California releases GenAI guidelines
For Immediate Release
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Contacts: Amy Palmer amy.palmer@govops.ca.gov
Roy Kennedy roy.kennedy@govops.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO – As directed in Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), the Government Operations Agency on Thursday released procurement guidelines and a new toolkit for state agencies and departments as they consider and procure GenAI technology for state operations.
The GenAI Procurement Guidelines will support state department teams to locate GenAI policies, resources, and training as they consider using the new technology. The GenAI Toolkit provides tools to identify GenAI, understand the various uses, assess associated risks, and provide resources to support staff throughout the procurement process.
“The Administration is establishing a framework of required training and state policy guidance to inform, enable and support state workers in the ethical, transparent and trustworthy use of GenAI,” said Government Operations Secretary Amy Tong. “These guidelines provide best practices and parameters to safely and effectively use this transformative technology to improve services for all Californians.”
The procurement Guidelines, developed with procurement experts at the Department of General Services, will provide guidance for identifying GenAI technology and properly assessing its risk throughout the procurement process as well as ensuring it is used safely.
The Guidelines and GenAI Toolkit were released as the state continues to explore the use of GenAI technology through five GenAI problem statements across state departments including modeling state highway traffic to improve highway design, improving roadway safety, enhancing call center service for business tax questions, making health and human services more accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency, and improving the efficiency of health care licensing inspections.
Under the new Guidelines and GenAI Toolkit released Thursday, there is a soft launch period to test the GenAI risk assessment process for moderate- and high- risk potential use cases to help determine a state entity’s GenAI readiness before proceeding with a GenAI purchase.
Teams from the California Departments of Technology, General Services, Human Resources, the Office of Data and Innovation and the Government Operations Agency collaborated on the guidelines and toolkit.
“The California Department of Technology is ready and eager to support other departments in the safe exploration and testing of GenAI,” said State Chief Information Officer and CDT Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins. “We are building a safer and transparent process to ensure equitable outcomes across California.”
“Training state teams will be critical to the success of our use of this technology in the future so that everyone can benefit, including the state workforce,” said Monica Erickson, Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Human Resources.
“The Guidelines and GenAI Toolkit will help state departments identify GenAI and surface potential risks during the procurement process to support the California Department of Technology in mitigating those risks,” said Ana M. Lasso, Director of the Department of General Services.
Jeffery Marino, Director of the state’s Office of Data and Innovation, said the Toolkit is a customer service asset for departments built with a human-centered design approach.
“Our goal was to take complex information about how to leverage this new technology and deliver it in plain language, with useful “how-to’s” and frequently asked questions,” Marino said. “With these tools in hand, we hope state staff will have the information they need to understand how to use GenAI securely to improve services for Californians.”
Departments must establish a GenAI-focused team responsible for continuously evaluating the potential use of GenAI and its implications for operations and program administration, including engagement with employees and stakeholders.
State entities and their respective leadership will ultimately be responsible for evaluating and incorporating GenAI to support each entity’s unique structure and mission.