Agriculture Department Working on AI Strategy

The Department of Agriculture is developing an artificial intelligence strategy focused on preparing the workforce to adopt AI capabilities, sharing use cases and ensuring the agency leadership understands AI risks.

During a recent American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council webinar, Fredy Diaz, deputy chief data officer at the USDA, said that while the agency is currently in the early stages of the strategy development, the document is expected to be released in the coming months, GovCIO Media & Research reported.

Diaz discussed the strategy’s primary goals, including improving data governance and enabling the exchange of information between the enterprise and the public through a rural data gateway. 

According to Diaz, the agency aims to determine how it can handle data governance between the CDO and the Enterprise Geospatial Management Office. The deputy CDO noted that the merger of the two offices provided “a more holistic representation and view of data across the department.” 

With enhanced data governance, the USDA will have better visibility and control of its assets, Diaz said.