Press Releases

This post outlines how I am thinking about how governance and community work together to support a Berkeley AI strategy, aligned with the University of California’s AI Guiding Principles. I’m making the case for a first layer of foundational governance needed to get the ball rolling— establishing basic contracts, security and data reviews, baseline risk assessments— and then getting the tools into peoples’ hands to learn and experiment. We created the UC Berkeley AI Community to leverage the strength of our diverse population and perspectives, to tap the community to accelerate the development and exchange of ideas and information towards building a more sophisticated institutional understanding of AI. Community engagement speeds the path to effective functional governance; ie, having the right existing decision-making bodies and roles making intentional choices about where and when Berkeley uses and does not use AI.

We are pleased to announce that William Allison has been appointed Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the University of California at Berkeley, effective today, November 24, 2015. Reporting to Deputy CIO Lyle Nevels with a dotted line to CIO Larry Conrad for campus-wide initiatives, Bill is responsible for the leadership of Berkeley's IT architecture and consideration of emerging technologies in support of research, teaching, and administration. Bill will facilitate the governance and oversight of IT architecture activities University-wide, guiding the development and implementation of a shared vision and architectural standards that support and enable the University’s strategic goals.

Submissions have closed, and the review committee is evaluating this year's applicants to the Berkeley Changemaker Technology Innovation Grant program. The grant program supports proof of value experiments that enhance the University's operations, bolster its research endeavors, and help transform instruction and the classroom experience. As advisor Jean Cheng puts it, "At a time when the campus is looking for solutions to new and urgent problems, the CTO grant program is an exciting opportunity to make strategic contributions to projects that are likely to have a significant impact. We were thrilled to see compelling proposals from diverse groups and corners of campus."