Conference: Bringing Together the NAIRR Pilot Community: The Inaugural Conference

Internet2, a leading member-driven advanced technology organization in support of the U.S. research and education community, will convene the Inaugural National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot Annual Meeting in February 2025. The NAIRR Pilot was launched in January, 2024 as a collaborative effort led by the National Science Foundation with many federal agency and non-governmental partners. The goals of the Pilot are to explore and demonstrate approaches and solutions in preparation for an eventual full scale NAIRR, with emphasis on making computational, data, models, educational resources, and collaborative opportunities broadly available to researchers and educators to accelerate research and innovation on AI and using AI. The inaugural NAIRR Pilot Annual Meeting will bring together participating Pilot researchers and educators, resource providers, and working groups to connect, exchange ideas, learn about NAIRR Pilot capabilities, plans, and outcomes so far. This event will highlight research and education advancements, resources and innovations from Pilot contributors and users, and opportunities to explore Pilot resources, tools and opportunities, impacts, challenges, and future possibilities. The meeting will also provide a venue for discussions on Pilot lessons learned, opportunities to enhance innovation in AI in support of research and education, democratization of AI resources and tools, and ways of reaching new and emerging AI research and education communities. Ultimately, the Annual Meeting aims to strengthen the Pilot and inform planning for a future NAIRR. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.