTA OF MEASURES TO ACTUALLY HAVE SOME STRONG KPIS THAT CAN ACTUALLY BE ENDURING.
BECAUSE, FOR INSTANCE, IF IT'S JUST A LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL, THEN YOU NATURALLY HAVE THE BIASES THAT COME WITH THE CLOUD AI THAT COME WITH A CHAT GPT, BUT YOU HAVE TO MEASURE THEM AGAINST THE, THE PERCEIVED BIASES.
AND THEN YOU HAVE TO ALSO MEASURE THAT AGAINST LIKE, WHAT THE EXPECTATION WAS FOR THE COMPANY, BECAUSE THE INFERENCE MODELS, THERE'S A LOT MORE INFORMATION THAT'S RETAINED THAN DISPLAYED, AND IT'S KIND OF HARD TO GAUGE THAT.
AND SO A LOT OF IT'S JUST MAKING SURE THE SCOPE OF IT IS ALMOST LIKE GDPR, LIKE, WHERE IT JUST NEVER GETS A CERTAIN AWARENESS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T ALWAYS REFLECT WHAT IT'S AWARE OF AND IT'S THE STRONGEST ISSUE WITH IT.
SO I'M A HUNDRED PERCENT IN SUPPORT OF THIS INITIATIVE AS WELL.
AND I FEEL LIKE THE BEST THING AS EVERYTHING BOILS DOWN TO IN TECHNOLOGY IS GENERAL EFFICACY.
BECAUSE IF PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO IS EVERYTHING THAT'S OUT, I THINK THAT'S A BETTER WAY TO START THAN TO TRYING TO PRESUME SOMETHING THAT'S VERY, VERY, VERY HARD TO LIKE REALLY, REALLY ITEMIZED IN THAT FASHION.
ANY RESPONSE? UM, THIS MIGHT SAY, UM, I'M DELIGHTED, UM, THAT, UH, THE BOARD CLEARLY DOES HAVE A DECENT AMOUNT OF, OF EXPERTISE ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, COMMISSIONER NJA, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS AND OTHERS.
UM, AND I GUESS I JUST WANNA SAY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS PROBABLY BE APPROPRIATE FOR
[00:20:01]
THE WORKING GROUP, BUT SINCE, UH, I FEEL I'LL JUST THROW IT OUT THERE NOW BASED ON THINGS I'VE BEEN THINKING MIGHT BE WORTH EXPLORING, UM, ONCE AGAIN, IT'S A MATTER OF THE CITY POTENTIALLY HAVING, UH, PEOPLE WITH THE, UH, THE SKILLSET TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.BUT IF WE DO EVENTUALLY GO DOWN THIS ROUTE, I MIGHT LIKE TO SEE THE CITY EXPLORING ESSENTIALLY SELF-HOSTING AND SELF-TRAINING THEIR OWN MODELS FOR THE CITIZENS INSTEAD OF RELYING ON THE CORPORATE MODELS.
I ALSO MIGHT POTENTIALLY LIKE TO SEE EXPLORING NETWORK ARCHITECTURES THAT MAKE BEING ABLE TO AUDIT BIAS, UH, AN EASIER PROPOSITION.
UH, EXPLORING CAN NETWORKS, FOR INSTANCE, WHICH HAVE SHOWN EARLY PROMISE IN SHOWING WHAT FEATURE IN THE MODEL FROM THE INPUT LED TO IT, GIVING AN OUTPUT, WHICH CAN LET YOU EVALUATE THAT, OH, IT LEARNED SOMETHING THAT IS BIASED AND NOT REFLECTIVE OF THIS GROUP, AND WE CAN CORRECT IT ACCORDINGLY.
SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'D PROBABLY BE FOR THE FUTURE CONVERSATIONS, BUT I FIGURED I'D GET INTO A LITTLE MORE INTO THE DETAILS SINCE I, UH, TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO PROBABLY KNOW EVEN MORE THAN I'M TALKING ABOUT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
WELL, THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR MAKING THE TRIP DOWN TO CITY HALL AT THIS HOUR.
UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO ENGAGING WITH YOU ALL, UH, AT THE WORKING GROUP SESSION.
AND, UM, YEAH, LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT STEPS.
COMMISSIONER APODACA, THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM, AND THAT IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE JULY 10TH MEETING.UH, IF YOU ALL REMEMBER, UH, UNFORTUNATELY WE DIDN'T ACHIEVE QUORUM, UM, AT OUR AUGUST MEETING.
UM, SO THESE DRAFTED MINUTES SHOULD BE, THEY'RE BOTH LOCATED ON THE WEBSITE.
THEY'RE ALSO, UM, WERE INCLUDED IN THE CALENDAR INVITATION.
SO, UH, I WILL GIVE FOLKS JUST A MINUTE OR TWO TO GIVE, UH, THE DRAFTED MINUTES A QUICK FINAL REVIEW, AND THEN I WILL ACCEPT A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS, UM, OR WITH EDITS.
SO I'LL GIVE FOLKS JUST A MINUTE TO DO THAT.
ANY CONCERNS FROM ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE DRAFTED MINUTES FROM OUR JULY MEETING? I WILL LOOK FOR A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
ER, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
IS THERE A SECOND? I SECOND THAT.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAKU.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ACCEPTING THE MINIMUM MEETING MINUTES FROM JULY 10TH AS PRESENTED.
IT LOOKS LIKE COMMISSIONER ANGA IS OFF CAMERA, SO WE'LL GIVE HER JUST A MOMENT.
ANY ABSTENTIONS, ANYONE AGAINST? DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT.
UH, WE HAVE UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT THE MEETING MEETING MINUTES ARE ACCURATE.
COMMISSIONER ANGA, I KNOW YOU ARE HAVING SOME TECH ISSUES THERE.
OKAY, WELL THAT MOVES US RIGHT ALONG TO, UH, OUR AGENDA ITEM NUMBER TWO.
UNFORTUNATELY, MICHAEL WARD FROM, UH, AUTUMN HQ WAS UNABLE TO JOIN US TODAY.
UM, SO, UH, WE'LL HAVE HIM BACK AT NEXT MONTH'S MEETING.
[3. Briefing on budget amendment related to artificial intelligence focused training and upskilling for City of Austin Employees (Daniel Culotta, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Austin Office of Innovation)]
WE'LL MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE.AND WE HAVE, UH, A GUEST FROM OUR CITY INNOVATION OFFICE.
UNFORTUNATELY, UH, DANIEL KTA WAS ABLE TO JOIN US, BUT I BELIEVE WE HAVE,
[00:25:04]
WHAT WAS HIS NAME? BOOKWE HAVE BOOKHART, UH, JOINING US FROM THE CITY INNOVATION OFFICE.
BOOKHART, IF YOU WANNA, UM, COME OFF MUTE AND JUST TEST YOUR AUDIO REALLY QUICKLY.
WE CAN'T HEAR YOU UNFORTUNATELY.
UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
SO, UM, THIS, UH, I THINK YOUR PRESENTATION IS TIMELY, ESPECIALLY WITH OUR, UH, THE GUESTS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, AND, UH, KAR HAS A, UM, A PRESENTATION TO US AROUND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
UH, SO I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
MY NAME IS KAR BPE AND I'M A DATA SCIENTIST, UH, FROM OFFICE OF INNOVATION.
I'M HERE REPRESENTING DAN OTTA, OUR CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER.
UH, I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE AROUND CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, SPECIFICALLY WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT GOVERNANCE TRAINING AND THE STRATEGIES FOR THE CITYWIDE AI TOOLS.
UH, IN TERMS OF CONTENT, I WANT TO START WITH SOME HISTORY, TALK ABOUT POLICIES AND GUIDELINES, SOME TRAINING ON HOW WE ARE THINKING ABOUT, UH, AS LIKE TO TRAIN OUR STAFF AND EMPLOYEES ON THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES, SECURITY AND MONITORING.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT DATA GOVERNANCE, SOME TOOLS AND USE CASES, AND THEN SOME FUTURE NEXT STEPS.
UH, CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, LIKE MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, RECOGNIZE THE POTENTIAL FOR AI TOOLS TO CREATE EFFICIENCIES, ENHANCE COLLABORATION, IMPROVE SERVICES, AND DRIVE INNOVATION.
UH, WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT THESE TOOLS CAN CREATE SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL SECURITY, PRIVACY, AND ETHICAL RISKS, AS WE JUST HEARD IN THE LAST CONVERSATION.
AND WE ARE FOCUSED ON MITIGATING THESE AS WE DEVELOP AND DEPLOY AI BASED SOLUTIONS.
ALL OF OUR WORK IN THIS SPACE MUST BE GUIDED BY THE PRINCIPLE OF DOING NO HARM AND BEING DILIGENT ABOUT THE HIDDEN VULNERABILITIES AND UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES FOR USERS AND THOSE THAT COULD BE AFFECTED BY THE OUTPUT.
UH, LET'S, UH, I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT CITY OF AUSTIN'S AI PROGRESS PLANS AND USE CASES.
UH, THIS IS A BACKGROUND OF WHERE, UH, WE ARE AND HOW WE STARTED.
UH, CITI HAS BEEN WORKING WITH SOME AI PILOT AND RESEARCH PROJECT FOR SOME TIME, AS YOU CAN SEE WITH THE TIMELINE, UH, BUT SOMETIME SOME DIFFERENT TYPES OF COLLABORATIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IS GOOD SYSTEM INITIATIVE.
UH, MORE RECENTLY IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 2023, WE BEGAN TO GET MORE INQUIRIES FROM STAFF ABOUT THE PROPER USE OF WEB-BASED GENERATIVE AI TOOL.
AS YOU KNOW, AS THEY STARTED, UH, BOOMING EARLY NEXT, EARLY LAST YEAR.
IN RESPONSE, WE CREATED A AI WORKING GROUP TO CREATE GUIDELINES AND RESEARCH HOW AI IS USED IN THE ORGANIZATION.
WE ALSO REVIEWED AND UPDATED RELEVANT SECURITY AND PRIVACY POLICIES IN THE FALL OF 2023.
UH, THE WORKING GROUP CON CONTINUED INTERNAL RESEARCH AND BENCHMARKING.
UH, WE CREATED GENERATIVE AI STANDARDS TO GUIDE STAFF ON USING THESE DIFFERENT AI TOOLS.
UH, WE ALSO HELPED CREATING AND JOINED THE GOV AI COALITION, WHICH IS A GROUP OF DIFFERENT, UH, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES STARTING FROM LOCAL AND GO UP TO THE DIFFERENT FEDERAL AGENCIES AND, UH, THEIR SHARE EXPERIENCE, INSIGHTS AND RESOURCES.
WE ALSO BEGAN, UH, PROVIDING MORE DATA ETHICS, GOVERNANCE AND AI TOOL TRAINING TO CITY STAFF.
THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF 2024, UH, WE, UH, CREATED DEPARTMENT CREATED TEST APPLICATIONS AND INVESTIGATE USE CASES UNDER THE GUIDING FRAMEWORK THAT WE PROVIDED THEM.
EARLY IN EARLY SPRING, THE CITY COUNCIL PASSED THE RESOLUTION TO FORM AN AI ADVISORY COMMITTEE, DEVELOP SECURITY GUIDELINES AND CREATE A WORKFORCE PLAN.
WE HAVE CONTINUED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AI COALITION WORKING GROUPS, UH, WORKING WITH THEIR DIFFERENT COMMITTEES AND HELP DEVELOP TEMPLATES AND TOOLS THAT WE AND THE OTHER GOVERNMENT PARTNER CAN USE.
IN THE SPRING, THE CITY'S INTERNAL CORE TEAM FOCUSED ON THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION, UH, RECRUITED IAC AND FACILITATING MEETINGS.
CORE TEAM CREATES AI PLAN TO FULFILL A IAC RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADVANCED INTERNAL AI STRATEGY,
[00:30:01]
WHICH, UH, I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT TO YOU LATER TODAY IN THIS MEETING AS WELL.SO WE HAVE DIVIDED THE PRESENTATION INTO SPECIFIC PILLARS OF THE STRATEGIES, HOW WE WANT TO GO ABOUT IT.
SO THERE ARE LIKE SPECIFIC SECTIONS THAT WE DIVIDED THE STRATEGY INTO, POLICIES AND GUIDELINES, TRAINING, SECURITY AND MONITORING, GOVERNANCE TOOLS, AND THE USE CASES.
SO, UH, LET'S DIVE INTO THE POLICIES AND POLICIES AND GUIDELINE.
UM, AT THE HEART OF CITY'S AI APPROACH AND DEVELOPMENT IS A STRONG FRAMEWORK OF POLICIES AND GUIDELINES THAT FOCUS ON SECURITY, PRIVACY MONITORING, AND THE PROPER USE.
AT THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL, ALL OUR AI USE AND PROCUREMENT HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO ABIDE BY THE STATUTORY AND, UH, REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND THE BEST PRACTICES.
OUR POLICIES ARE ROOTED IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, CODE OF AUDIENCE ORDINANCES, CHAPTER TWO 11, WHICH GOVERN, UH, WHICH GOVERNS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, ADDITIONAL KEY POLICIES THAT ARE RELEVANT TO AI TOOLS.
YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN, LIKE SECURITY AND PRIVACY CONTROLS, POLICY, DATA CLASSIFICATION POLICY, GENERATIVE AI STANDARDS, ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES.
WE ALREADY, UH, STARTED, UH, ON UPDATING THOSE BASED ON THE AI AND EVERYTHING WE DO.
UH, OUR GUIDELINES ALSO STATE THAT ALL EMPLOYEES MUST REPORT AI USE AND SITE IF THEY USE AI TOOLS TO CREATE DELIVERABLES TO ENSURE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
APART FROM THAT, AS PART OF THE GOV GOV AI COALITION, WE ALSO WORK WITH CREATING SOME OTHER TEMPLATE SHEETS LIKE VENDOR FACT SHEET, VENDOR AGREEMENT, SOME USE CASE TEMPLATES, AND ALSO A FEW EXAMPLES OF, UH, THE AI FACT SHEET AND HOW TO BEST UNDERSTAND THE VENDOR, UH, THIRD PARTY SYSTEMS AS WELL.
UH, THE NEXT IS THE TRAINING AND WORKFORCE READINESS.
UH, A CORNERSTONE TO AN EFFECTIVE AI APPROACH IS TRAINING AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THE CITY STAFF NEEDS TO BE, UH, EVERY CITY STAFF HAS TO BE TRAINED ON THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
WE BELIEVE EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A FOUNDATIONAL LEVEL OF AI AND DATA ETHICS TRAINING AND MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO ALL EMPLOYEES THROUGH COURSES, LEARNING COHORTS, DIFFERENT SPEAKERS COMING IN, AND THE ONLINE RESOURCES.
UH, WE ARE ALSO DEVELOPING WHAT WILL BE A MANDATORY TRAINING ON PROPER USE AND AI GUIDELINES AND MORE IN DEPTH, UH, TRAINING AND EDUCATION FOR SPECIFIC USE CASES.
WE ARE PLANNING TO DO THAT BY IDENTIFYING THE HIGH VALUE USE CASES AND PROCESSES THAT CAN BENEFIT FROM AI, ENSURING, UH, THE POTENTIALLY IMPACTED JOB CLASSES RECEIVE ETIQUETTE TRAINING AND RESKILLING SO THEY CAN ADOPT AND THRIVE IN THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE.
WITH THE RECENT FUNDING PROVIDED TO US BY THE CITY COUNCIL, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE U UH, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN TO CREATE AND UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF TRAINING THAT WE NEED TO PROVIDE TO ALL THE STAFF AND ON IN TERMS OF THE SECURITY AND ETHICS BEHIND AI.
AND ALSO, UH, WORK ON THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AS WELL, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
THE SECURITY AND MONITORING, UH, AS WE DISCUSSED BEFORE, UH, TO US SECURITY AND PRIVACY ARE PARAMOUNT.
FEW MODERN, UH, TECHNOLOGIES HAVE AS BROAD AN APPLICATION POTENTIALS AS AI TOOLS, BUT WE ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS MEANS THAT THEY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE SIGNIFICANT RISKS ACROSS OUR ORGANIZATION AND FOR THE RESIDENTS SHOULD THEY BE IMPLEMENTED POORLY.
IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO US THAT WE DEVELOP AND ALL ARE PRESENTED WITH THE EXCITING NEW CASES FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY, BUT WE KEEP SECURITY, SAFETY, AND ETHICAL USE AS OUR NORTH STAR.
I WANT TO NOTE THAT CURRENTLY ALL TOOLS, AI TOOLS, PILOTS AND STUDIES ARE USED BY STAFF AS INPUTS FOR THEIR WORK.
UH, FOR IN, UH, LIKE PUTTING IT ANOTHER WAY, THERE ARE NO INSTANCES, EXAMPLE, WHEN A RESIDENT WOULD INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH THE AI APPLICATION OR WHERE AN AI APPLICATION IS MAKING A DECISION.
SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE JUST, UH, WORKING TOWARDS CREATING SOME KIND OF TOOLS WHICH CAN BASICALLY HELP THE SEC STAFF UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION BETTER AND ACT AS LIKE AN INPUT TO ANY KIND OF DELIVERABLE THAT THE, UM, THE STAFF IS PRESENTING.
JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TOOL, UH, STAFF USES, EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY OF THE OUTPUTS AND PRODUCTS THAT, UH, TOOL CREATES.
[00:35:01]
WE CONDUCT THOROUGH SECURITY AND PRIVACY ASSESSMENTS DURING THE TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT FOR ANY, UH, TOOLS OR APPLICATION, AND AI IS NO EXCEPTION HERE.WE ARE ALSO DEVELOPING VENDOR FACT SHEET AND AGREEMENT TOOL TO UNDERSTAND AND ASSESS ARCHITECTURE TRAINING AND OUTPUTS AS WE CONSIDER THE NEW SOLUTION.
UH, AS WE DEVELOP THE USE CASES, WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATING OUR EXISTING SECURITY AND PRIVACY TOOLS TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE PROVIDING THE COVERAGE THAT WE NEED AND WILL BRING IN THE THIRD PARTY ASSESSMENTS AND TOOL TO FILL ANY GAPS.
UH, WE ARE PILOTING AN ENTERPRISE INSTANCE OF GENERATING AI, UH, TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND CONTROL AND PROVIDE MORE ACCESS TO STAFF.
SO AS WE, UH, EXPLORE THE POTENTIAL OF THE PUBLIC FACING TOOL, WE ARE ALSO CREATING A PROCESS FOR REPORTING ERROR AND BIAS TO FURTHER ENSURE SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
HOWEVER, I'LL REEMPHASIZE THAT NONE OF THE AI USE CASES ARE PUBLIC FACING AT THIS POINT OF TIME.
UH, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE GOVERNANCE.
UH, AS WE KNOW, THERE IS LIKE A VERY, UH, GREAT IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE IN PLACE SINCE THE FIRST STAGE.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE CREATED IS A DIFFERENT LAYER BASED GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON YOUR SCREEN, WE HAVE A INTERNAL CODE TEAM WHERE WE HAVE PEOPLE FROM IT, PRIVACY, SECURITY, LAW INNOVATION, AND HR DEPARTMENT THAT ENGAGES REGULARLY ON AI POLICY TOOLS, USERS, AND TRAINING TOPICS.
WE ALSO HAVE AN EXTERNAL AI ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
YOU, UH, EARLIER YOU, UH, YOU TALK WITH LIANI.
SHE WAS ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THAT AI ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
UH, SO THIS ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS MEMBERS FROM INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER COMMUNITY PARTNERS THAT KEEP US INFORMED ON THE AI ECOSYSTEM AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE ON BEST PRACTICES.
WE ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE GO AI COALITION.
WE ARE, UH, WE ARE AN ACTIVE MEMBER.
WE DO INTERACT VERY FREQUENTLY WITH ALL THE PARTNER, UH, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
WE, THIS IS, THIS HAS A NETWORK OF NATIONWIDE GOVERNMENT PARTNERS TO SHARE EXPERIENCE AND, UH, RESOURCES.
WE ALSO HAVE OUR CITYWIDE TECHNOLOGY PLANNING AND APPROVAL PROCESS, WHICH PROVIDES PLANNING, GOVERNANCE, AND OVERSIGHT ON IT AND TECHNOLOGY, PROCUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING THE AI TOOLS.
UH, THESE ELEMENT PROVIDE A STRONG AND CONNECTED GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE THAT SPANS, UH, FROM TOOLS AND INDIVIDUAL USE CASES TO ORGANIZATION WIDE STRATEGIES AND BROADER ECOSYSTEM.
UH, LASTLY ON THE PILLARS OF STRATEGY, THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF FEW USE CASES.
OUR GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK HAS ALLOWED FOR MANY PILOTS AND USE CASES TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE CITY ORGANIZATION.
UM, KEY TO DEVELOPING MANY OF THESE IS A STRONG PARTNERSHIP LIKE THOSE WITH THE, UH, RESEARCHERS AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND THEIR EXCELLENT TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY PROGRAMS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE IN PILOT AND STEADY PHASE WHILE THEY SHOW PROMISING RESULTS.
NONE OF THEM HAVE REPLACED ANY CURRENT SYSTEMS AND ALL HAVE HUMAN OVERSIGHT THAT CAN INFORM BUT DO NOT MAKE, UH, DECISIONS.
I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW, UH, FEW EXAMPLES.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON YOUR SCREEN.
UH, SOME LIKE IT SERVICE, TICKET ANALYSIS, NON-EMERGENCY ROUTE CALL, UH, CALL ROUTING DOCUMENTATION.
AND THERE ARE LIKE SOME FUTURE, UH, FUTURE EXAMPLES LIKE CHATBOT PILOT, UH, ROUTING MODELS, PROACTIVE USE CASE PILOTING AS WELL, UM, CONCLUDING AS THE NEXT STEPS AND STRATEGIES.
UH, WE, UH, OUR FOCUS IS MAINLY ON DEVELOPING AND PILOTING CHATBOTS AND ADVANCED ROUTING MODELS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS COMMITTED TO LEVERAGING THE GEN AI TOOLS RESPONSIBLY AND EFFECTIVELY ENSURING THE SECURITY, PRIVACY, UH, ETHICAL USE AND RISK MITIGATION.
UH, BY DOING SO, WE AIM TO CREATE EFFICIENCY IN OUR ORGANIZATION AND IMPROVE OUR EFFECTIVENESS IN SERVING THE RESIDENTS.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I LOOK FORWARD TO ANSWERING, UH, ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT KAR.
IT WAS, UH, UH, VERY DETAILED, UM, AND, UH, SOME GREAT INFORMATION THERE.
I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO, UH, SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
[00:40:01]
MY FIRST QUESTION, UM, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT, UH, SOME AI TOOLS, UH, PROVIDE AT TIMES PROVIDE INPUT TO SOME DELIVERABLES, BUT EVERYTHING, UM, HAS HAS OVERSIGHT.I'M JUST CURIOUS, UM, ARE THERE PREFERRED APPLICATIONS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS USING OR DIRECTING EMPLOYEES TO UTILIZE? UM, UH, SO RIGHT NOW THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC DIRECTIVES, UH, ALTHOUGH DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS ARE RIGHT NOW USING THEIR DIFFERENT AI TOOLS BASED ON THEIR SPECIFIC APPLICATION.
AS YOU SAW, I, I, UH, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE USE CASES.
FEW OF THEM ARE IN THE COLLABORATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, BASICALLY, WHERE THEY CAN UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF USAGE AND WHAT'S THE BEST FRAMEWORK TO IMPLEMENT SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO WHEN WE SAY INPUT, UH, PEOPLE HAVE STARTED USING IT AT THEIR END JUST TO SEE HOW IT IS WORKING AND IF THE FOCUS MAINLY HERE IS TO UNDERSTAND IF IT IS ACTUALLY CREATING SOME VALUE FOR THE RESIDENTS.
SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE JUST, UH, DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY ARE USING IT AND THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION RIGHT NOW IN IS IN PROCESS OF COLLECTING ALL OF THOSE USE CASES AND CREATE AND START WORKING TOWARDS A PILOT OF WHERE WE CAN COLLECT ALL THESE DIFFERENT, UH, VARIATIONS OF USE CASES HAPPENING IN THE CITY.
UM, AND THEN I HAD A QUESTION AROUND THE, UH, THE TRAINING EFFORT MM-HMM.
YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT A SUBSET OF EMPLOYEES, CERTAIN JOB CLASSES, UH, THAT WILL BE, UM, REQUIRED TO TAKE THIS TRAINING.
UH, I'M JUST CURIOUS, UH, UH, UH, WHAT'S THE TIMING OF THAT TRAINING EITHER BEING PILOTED OR ROLLED OUT, AND IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO PRESENT THIS COMMISSION, UH, ON THE DETAILED CURRICULUM OF THAT TRAINING PRIOR TO GO LIVE? SO, UH, SO AS, AS I UH MENTIONED EARLIER WITH THE FUNDING THAT WE RECENTLY GOT FROM THE COUNCIL MEMBER, WE ARE RIGHT NOW IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING A PARTNERSHIP WITH UT AUSTIN, WHERE WE ARE FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING WHAT TYPE OF TRAINING WOULD BE USEFUL FOR LIKE THE CITY STAFF AS A WHOLE, LIKE A BASIC, UH, UNDERSTANDING OF THESE AI TOOLS AND UNDERSTANDING THE PRIVACY AND ETHICS OF IT.
AND THEN BASICALLY CO-CREATE THAT CURRICULAR, UH, CURRICULAR WITH THE UT AUSTIN PEOPLE.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF LIKE THE SPECIFIC, UH, USE CASES, WHAT WE ENVISION IS THAT, UH, THERE IS, THERE IS LIKE A IMPORTANT LIKE THE BASIC AI TRAINING THAT EVERYONE WILL DO.
AND THEN DEPENDING ON THE JOB ROLES WHERE YOU, WE FEEL THAT THESE TECHNOLOGIES MIGHT AFFECT MORE, THERE WILL, THERE WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ADDITIONAL TRAINING TO UNDERSTAND THAT SPECIFIC USE CASES AND UNDERSTANDING HOW, UH, THAT SPECIFIC POSITION CAN, UH, ENHANCE AND GATHER ALL THE USE CASES, UH, USING THE TRAINING METHODS.
SO AS, AND, UH, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THE DETAILS OF THE CURRICULUM ONCE WE HAVE IT.
BUT, UH, RIGHT NOW, AS I TOLD, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS, UH, WITH WORKING WITH UT AUSTIN ON THAT.
AND, AND JUST FOR, AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT CLARIFICATION.
AND WHAT'S THE HIGH LEVEL, UH, TIMING OF WHEN THAT'S SET TO BE DELIVERED? UM, SO I THINK LIKE RIGHT NOW AS WE, UH, SO THERE ARE, SO LIKE THESE SOFT STARTED WITH THE TRAINING EMPLOYEES AS PART OF THE OFFICE OF INNOVATIONS, DATA INSIGHTS VISUALIZATION AND EXPLORATION PROGRAM CALLED DIVE, WHERE WE ACTUALLY INVITED THE CITY STAFF TO COME AND TAKE BASIC DATA LITERACY TRAINING.
UH, WE ALSO, THIS TIME, SO WE DID IT LAST YEAR AS WELL AS THIS YEAR, BUT THIS YEAR WE ALSO INTRODUCED A VERY BASIC SMALL RESPONSIBLE AI TRAINING IN AS THE PART OF THE MANDATORY COURSE EVERYONE DOES.
SO WE TRY TO PILOT IT JUST TO SEE THE REACTION OF THE EMPLOYEES IN TERMS OF LIKE THE USABILITY.
AND THEN I BELIEVE WITH THE, WITHIN LIKE FEW COMING MONTHS, WE WILL HAVE THAT, UH, PROJECT AND PARTNERSHIP RUNNING UP WITH UT AUSTIN.
AND THEN WE CAN, UH, BASICALLY SHARE LIKE THE CURRICULUM AND WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST TO TRAIN LIKE THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION ON LIKE THE, WHICH TYPES OF TOPICS WOULD BE USEFUL FOR THEM.
SO YOU SAID IN A FEW MONTHS, SO, UH, PERHAPS BY THE END OF THE YEAR THERE'LL BE MORE DETAILS ON WHAT THAT TRAINING WILL LOOK LIKE? UH, I WOULD ASSUME SO.
UH, AGAIN, UH, I DO NOT HAVE EXACTLY A TIMELINE AS OF NOW.
SO SINCE WE ARE LIKE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH UT AUSTIN AND WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT TYPE OF TRAINING IS USEFUL, BECAUSE LIKE CITY OF AUSTIN LIKE BEING VERY DIVERSE IN TERMS OF LIKE THE TYPE OF THINGS EVERYONE USE, WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE REACHING TO EACH AND EVERY STAFF MEMBER AND HELPING THEM UNDERSTAND THESE TECHNOLOGIES BETTER.
SO OUR FOCUS RIGHT NOW IS TO GATHER THAT,
[00:45:01]
UH, ASPECT AND CREATE THE CURRICULUM ACCORDINGLY.WE'LL CERTAINLY BE IN TOUCH AS THINGS, UH, MOVE FORWARD, INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT THE OUTCOMES, UM, ARE AS THE TRAINING, UH, BECOMES MORE SOLIDIFIED.
UH, WITH THAT, UH, I, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO, UM, OTHER COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR QUESTIONS.
UH, ONE IS, YOU MENTIONED THIS, UH, CONSORTIUM GOV AI.
I THINK I, I THOUGHT I READ THAT, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T, IT IS MULTIPLE GOVERNMENTS HAVE COME TOGETHER INTO THIS SORT OF LIKE A CONSORTIUM WHERE YOU, YOU SHARE INFORMATION.
SO ARE YOU DEVELOPING USE CASES? ARE YOU ALSO SHARING USE CASES WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND CITIES SO THAT YOU CAN ENRICH YOUR, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY BOOTSTRAPPING EACH OTHER? SO YES, SO THE ORGANIZ, LIKE THE COALITION WE CREATED CALLED GO AI COALITION, AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO SEND THE COMMISSIONERS THE LINK TO THAT.
IT IS RIGHT NOW LED BY CITY OF SAN JOSE, AND WE DO HAVE THE USE CASES INSIDE IT.
SO IN THE FIRST PHASE, AND AUSTIN WAS, UH, SO DANIEL WAS ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THAT COALITION.
SO WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH IT SINCE THE BEGINNING AND WE HELPED CREATE IT.
UH, WE HELPED CREATE LIKE MULTIPLE USE CASES WITH THEM, UH, UH, WHICH YOU CAN FIND DIRECTLY ON THEIR WEBSITES AS WELL, SOME OF THE USE CASES.
AND AS OF NOW, UH, THEY NOW HAVE LIKE DIFFERENT COMMITTEES DIVIDED AND USE CASE COMMITTEES.
SOMEONE WHERE I AM PERSONALLY INVOLVED AS WELL.
AND WE ARE RIGHT NOW WORKING TOWARDS CREATING SOME INTERESTING USE CASES.
ONE OF THEM IS ABOUT A TRANSLATION TOOL.
LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, Y YOU GO ON A WEBSITE, UH, HOW, HOW, WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OF, UH, DOING THE TRANSLATION ON FOR THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIKE, POPULATION VISITING THE WEBSITE.
ANOTHER ONE I, I REMEMBER, UH, OTHER TEAMS ARE WORKING ON IS LIKE, CREATE, HELPING IN THE GRANT WRITING PROCESS HOW AI CAN BE BEST IMPLEMENTED IN THAT WAY.
SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, YES, UH, WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS THOSE USE CASES AND UNDERSTANDING THOSE PATTERNS FROM DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, CITY ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL.
THE SECOND, UH, QUESTION I HAVE IS THAT I FULLY EXPECT THAT AI IS GONNA BE SO PERVASIVE THAT IT'S GONNA CHANGE JOBS, JOB DESCRIPTIONS, IT'LL ALSO MAKE JOBS DISAPPEAR.
CERTAIN JOBS, YOU, YOU WILL NOT NEED A HUMAN BEING TO DO.
SO I ALSO ACCOUNTING FOR THAT.
HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT IT'S, IT'S A DISRUPTIVE TECH TECHNOLOGY.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ALIGN TO THE DISRUPTION SO THAT, UH, YOU'RE GONNA BE AFFECTING AS FEW HUMAN BEINGS AS POSSIBLE? SO, UH, UH, I I THINK THAT'S LIKE SOMETHING WHICH IS DEFINITELY, UH, FEW THINGS THAT WE ARE REALLY FOCUSED ON, EVEN AS THE PART OF COUNCIL RESOLUTION, THAT WAS A BIG THING TO UNDERSTAND AND OUR WORKFORCE READINESS.
SO I THINK LIKE THE UPSKILLING IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE VERY FOCUSED TOWARDS.
THE DIVE PROGRAM THAT WE TALKED, I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, WAS A PART OF THAT WHERE WE ARE INVITING THE CITY FOLKS TO COME AND LEARN ABOUT THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, IF I, I AM, LET'S SAY I HAVE BEEN DOING MY REPORTS ON EXCEL, NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO COME AND LEARN MORE ABOUT, LET'S SAY, NEWER TECHNOLOGIES LIKE TABLEAU OR PYTHON OR THESE APPLICATIONS, WHICH WILL ACTUALLY HELP ME ADVANCE IN TERMS OF LIKE THE TYPE OF TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES I USE BECAUSE I AGREE, UH, LIKE THE, THIS TO THIS LIKE TECHNOLOGY AND AI SPHERE IS GOING TO STAY HERE.
AND I FEEL THAT, UH, UPSKILLING IS THE WAY TO GO IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE CITY IS READY TO TACKLE THE UPCOMING CHALLENGES.
AND SECOND, SECONDLY, OUR STAFF ARE WELL EQUIPPED IN TERMS OF LIKE THESE NEW CHANGES AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO ACCESS AND UNDERSTAND THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
THANK YOU FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
UH, YES, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. HELLO.
UH, ALSO AGREE, UM, PRESENTATION WAS FANTASTIC.
UH, ONE IS AROUND THE, THE CONFIRMATION THAT WE'RE ONLY LOOKING AT, AT LEAST SO FAR.
UH, THE CITY IS ONLY CONSIDERING LLMS, UM, LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS.
WE'RE NOT AT THIS POINT CONSIDERING, UH, NUMERIC BASED MODELS, UH, VISION BASED MODELS, RECOGNITION MODELS.
UM, THERE, THIS AI IS A BROAD CATEGORY AND THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT AI CAN MEAN, UM, EVEN AS A SERIES OF CATEGORIES.
SO WE ARE ONLY LOOKING AT TEXT-BASED LLMS, UM, AT THIS POINT.
[00:50:01]
AS, AS OF NOW, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS PUT FORWARD THE GENERATIVE AI STANDARDS.SO YES, LARGELY THE FOCUS BECAUSE LIKE WHEN THE WAVE CAME EARLY LAST YEAR, EVERYONE WAS ONLY TALKING ABOUT LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF I CAN USE CHAD, GPT.
SO WE STARTED FROM THERE, BUT WITH NOW, UH, SETTLING IN THIS SPACE, WE ARE LIKE WITHIN THE CORE COMMITTEE, INTERNAL CORE COMMITTEE HAVE STARTED WIDENING THAT BROAD UNDERSTANDING JUST TO SEE WHERE THESE APPLICATIONS CAN GO IN.
BUT AS OF NOW, AGAIN, UH, THERE WAS, THERE'S NO IMPLEMENTATION, THERE'S NO PILOT LIKE BIG, HIGH LEVEL PILOT THAT IS HAPPENING.
BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE CAUTIOUSLY APPROACHING TOWARDS WITH LIKE TAKING SMALLER STEPS IN LIKE FIRST THE TEXT BASED MODELS, UNDERSTANDING WHERE THE, UH, INFORMATION LIES WE GAVE.
I GAVE YOU LIKE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE USE CASES, BUT ULTIMATELY, LIKE THE CORE TEAM IS RIGHT NOW WORKING TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE OVERALL LIKE LANDSCAPE OF THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND WHERE, AND HOW WE CAN BEST, UH, BASICALLY TRAIN AND, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THE PROCESS IS GOING SMOOTHLY.
UH, COMMISSIONER AKA ALSO HIGHLIGHTED EARLIER THAT THIS IS KIND OF A TIMELY PRESENTATION GIVEN THE FIRST PRESENTATION WE HAD EARLIER IN TODAY'S MEETING.
UM, MY QUESTION IS, ARE YOU WORKING WITH ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE ORGANIZATION PRESENT IN THE FIRST MEETING, UM, IN ORDER TO PUT IN THE PROPER GUARDRAILS AND SAFEGUARDS FOR THE LARGER AUSTIN, UH, COMMUNITY, THE CITIZENS WILL ULTIMATELY BE AFFECTED BY THESE TECHNOLOGIES? ARE THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING AS WELL, UH, WITH, UH, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SINCE, UH, UT SEEMS TO HAVE A LARGE INFLUENCE ON HOW THESE THINGS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE CITY AS WELL? UH, SO YES, DEFINITELY.
AND I ALSO TALKED ABOUT THAT EXTERNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WE HAD EARLIER WHERE LIKE THE OPEN AUSTIN AS WELL AS EFF WAS THE PART OF IT.
UH, WE DID PRESENT ALL THE IDEAS AND THE FUTURE STEPS THAT WE WANT TO TAKE AND BASICALLY ALL, UH, GOT ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND WE ARE USING THAT RECOMMENDATIONS AS THE BASE OF MOVING FORWARD WITH IT.
WE ALSO PLAN TO MEET WITH THEM PERIODICALLY JUST TO SHOW THEM THE PROGRESS AND WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT SHOULD BE THE NEXT STEPS.
AND IN TERMS OF U YES, SO, UH, WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH UT EVEN ON THE TRAINING I TALKED ABOUT.
WE ARE RIGHT NOW WORKING WITH THEM TO CREATE A BETTER, UH, ACTUAL LIKE APT, UH, CURRICULAR SO THAT WE CAN TRAIN, LIKE, CREATE SOME KIND OF BASIC MANDATORY TRAINING FOR ALL THE CITY STAFF OR UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE UPSKILLING PROCESS GOES SMOOTHLY ALONG WITH LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, RESEARCHERS WITH UT ON DIFFERENT THESE OF SOME OF THESE USE CASES AS WELL.
LIKE THE UT IS GOOD SYSTEM INITIATIVE.
WE HAVE WORKED WITH THEM IN THE PAST AND CONTINUOUSLY WORKING WITH THEM JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE ARE FOLLOWING UP WITH ALL THE, ALL THESE DIFFERENT SMALLER NUANCES AROUND THE AI TOOLS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION? AND, UM, JUST TO CALL OUT VICE CHAIR ATA HAS, HAS JOINED US.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION? PRECO? I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION.
UM, IS THERE, THERE ANY, UH, SENSE OF TIMING OF WHEN, UH, THE AI FOCUSED WORKING GROUP, UH, WILL BE CONVENING AGAIN AND UNDER WHAT TOPIC AREAS? UH, AND BY THAT DO YOU MEAN THE EXTERNAL WORK GROUP? YES, THE, THE EXTERNAL WORKING GROUP.
SO MYSELF, UH, FORMER CHAIR, PITTS, LEONI, KEVIN, AND MANY OTHERS ARE ALSO A PART OF, UH, SO AS OF NOW, LIKE AS WE, AS I TOLD THAT WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS CREATING THAT CURRICULAR DEVELOPMENT AND ALSO WORKING TOWARDS CREATING THAT USE CASES.
SO ONCE WE HAVE THAT, WE ARE PLANNING TO RECONVENE THE COMMITTEE AND LIKE BASICALLY THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE DONE.
SO AS OF TIMELINE, I DO NOT HAVE A EXACT ANSWER FOR IT, BUT, UH, WE ARE PLANNING TOWARDS IT TO RECONVENE AND BASICALLY CONTACT ALL OF YOU IN TERMS OF, UH, SHOWING YOU THE PROGRESS AND GATHERING THE FEEDBACK AND RECOMMENDATIONS AGAIN.
UM, WITH THAT, YEAH, THANK YOU PACO FOR, UH, FOR STEPPING IN.
I KNOW, UH, DANIEL WASN'T ABLE TO TO ATTEND, SO WE APPRECIATE YOU, UH, TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR EVENING TO JOIN US AND UPDATE US ON, UH, ALL THINGS AI IN THE CITY.
[4. Presentation on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s notice of funding opportunity for the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program and the Digital Empowerment Community of Austin’s (DECA) collective proposal plan (Jamie Castleberry, Director of Grants, Goodwill Central Texas)]
UH, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE US FORWARD TO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM, UH, FOR, UH, OR THE PRESENTATION ON THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INFORMATION AND ADMINISTRATION'S[00:55:01]
NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY AROUND DIGITAL EQUITY.AND I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE GOODWILL AUSTIN.
SO JESSE, UH, IS GONNA STEP IN FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
I'M JESSE RODRIGUEZ WITH THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, AND I AM, UH, CURRENTLY MIGRATING, UH, MY GROUP INTO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, WHAT I AM COMING HERE TO TALK TO ALL TODAY ABOUT IS, UH, A SET OF FEDERAL FUNDS THAT IS COMING AVAILABLE FOR COMPETITION, UM, AND THE EFFORTS THAT WE ARE UNDERGOING LOCALLY TO COMPETE FOR THOSE FUNDS.
SO I DON'T THINK THAT I'M GONNA TAKE TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME HERE TODAY, BUT I DID WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMISSION'S AWARE OF THIS ACTIVITY AND GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF A BACKGROUND, UH, SO THAT YOU ALL CAN, UH, KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AND SUPPORT IF, UH, YOU SO CHOOSE.
SO WITH THAT, THE FEDERAL FUNDING THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THE DIGITAL EQUITY COMPETITIVE GRANT FUNDING, WHICH WAS LAUNCHED AS A PRODUCT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT OF 2021.
UM, IT'S ALSO KNOWN AS, UH, THE, THE SUB COMPONENT IS KNOWN AS THE DIGITAL EQUITY ACT.
UH, THIS IS THE THIRD ROUND OF FUNDING THAT THEY HAVE, UH, AVAILABLE WITHIN THIS, UH, THIS ACT.
UH, THE FIRST WAS THE STATE DIGITAL EQUITY PLANNING GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH WAS $60 MILLION.
UH, THE SECOND WAS THE STATE DIGITAL EQUITY CAPACITY GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH IS $1.44 BILLION.
BOTH OF THOSE HAVE ALREADY BEEN, UH, COMPUTED AND DISTRIBUTED.
UM, AND, UH, THE SECOND ONE IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY.
UH, WHERE WE'RE AT IS THIS THIRD ROUND OF FUNDING, WHICH IS 1.2 BI $5 BILLION, UH, CALLED THE COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, SO THE, UH, IN RESPONSE TO THIS FUNDING, UH, COMING AVAILABLE, UH, THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN, WHICH IS A, A GROUP OF LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT THE CITY PARTICIPATES IN AND HELPS TO FACILITATE, UM, HAS CONVENED INTERESTED PARTIES TO FORM A COALITION, UH, APPLICATION TO COMPETE FOR THESE FUNDS.
UM, AND SO I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT, UH, HERE IN A MOMENT.
UM, I DID WANNA GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ABOUT THE FUNDING, UH, UH, OBJECTIVES OR THE, UH, FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ITSELF, UM, SO THAT YOU ALL KNOW WHAT, UH, THIS OPPORTUNITY IS ABOUT.
UM, THERE ARE SIX OBJECTIVES OF THIS, UH, FUNDING.
UM, AND THE COALITION APPLICATION THAT WE'RE DEVELOPING WILL BE RESPONSIVE TO ALL SIX OF THESE OBJECTIVES.
SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND READ THROUGH THOSE.
UH, THE FIRST IS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT DIGITAL INCLUSION ACTIVITIES THAT BENEFIT ONE OR MORE OF THE COVERED POPULATIONS.
I'LL DETAIL THE COVER COVERED POPULATIONS IN A MOMENT HERE, UH, TO NUMBER TWO, FACILITATE THE ADOPTION OF BROADBAND BY THE COVERED POPULATIONS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
NUMBER THREE, TO IMPLEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR THE COVERED POPULATIONS THAT COVER BASIC, ADVANCED AND APPLIED SKILLS.
NUMBER FOUR, TO IMPLEMENT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. NUMBER FIVE, TO MAKE AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT INSTRUMENTATION, NETWORK CAPABILITY, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY FOR BROADBAND SERVICES TO COVERED POPULATIONS AT LOWER NO COST.
AND NUMBER SIX, TO CONSTRUCT, UPGRADE, EXPAND OR OPERATE NEW OR EXISTING PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTING CENTERS FOR COVERED POPULATIONS THROUGH COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS.
UM, SO I, AGAIN, I BELIEVE THAT THE PROPOSAL THAT THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN IS PULLING TOGETHER, UH, WILL COVER ALL OF THESE OBJECTIVES.
UM, THE COVERED POPULATIONS OF THIS FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ARE, ARE INDIVIDUALS WHO LIVE IN COVERED HOUSEHOLDS, AGING INDIVIDUALS, UM, INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS OTHER THAN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INCARCERATED IN A FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, VETERANS, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES, INDIVIDUALS WITH A LANGUAGE BARRIER, INCLUDING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ENGLISH LEARNERS OR HAVE LOW LEVELS OF DIGITAL LITERACY, INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF RACIAL OR ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS, AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PRIMARY, WHO PRIMARILY RESIDE IN RURAL AREAS.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA READ THROUGH ALL OF THE ELIG ELIGIBILITY, UM, ITEMS THAT I HAVE IN THE DOCUMENT THAT WE PROVIDED, BUT THEY'RE THERE IN CASE YOU ALL, UH, ARE INTERESTED.
UM, JUST NOTE THAT THE APPLYING ENTITY IS GOING TO BE GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS.
AND, UH, SO THEY, THEY, THEY'RE ELIGIBLE UNDER THE NON-PROFIT ENTITY.
[01:00:01]
A PARTNERSHIP, UH, THAT THEY ARE HOLDING THE CENTER ON, UM, THE INDIVIDUAL AWARD AMOUNTS FOR THIS FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ARE, UH, THE EXPECTED AWARD AMOUNTS ARE $5 MILLION TO $12 MILLION OVER THE COURSE OF FOUR YEARS, UM, PLUS AN ADDITIONAL YEAR OF MONITORING AND DATA COLLECTION.UM, THOSE AREN'T HARD, THAT'S NOT A HARD FLOOR AND THAT'S NOT A HARD CEILING.
UM, BUT THOSE ARE THE EXPECTED, UH, DISTRIBUTION AMOUNTS.
AND THERE'S, UH, A SPECIAL PROCESS IF ORGANIZATIONS OR ENTITIES APPLY OUTSIDE OF THAT RANGE.
UM, SO I THINK THAT, UH, OUR COALITION IS GONNA, UH, TRY AND STICK TO THAT $12 MILLION, UH, CEILING.
UM, THE THERE ARE MATCH, THERE IS MATCH REQUIRED BY THIS PROPOSAL.
THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT IS 10%, UM, 10% MATCH.
UM, BUT THERE ARE BENEFITS IF WE CAN REACH EITHER 20, UH, OR 30% MATCH.
UM, SPECIFICALLY, UH, THE, THE APPLICATION SCORE GETS A 0.1 MULTIPLIER IF YOU ACHIEVE A 20% MATCH AND ANOTHER 0.1 MULTIPLIER IF YOU ACHIEVE 30%.
UM, AT THIS MOMENT, WE'RE CURRENTLY JUST ABOVE 30% ON THE BUDGET FOR OUR PROPOSAL.
SO WE DO THINK THAT, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL CERTAINLY BE ABLE TO, UH, BE COMPETITIVE FOR THE 0.1 MULTIPLIER FOR 20%, UM, AND WE MAY BE ABLE TO REACH THAT, UM, THAT 30% TARGET AS WELL.
UM, THERE'S A NUMBER OF PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES THAT, UH, ARE LAID OUT IN THE NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS, UH, GRANT.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE OUR PERFORMANCE MEASURES FINALIZED YET, SO I CAN'T GET INTO THE DETAILS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT THINGS WE'LL BE MEASURING.
UM, BUT I DID WANT TO INCLUDE HERE, UH, YOU KNOW, A DETAILED GUIDE OF, UH, WHAT IS REQUIRED BY THE NOFO.
UM, AND WE WILL BE, UM, COMPLYING WITH THESE REQUIREMENTS.
I'M NOT GONNA READ THROUGH THESE, UH, BUT, UH, FEEL FREE TO TO NOTE THESE.
UM, IF THESE ARE INTERESTING TO YOU.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF MORE DETAILED NOTES ON OUR PROPOSAL, UM, TO KIND OF WRAP US UP HERE.
UM, WE'VE BEEN, UH, PULLING TOGETHER THIS PROPOSAL SINCE, UH, JULY 11TH.
UH, AND WE'VE BEEN MEETING WEEKLY, UH, SINCE THEN TO PULL THIS, UH, PROPOSAL TOGETHER.
UM, WE'RE HOPING TO HAVE A DRAFT PROPOSAL BY THIS FRIDAY.
UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE COMING CLOSE TO, UH, OUR DRAFT DEADLINE.