Schedule

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering government, creating both excitement and concern. Some worry about risks such as bias, misuse, and declining public trust, while others see an opportunity to modernize public services and strengthen the capacity of governments to implement policy effectively. In the United States, these questions are especially important at the state and local levels, where many policies are implemented and where governments are learning how these tools can be deployed, used, and aligned with public values. Join our panel of practitioners and scholars working at the intersection of government, AI, and data science to discuss a key question: how can state and local governments responsibly adopt these technologies to strengthen state capacity and improve policy outcomes?

Time/Date: 12pm ET on April 17, 2026

Please take a minute to register here.

Moderator: Nabeel Gillani, Assistant Professor of Design and Data Analysis at Northeastern University, expert in AI, data science, design, and social diversity and inequalities

Panelists:  

• Beth Simone Noveck, Professor at Northeastern University, the first Chief AI Strategist for the State of New Jersey, and Founder of InnovateUS, expert in AI, public innovation, and state capacity

• Ric Edinberg., Executive Director at Conversational City Lab, expert in civic innovation and human-centered design

• Ted Enamorado, Associate Professor of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis, expert in applied data science and AI methods

• Emily Binet Royall, Assistant Director at Partners for Public Good, expert in AI procurement

Evidence-based policymaking faces unprecedented challenges amidst growing government uncertainty, evolving policy priorities, skepticism in expertise, and emerging policy domains. Yet, moments of crisis often open doors to profound innovation and transformation. Join our distinguished panel of "pracademics" from diverse corners of quantitative social science in academia, non-profit research, and public opinion, to discuss pressing questions: What short- and long-term actions can we take to restore trust in evidence-based policy? What critical issues has the evidence-based policy-making community overlooked or underestimated? And crucially, how can we harness the current moment of crisis to forge better, more resilient frameworks for data-driven decision-making?

Time/Date: 12pm ET on April 10, 2025

Please take a minute to register here.

Moderator: Jae Yeon Kim, Incoming Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, expert in data science for government and nonprofits 

Panelists:  

• Don Moynihan, Harris Family Chair at Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, expert in public administration, management, and policy implementation. 

• Ray Block, Jr., Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor in the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Penn State, expert in racial and ethnic politics, public opinion, and political behavior.

• Chris Bail, Professor and Director of the Polarization Lab at Duke University, expert on social media, polarization, and computational social science.

• Ilana Ventura, Research Methodologist at NORC at the University of Chicago, expert race and ethnicity measurement, migration, and survey methodology.