The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and Google have published a new guide for cities to use when developing their municipal artificial intelligence strategies.
The “Building Your City’s AI Strategy” guide released on June 20 lays out a framework for city leaders to develop AI adoption workshops with the goal of increasing AI use to better deliver city services.
“AI offers cities significant advantages,” USCM said in releasing the guide. “From streamlining city operations to optimizing resources to improving citizen engagement, AI can automate certain tasks while freeing up city staff for complex, human-centric work.”
“To get there, a well-structured adoption workshop can serve as a crucial platform to explore AI’s possibilities, learn from other cities’ experiences, and begin to discover the best way AI can support your community’s specific needs,” the mayors association said.
“Ultimately, the workshop should catalyze the development of a comprehensive city AI usage policy, strategy, and/or playbook,” USCM said. “The insights and collaborations generated will form the essential foundation for guiding both the bold and responsible adoption of AI, ensuring alignment with city values and enhancing the quality of life for all residents.”
The guide covers eight steps that cities can take to get the process going. Those include:
- Creating engagement with senior city officials, community leaders, and IT and data specialists including chief information officers, chief data officers, and cybersecurity staff;
- Conducting pre-workshop data on current AI usage and future needs;
- Workshop planning steps including use of AI tech during the workshops and to provide post-workshop summaries;
- Creating sample workshop agendas;
- Conducting post-workshop follow-ups;
- Drafting AI adoption strategies; and
- Launching AI strategy and community communications.
Finally, the guide offers breakdowns of AI strategy development campaigns from more than a dozen cities that have already been through the process.
