Conference: Federal and State Government Partnerships: Summit on Opportunities for Innovation and Impact

The United States faces critical challenges in coordinating federal and state government efforts to address rapidly evolving technological and workforce needs, particularly in artificial intelligence and workforce development. Despite extensive federal funding flowing to states, meaningful collaboration between these levels of government remains limited, hindering America's ability to effectively deploy resources for innovation, economic development, and workforce preparation. This project addresses this fundamental gap by creating structured pathways for federal-state partnerships that will enhance the nation's capacity to respond to technological change, strengthen regional innovation ecosystems, and ensure that federal investments in science and technology are optimally leveraged at the state level. By focusing on artificial intelligence and workforce development, an area of critical national importance, this initiative will demonstrate how enhanced federal-state collaboration can accelerate technology transfer, improve government services, and prepare American workers for the jobs of tomorrow, thereby advancing national prosperity and maintaining U.S. competitiveness in the global innovation economy.

This project will employ a phased approach beginning with virtual listening sessions to identify key barriers and opportunities in federal-state partnerships, followed by a leadership summit in Washington, DC that will bring together representatives from NSF, other federal agencies, and approximately 20 states to design pilot partnership programs. Through facilitated workshops focused on AI applications in workforce development, participants will co-create actionable pilot programs that demonstrate new models for sustained collaboration, including joint technology transfer initiatives, shared data platforms, and coordinated workforce training programs. Following the summit, the project will establish an 18-month community of practice to further mature these pilot programs in accelerating partnership formation in workforce readiness and technology deployment. The initiative will produce a replicable framework for federal-state partnerships that can be adapted to other critical areas beyond AI and workforce development, fundamentally transforming how different levels of government collaborate to address complex national challenges.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2538216
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Owen
Funds Obligated: $108,771
State: NC