The Rockefeller Institute of Government is seeking presentation proposals for our annual Local Government Lab.

The Local Government Lab is an annual one-day gathering of local government researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. The event is a showcase of both academic and applied research on state and local governance issues. This year’s event, which will take place on Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Albany, will focus on the state of local government with an emphasis on two major challenges for New York’s localities:

1. the practical and ethical uses of artificial intelligence (AI);
2. affordable and adequate housing.

The program will feature a keynote overview of financing and fiscal challenges for local government and two themed panels.

We invite individuals, organizations, and local governments to submit proposals for the presentation of active research or practice relevant to the panel themes. We welcome in-progress work which can include academic or applied research and case studies of how localities are dealing with challenges or leveraging opportunities in the areas of focus.

Panel Theme | The Practical and Ethical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Local Governance

We invite submissions from state and local government representatives, policy practitioners, academics, and municipal organizations related to the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the local government sector. We are particularly interested in the ways in which AI (in its various forms) is transforming local government operations and its impacts on operations. We are seeking presentations that address how localities are harnessing AI for the public sector to promote efficiency, improve local interfaces, enhance services, or to help address complex challenges. We are particularly interested in presentations that address the ethical use, risk, and challenges of formulating and implementing AI’s usage and/or the need for state-level policy guidance.

Panel Theme | The Challenges of Affordable and Adequate Housing: Views from Around the Empire State

We invite submissions from state and local government representatives, policy practitioners, academics, and municipal organizations related to the challenges of affordable and adequate housing. We are particularly interested in proposals that address regional or community specific housing concerns, or that address the interplay of state- and federal-level financing and policy to local conditions and need, along with the interconnected importance of intergovernmental partnerships. We will be seeking proposals reflecting a broad array of local government and regional perspectives on housing-related issues.