At this AI Working Group, we are privileged to hear from Nick Pallotta of the USDA’s National Agricultural Assistance Service and Professor Julia Lane.
The Evidence Act requires agencies to publish public datasets and develop a strategic information resources management plan including understanding how data users value and use government data. In the past year, USDA’s National Agricultural Assistance Service(NASS), built on work already supported by USDA's Economic Research Service, has uncovered the who, what, where, when, and why (the 5W’s data usage dashboard) of two of the critical datasets produced by the NASS.
During this meeting, Nick Pallotta and Julia Lane will give us a presentation to:
- Provide a quick demo of the usage dashboard;
- Update us on the broader progress of the effort including discussion on some of the behind-the-scenes data and AI processes; and
- Provide information on how to get involved or general Q&A.
The USDA NASS initiative was sparked by the 5/14/2021 ACT-IAC AI Working Group presentation by Julia Lane, Suzette Kent, and Nancy Potok on a concept of using AI tools to automate the discovery of how federal datasets are used. USDA is not alone in pursuing this effort as other agencies, such as NSF/NCSES, NOAA, ED/NCES, have similar initiatives. Join us to learn, collaborate, and engage. We hope to see you there.
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Agenda
11:00 am - 11:10 am
Opening Remarks and Media Disclaimer
- Review the agenda and gather/select walk-on topics
- AI Working Group Updates and ACT-IAC Updates
- Introductions
11:10 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
- Discuss how this working group can collaborate with other AI groups
- Walk-on topics
- Member to share news and events
11:30 am – 12:00 pm
The 5W’s USDA NASS Data Usage Dashboard (Nick Pallotta, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service and Julia Lane, NYU)
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About Nick and Julia
Nick Pallotta has spent the last 17 years at the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) serving as a project manager for survey data collections, process improvement initiatives, IT projects, and projects involving machine learning. Nick co-organized the USDA AI Center of Excellence and currently is a co-lead of the department wide group while also organizing and leading the NASS Machine Learning Group.
Julia Lane is a Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She was a senior advisor in the Office of the Federal CIO at the White House, supporting the implementation of the Federal Data Strategy. She served on both the Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building and the National AI Research Resources Task Force.
