The Digital Center itself represents a strategic shift, recognizing no entity can do this alone.
The State Chancellor is tapping Foothill-De Anza Community College District and its reputation for technology and transformation to be its principal partner. Both the Chancellor’s Office and Foothill-De Anza are bringing resources to the table to launch the Digital Center. Learn more in the Resolution of the Board of Governors California Community Colleges Number 2024-17.
Additional “founding partners” will be invited to join, to reinforce the effort by bringing additional regional perspectives to shape the direction of the center and to collaboratively resource it as a startup.
Creating Opportunities
The Digital Center will create opportunities to modernize systemwide infrastructure and practices in ways that elevate and accelerate systemwide outcomes as described in Vision 2030 and below.
- Leveraging creative partnerships with state agencies, industry leaders, etc. to support California Community College learners and the state’s workforce. Some examples of recent MOUs signed by the Chancellor’s Office: United Domestic Workers, the state department of Healthcare Access and Information (HCAI), NVIDIA.
- Creating nimble, data-informed pilots of AI tools and other emerging technology to determine efficacy and scalability.
- Informing systemwide strategy for common infrastructure, such as introducing new ways to build on projects like the Common Cloud Data Platform demonstration project. Incorporating AI, using the shared infrastructure to counter financial aid fraud, and creating similar added value to address current system gaps.
Supporting the HUMANS Approach
As generative AI evolves and expands rapidly, the Digital Center will work to support the HUMANS-centered approach to AI outlined by the AI Council, to ensure our most vulnerable populations are centered in the opportunity generative AI creates and working to identify ways to be responsible users with an eye to environmental challenges posed by AI. We commit to:
- Professional development to de-mystify AI, reducing fear and showing the opportunity AI presents for our students. We are already beginning to leverage partnerships with institutions like Carnegie Mellon, California Learning Lab, and statewide experts to adapt and make available professional development opportunities to the over 55,000 faculty in our system.
- Ensuring ethical and secure use of AI by students and our community colleges is an important component, and the Digital Center will help us formulate policies and practices that align with those values.
- Carefully choosing partners that take environmental stewardship seriously is one way that the Digital Center will support the green agenda. Additionally, our colleges are hubs of innovation and can assist industry in providing ideas and expertise to support companies’ own advancements in this area, as California is the leader.
A Hub for Innovation and Transformation
The creation of the Digital Center creates a hub for our colleges, our industry partners, and philanthropy to jointly contribute to the innovation and transformation of our system.
The Digital Center is unique as it harnesses the world’s epicenter for big tech, Silicon Valley, pairing it with community colleges and other organizations that serve some of the most vulnerable in our society. Initial reactions have been enthusiastic, with a recognition from industry partners that this is a unique approach, and that California is once again leading.
Adapting to Meet Student Needs
As the needs of California’s workforce change to incorporate AI literacy and new types of skills, the California Community Colleges will respond and adapt to meet those needs. The Digital Center will position us at the forefront of innovation; our students and Californians will benefit.
