NIST AI WORKSHOP AGENDA

EXPLORING AI TRUSTWORTHINESS:

WORKSHOP SERIES KICKOFF

AUGUST 6, 2020

1:30 PM – 4:00 PM EDT

1:30 PM Welcome & Keynote

Chuck Romine | Director, Information Technology Lab (ITL)

Charles Romine is Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL). ITL is one of six 

research Laboratories within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Romine oversees a research program that cultivates trust in information technology and 

metrology by developing and disseminating standards, measurements, and testing for 

interoperability, security, usability, and reliability of information systems.

Walt Copan | NIST Director

Dr. Walter G. Copan was confirmed by Congress as Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Standards and Technology and NIST Director on October 5, 2017.

As NIST Director, Dr. Copan provides high-level oversight and direction for NIST.

He has had a distinguished and diverse career as a science and technology executive 

in large and small corporations, U.S. government, nonprofit and other public-sector 

settings.

2:00 PM Live Panel

Lynne Parker | Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United 

States, The White House

Dr. Lynne E. Parker is Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States, and Assistant 

Director of Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology 

Policy (OSTP). She is detailing to OSTP from her position as Professor in the Department of 

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville 

(UTK). 

She previously served as Interim Dean of the Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) at UTK, 

and before that was the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Engagement in TCE.

Jason Matheny | Director, Center for Security & Emerging 

Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University 

Jason Matheny is founding Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology 

at Georgetown University.

Previously he was Assistant Director of National Intelligence, and Director of IARPA, 

responsible for the development of breakthrough technologies for the U.S. intelligence 

community. Before IARPA, he worked at Oxford University, the World Bank, the Applied 

Physics Laboratory, the Center for Biosecurity, and Princeton University, and was the cofounder of two biotechnology companies.
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Live Panel (Continued)

Francesca Rossi | IBM Fellow and IBM AI Ethics Global Leader,

IBM Research

Francesca Rossi is an IBM fellow and the IBM AI Ethics Global Leader at IBM Research.

Her research interests focus on artificial intelligence, specifically they include constraint 

reasoning, preferences, multi-agent systems, computational social choice, and 

collective decision making. She is also interested in ethical issues in the development 

and behavior of AI systems, and she is part of the most influential

global multi-stakeholder initiatives on this topic.

Nicol Turner Lee | Director of the Center for Technology 

Innovation, Brookings

Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center 

for Technology Innovation, and serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief of TechTank. Dr. Turner Lee 

researches public policy designed to enable equitable access to technology across the 

U.S. and to harness its power to create change in communities across the world. Her 

work also explores global and domestic broadband deployment and internet 

governance issues. She is an expert on the intersection of race, wealth, and technology 

within the context of civic engagement, criminal justice, and economic development.

Eric Horvitz | Commissioner, National Security Commission on AI 

(NSCAI), Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft

Dr. Eric Horvitz serves as a Commissioner on the NSCAI, an independent, Federal 

commission created by Congress "to consider the methods and means necessary to 

advance the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated 

technologies to comprehensively address the national security and defense needs of 

the United States." He chairs the NSCAI's line of effort on Ethics and Responsible AI.

In his primary capacity, Dr. Horvitz serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Microsoft. As chief 

scientist, he provides cross-company leadership and guidance on advances and trends 

on scientific matters.

Dr. Horvitz has been a long-term contributor to research in AI, with contributions in 

inference and action under uncertainty, robustness of AI, human-AI interaction, 

explanation of reasoning, bias and fairness, and privacy. His efforts and collaborations 

have led to fielded systems in biomedicine, transportation, ecommerce, and aerospace.

2:30 PM Moderated Discussion

3:30 PM Q&A w/ Participants 

3:50 PM Closing Remarks
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Additional Details:

It is widely acknowledged that “trustworthiness” in artificial intelligence (AI) systems is critical to 

their development and appropriate use in all parts of our society. That’s easier said than done, of 

course, and there is little agreement on what constitutes trustworthy AI and the research, 

standards, and policy steps needed to define and achieve the goal of trustworthy AI systems.

This workshop kicks off a NIST initiative involving private and public sector organizations and 

individuals in discussions about building blocks for trustworthy AI systems and the associated 

measurements, methods, standards, and tools to implement those building blocks when 

developing, using, and testing AI systems. NIST’s effort will be informed by a series of workshops 

that will follow this initial session.

Registration link: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2020/08/exploring-ai-trustworthinessworkshop-series-kickoff-webinar