Advantaging the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot: Leveraging the COVID-19 HPC Consortium Experience

This project supports the broader efforts of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot to address how powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) resources can be used to accelerate scientific understanding and discovery and further the capabilities of AI models. It also develops efficient processes for providing these resources to researchers. This project builds on the successful model of, and lessons learned from, the COVID-19 HPC Consortium (C19HPCC), which demonstrated the power of public-private partnerships in addressing global challenges. By applying these lessons to the NAIRR Pilot, the project creates a robust framework for future government-academia-industry collaborations. This not only enhances the NAIRR Pilot but also paves the way for the full NAIRR program, ultimately supporting a broader range of research efforts and fostering innovation in artificial intelligence. The project leverages lessons learned from the C19HPCC to enhance the National Artificial Intelligence (NAIRR) Pilot. The C19HPCC was a collaborative effort that brought together high-performance computing (HPC) resources from government, academia, and industry to accelerate research and discovery in the fight against COVID-19. The primary goals are to develop efficient processes for allocating AI resources, improve proposal review mechanisms, establish effective reporting methods, foster partnerships across government, academia, and industry, and establish and evolve governance structures and coordination mechanisms to manage the diverse set of resources and stakeholders involved. The scope includes leveraging prior policies, procedures, and tools from the C19HPCC to support the NAIRR Pilot and ultimately the full NAIRR program. By applying these methods, the project aims to create a robust framework for future AI research and innovation. 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.