Interagency Committee Issues Recommendations for Using Cloud to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence

The Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence--an interagency group of AI experts across the federal government--issued several recommendations Nov. 17 regarding how agencies can better tap cloud computing resources for research and development efforts. The report makes clear cloud computing provides "robust, agile, reliable and scalable computing capabilities" that augment existing AI technologies. However, while cloud computing is near ubiquitous in the private sector, there are still "several technical and administrative challenges" limiting cloud adoption in other arenas, including federal agencies' research and development areas. Gaining access to cloud computing varies across the federal landscape, and best practices differ depending on environments, according to the report. In addition, "limited access to education and training opportunities" for researchers themselves limit how well they make use of cloud environments. The White House established the select committee of federal AI experts in May 2018.