Summit to Focus on AI and National Competitiveness

A close-up of a silver rectangular GPU system installed in a row of tall, black server racks.
AI supercomputing and its implications for U.S. national competitiveness will be the focus of a summit Friday at ETEC. (Photo by Brian Busher)

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2025) — The University at Albany and the Special Competitive Studies Project will host a daylong AI and National Competitiveness Innovation Summit at ETEC on Friday, followed by an event specifically geared toward students on Saturday.

Friday’s public summit will feature a keynote address by David Bray, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center and a member of its Alfred Lee Loomis Innovation Council, as well as panel discussions on:

  • AI Implications for Homeland Defense, Homeland Security and Emergency Management;
  • DeepSeek, Quantum, and AI in National Competitiveness
  • Ensuring U.S. National Competitiveness Through Strategic (Cross-Sectoral) Partnerships
  • Shaping the Future of AI Policy 

Panelists will include representatives of UAlbany, RPI, IBM, SCSP and GE Aerospace as well as several state and federal agencies. The program will also feature a lunchtime conversation between UAlbany Vice President for Research and Economic Development Kesh Kesavadas and Robert P. Griffin, dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. 

SCSP is a non-partisan think tank formed in 2021 to offer policy recommendations to bolster U.S. national and economic security amid rapid development of transformational technologies like artificial intelligence. 

Friday’s event is free but advance registration is required. The summit is co-sponsored by UAlbany’s AI Plus Institute, the Division for Research and Economic Development, and the College for Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity.

Saturday Session Focused on Students

On Saturday, also at ETEC, the Division for Research and Economic Development and SCSP will host a second session specifically for students focused on techno-economic competition in the 21st century and the role that new technologies like AI will play in it. That event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The student session is also free, but advance registration is required.