Planning: Excellence in Research: Assessing AI Impacts and Building Sustainable Training Pathways for Small Businesses

Small businesses play a critical role in economic growth, innovation, and job creation in the United States but often face significant barriers to adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and strengthening cybersecurity capacity. These challenges are particularly pronounced among under-resourced small businesses, which frequently experience financial constraints, limited technical expertise, workforce limitations, cybersecurity capability gaps, and restricted access to training and external support needed to adopt AI responsibly and strengthen cybersecurity capabilities. This planning project at Morgan State University will engage small businesses, community organizations, and industry stakeholders to better understand these challenges, identify research and training priorities, and establish partnerships that support future research and collaboration. The project will produce a comprehensive planning roadmap that guides the development of practical AI and cybersecurity training resources, strengthen the University's research capacity, and lay the foundation for a future research project that advances responsible AI adoption and cybersecurity capacity among small businesses. This project will conduct a comprehensive planning effort to establish the foundation for future research. Planning activities include a systematic literature review, stakeholder interviews with representatives of small businesses, expert engagement, development and validation of research instruments, conceptualization of AI and cybersecurity training modules, and preparation of a comprehensive implementation roadmap. Partnerships with the Morgan State University Small Business Development Center, chambers of commerce, business associations, and other community organizations will support stakeholder engagement and ensure that future research priorities reflect the operational needs of small businesses representing a wide range of industries, organizational characteristics, and levels of AI adoption and cybersecurity maturity. The project will strengthen Morgan State University's interdisciplinary research capacity, expand sustainable community partnerships, and provide the empirical foundation and strategic planning framework needed to develop competitive future research focused on responsible AI adoption and cybersecurity capacity building for under-resourced small businesses. 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.