PROJECT BRIEF

BACKGROUND

The County of Santa Clara, California is a prominent local government serving nearly two million residents. The County faces an increasing challenge in evaluating and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) systems across its numerous departments. The County's current approach to AI implementation requires creating individual guidelines and evaluation criteria for each AI technology proposal, resulting in a fragmented and resource-intensive process. The lack of a standardized framework for evaluating AI technologies across departments makes it challenging for the County to maintain both efficiency and thorough risk assessment in its technology adoption process.

AIMS

The project team recommends a streamlined multi-stage framework for generating AI use-case guidelines for the Santa Clara County government. Utilizing a two-tiered template enables the County to focus on technology and specific departments or divisions within the government. By implementing this structure, the County can more effectively assess and approve AI systems across departments while ensuring technological consistency and departmental specificity. 

METHODOLOGY

The project team analyzed Santa Clara County's existing technology evaluation processes by researching current departmental use case guidelines and conducting a systematic literature review of relevant state legislation, including California's AB 302 and SB 313 as well as federal frameworks such as NIST's AI Risk Management Framework. THe team also  mapped existing County use case guidelines and benchmarked against other municipal AI governance frameworks from jurisdictions of similar size and complexity. 

DELIVERABLES

A two-tiered AI use-case guidelines template for generating use-case guidelines that simplifies the guideline creation process to ensure that each department's guidelines are both thorough and aligned with organizational standards. Tier 1 establishes a standardized baseline for consistent operational understanding, while Tier 2 details guidance on specific technology applications, outlines tailored data security measures, and prescribes responsibility and liability frameworks. 

IMPACT AND FUTURE WORK

This template for use-case guidelines represents a novel approach to streamlining technology application proposals and mitigating risks from new GenAI technologies. By introducing a modular framework with two distinct levels, this template ensures a more efficient, scalable, and adaptable procurement process for evaluating and approving the use of various rapidly emerging technologies across a wide range of county operations.