These workforce gaps are acutely important in light of heightened government focus on emerging technology. This past year saw the Biden Administration\u2019s first sweeping AI executive order<\/a> along with over a dozen bills<\/a> aiming to regulate AI. Bio-related policy developments this year include the launch of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology<\/a> and the White House <\/a>Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy<\/a>, as well as a new biodefense strategy from the Department of Defense<\/a>. To implement these and other initiatives, the government has recognized the need for more technical talent. White House officials have described<\/a> \u201cworkforce challenges\u201d as \u201cone of the biggest barriers\u201d to implementing the AI EO. An analysis<\/a> of the recent AI executive order found that \u201cattracting AI talent to the federal government overwhelmingly has the greatest number of discrete requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Horizon has worked to meet this critical moment by launching new programs to help inform and encourage people from a wide array of backgrounds to consider a career in emerging technology policy; continuing our fellowship program and supporting existing fellows; and building new partnerships with other civil service organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, we\u2019ve rolled out a new suite of programs to help prepare the next generation of public service professionals for careers in emerging technology policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In November, we launched emergingtechpolicy.org<\/strong><\/a>, a new website providing expert advice and resources for people interested in public service careers related to emerging technology policy. The information and context needed to enter policy careers is often difficult to access, especially for those not already enmeshed in the policy world. The website aims to make information about policy careers more accessible for a wide range of audiences. It includes in-depth guides, lists of existing resources, and first-person accounts from experts and policy-makers, all aimed at helping people transition into a career in policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to emergingtechpolicy.org<\/a>, we\u2019ve piloted other ways of reaching new audiences. In April, we partnered with Brown University\u2019s Pandemic Center to host the Game Changers Workshop<\/a>, a three-day event focused on helping early- and mid-career professionals transition into careers in biosecurity policy. The workshop included talks from leading figures in the field, such as Dr. Jason Matheny, CEO of the RAND Corporation, and Dr. Steph Guerra, Assistant Director for Health Security and Biodefense at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, we hosted a summer webinar series<\/a> on emerging technology policy careers alongside partners at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University<\/a> and SeedAI<\/a>. Around 600 individuals signed up to participate in this webinar series, which explored how individuals from non-traditional backgrounds can transition into policy roles, why working in public service is a great way to address important emerging technology problems, and what it\u2019s actually like to work in different types of policy and public service jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were very pleased with the amount of interest and engagement we received with both of these formats, and we plan on continuing to expand our suite of programming in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, we continued our Horizon Fellowship program<\/a>, through which we place fellows at host organizations to help tackle policy challenges related to artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other emerging technologies. Fellows selected for our program receive policy-focused training, mentorship, and support in matching with a host organization for a full-time, fully funded fellowship. We received more than three times the number of applications for our fellowship program in 2023 compared to 2022, reflecting the increased demand we\u2019re seeing from emerging technology subject matter experts who want to transition into public service. This was matched by the large number of host organizations expressing interest in hosting a fellow.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2023 fellowship cohort was our second cohort, and again achieved a 100% placement rate, bringing the total number of Horizon fellows and alumni<\/a> up to 35. We\u2019re proud of the work our fellows have done to contribute their expertise to a wide range of questions, working across many federal agencies, congressional offices, and think tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, our fellows\u2019 research included work on: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to research and analysis, our fellows have been recognized by agencies for their contributions to helping Americans access essential COVID-19 countermeasures<\/a>, used dance and music to teach students about AI<\/a>, talked at panels to promote policy engagement to technical audiences<\/a>, helped organize congressional staff workshops on biotechnology and biosecurity issues<\/a>, and delivered university guest lectures on technology policy<\/a>, among many other activities. For more examples of our fellows\u2019 work, see our prior two blog<\/a> posts<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year also saw the first tranche of fellows graduate from our program. One of our primary goals with the fellowship is to help fellows stay in public service afterward. We\u2019re thus incredibly proud that 100% of the fellows who have fully completed our program have stayed on in policy and public service roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, we also built on our partnerships and collaborations with other mission-driven organizations building pathways into public service. Our goal is to help build a healthy ecosystem with multiple potential pathways into public service to meet the government\u2019s many talent needs, and partnering with other organizations is critical for achieving that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to our workshop and speaker series partnerships with SeedAI, Brown University Pandemic Center, and the Bush School at Texas A&M University, we provided support to the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in launching their first AI-focused fellowship program<\/a>. We also continue to work with TechCongress<\/a>, the Aspen Tech Policy Hub<\/a>, and the National Security Career and Leadership Institute<\/a> to advise and train technologists exploring public service careers, through our fellowship and otherwise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We are excited to build on these achievements in 2024. We aim to make emergingtechpolicy.org<\/a> a primary resource for those interested in emerging technology policy careers by growing and improving its content. We plan on continuing to host workshops to closely engage with professionals at different stages in their career who may want to pivot into public service. We will also continue to pilot new programs that could help us achieve our mission, partnering with other mission-driven organizations where appropriate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After receiving a record number of applications in our most recent application cycle<\/a>, we will also be facilitating the placements of the third cohort of Horizon Fellows this coming year. They will be going through training and matching in winter and spring, and start their placements during summer 2024. By maintaining the high quality of our program and services, we aim to continue placing 100% of our fellows at host organizations and transitioning<\/a> as many of our alumni into permanent policy and public service roles as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are interested in following Horizon\u2019s work, we encourage you to sign up for our newsletter<\/a>, where we send periodic updates about our activities, applications, and the work of our fellows. If you are interested in hosting a Horizon Fellow at your institution, you can express interest here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, we cannot function without the generous support of donors. Horizon does not accept corporate contributions, so we rely entirely on financial contributions from individuals and philanthropic organizations. There has never been a more important time to build government capacity: the US government is crucially lacking in technical expertise<\/a> while technological progress and its impact on society are rapidly accelerating. Building better pipelines into public service is one of the most important ways of creating that capacity. If you are interested in supporting our mission, you can donate or reach out to us here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Horizon Institute for Public Service launched in early 2023. This marks our first full year in operation, and we are excited to provide an update in this blog post about our accomplishments and plans for the coming year. ","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"Expanding our suite of programs<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
![\"Support\"](\"https:\/\/horizonpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/p1.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBuilding capacity through fellowships<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Growing our partnerships<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Looking forward to 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n