xD @ The White House: Federal Innovations in AI and Data Privacy

Five of our team members – Ally Burleson-Gibson, Emerging Tech Fellowship Manager, and Emerging Technology Fellows Amari Cowan, Anna Vasylytsya, Diamond Nwankwo, and Tomo Lazovich – recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in Memos and Demos: an AI and Tech Talent Convening event held at the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB). The event was an opportunity to gather some of the earliest federal hires from the National AI Talent Surge for the first time as one cohort and showcased the latest advancements in artificial intelligence. The event featured several pilot model demonstrations from the AI Talent Surge cohort, including groundbreaking AI-enabled innovations and tools that are shaping the future of technology in the federal government.

A special highlight for us was our very own Tomo Lazovich, who provided a first-look demonstration of the PERSEID project, which aims to help the government radically rethink how it interacts with data by experimenting with cutting-edge privacy enhancing technologies. PERSEID uses cryptographic protocols to allow for private joins with demographic data to compute statistics on equity and disparate impact. Hosted on the federal cloud.gov infrastructure, PERSEID could have significant implications for addressing bias and other disparities in model accuracy across demographic groups. Tomo’s talk received high praise and sparked engaging discussions about the future of data privacy and security in statistical modeling.

What’s next at xD? We’re excited to continue sharing updates and insights about our upcoming events and ongoing projects. Learn more and stay connected by checking out our website and following the Census Bureau’s LinkedIn page for the latest news and developments.