USDA to Release AI Strategy in Upcoming Months

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon release an artificial intelligence strategy in the “upcoming months,” officials said following the earlier release of its new data strategy in November 2023.

“This is something that we’re expected to come out in the next few months, we’re still in the early stages, still doing some current state assessments, asking questions, doing surveys, launching interviews, but expect at some point in next few months that USDA will launch an AI strategy,” USDA Deputy CDO Fredy Diaz said during an ACT-IAC webinar last week.

Diaz said the new AI plan will focus on preparing the workforce, sharing use cases and administration.

“Expect it to not just be technology choices or use cases, but rather, what are we doing for the workforce? How are we preparing the workforce to embrace artificial intelligence?” Diaz said. “How are we preparing our governance and our leadership to understand both the good and the bad of artificial intelligence?”

During the webinar, Diaz gave a brief update on the plan’s strategic goals, such as how USDA handles data governance between the CDO and the agency’s geospatial management office.

“The merger of our office with the geospatial office gave us a more holistic representation and view of data across the department,” Diaz said. “Geospatial is a large part of the work that we do at USDA. This gave us better control, better visibility of those assets.”

Another strategic goal for the agency is sharing data across the enterprise and the public. The agency’s Rural Development mission area created a rural data gateway that enables the enterprise to access data, like reports cited by news organizations. Diaz said these projects allow the different mission areas of the USDA to utilize common infrastructure and technology.

“That data and the visualizations that make up the real data gateway come out of our technology itself,” Diaz said. “They leveraged that common tool set … that didn’t require any additional support from my team, other than already having the infrastructure there and having the support system there.”