Mayor Barbara Lee: Putting guardrails around Oakland city AI before scaling it

Oakland is prioritizing governance to avoid scattered AI pilots. On November 3, 2025, the cityʼs IT Department launched a structured AI Pilot Program through a Request for Information, inviting companies and researchers to propose solutions to defined service challenges. This ensures experimentation is guided by clear needs and oversight rather than ad hoc projects.

Oakland is putting data protection at the core of its AI work. The city is testing a governance program and classification policy to block sensitive information from AI systems, ensuring pilots are grounded in security, privacy, and equity. Oakland highlights data protection as a core requirement rather than a secondary concern. The City is piloting a data governance program along with a data classification policy that automatically prevents sensitive information from being accessed by AI tools and systems. This approach ensures that every pilot is grounded in security and privacy while keeping equity at the center of its design.

Mayor Barbara Lee describes the Cityʼs approach as intentional, focusing on real service opportunities while ensuring that guardrails, equity, and stronger capacity to serve residents are in place. Bringing every department together has allowed Oakland to both address concerns about AI and gather practical ideas directly from frontline teams.

Oaklandʼs program makes AI pilots simple but structured. Partners join a 16‑week trial at no cost, with successful projects potentially leading to procurement. Each pilot is governed by a memorandum of understanding covering data rights, security, and equity, turning responsible AI into enforceable standards.

Oaklandʼs use-case list highlights practical areas where AI could deliver measurable results. Priorities include improving ADA document accessibility, adding real-time tools for public meetings such as captions, ASL avatars, and multilingual summaries, and creating virtual assistants to help residents access services. Other applications include reviewing body-worn camera footage, supporting translation, tracking contract compliance, using drones for wildfire awareness or illegal dumping, and strengthening oversight of campaign finance and ethics investigations.

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The Ohio Higher Education Computing Councilʼs annual conference brings together higher education IT leaders, technologists, and cybersecurity professionals to discuss emerging technology strategy, digital transformation, and infrastructure modernization. The event focuses on practical sessions around cloud adoption, security posture, AI integration, and shared services collaboration across universities and public institutions. Details →

The AFCEA TechNet Mid-America Conference convenes military, government, and industry leaders to explore defense technology priorities, including cybersecurity, cloud modernization, artificial intelligence, and mission-driven digital transformation. Sessions and keynotes focus on secure communications, resilience, enterprise IT integration, and emerging threats, providing a forum for collaboration across DoD, civilian agencies, and technology partners. Details →

GAO reviewed a pilot that expanded Treasuryʼs Do Not Pay system to use SSAʼs full Death Master File to prevent improper payments to deceased individuals. In its first year, the effort identified or prevented about $113.5 million in improper payments, far exceeding program costs. However, GAO found SSA did not adequately evaluate whether statesʼ fees for death data reflected actual costs, recommending stronger cost analysis and contract oversight going forward. Read →

AI adoption in government is entering a more disciplined phase. Success now depends on proving operational impact, integrating securely into legacy systems, and aligning with procurement and compliance requirements from day one. Vendors that demonstrate clear productivity gains and embed directly into core workflows are the ones positioned to scale beyond pilot programs.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston joined Ross Kaminsky to discuss city operations and broader intergovernmental issues. He highlighted the new Big Cities Alliance, where the 75 largest cities share solutions on challenges like crime and housing. Johnston also outlined Denverʼs duty-to-intervene policy for officers witnessing excessive force, even by federal agents, and described mobility efforts, including reducing speeds on high-injury streets and expanding safe biking and walking infrastructure.

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