A National Call to Action
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) recently released a major report—Bringing AI to Main Street: Maximizing Artificial Intelligence’s Positive Impact on Municipal Economies—that shifts the national conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) from Silicon Valley to, well, actual places where people live.
The message is clear enough to be read without an algorithm: AI isn’t on its way to local government; it’s already unpacking its boxes. And the communities that prepare now, through infrastructure, training, and a bit of courage, will be the ones that reap the benefits rather than merely read about them later.
NAPA’s researchers found that AI can significantly boost local productivity and job creation, provided counties build the right foundations: reliable broadband, accessible data, a skilled workforce, and some sturdy ethical guardrails to prevent the usual mishaps of progress. They also note that “AI readiness” comes in as many varieties as local ordinances, requiring ongoing collaboration and community feedback.
In other words, success depends on local ingenuity, and the occasional well-timed committee meeting.
How This Connects to Van Buren County
That national vision is already taking on a rather practical shape here at home. Through the Digital Information Department (DID) and its regional partnership, the Digital Innovation Collaborative Exchange (DICE) with St. Joseph County, Van Buren County is turning research into reality.
Where NAPA urges local governments to become enablers of AI, the DID and DICE have taken that as a polite challenge. They’re building the shared digital infrastructure that allows departments, residents, and neighboring counties to benefit from intelligent tools, without having to sell naming rights to the courthouse.
Building the Foundation for Community AI Readiness
1. Shared Infrastructure
The NAPA report calls broadband, cloud, and data infrastructure “essential,” and Van Buren County has treated that less as a recommendation and more as a to-do list. Modernized systems, shared platforms, and region-wide tools (secure data storage, web automation, open APIs) are being extended across county lines through DICE. It’s a bit like pooling resources for a regional fire truck, except this one handles information instead of smoke.
2. Workforce Upskilling and Digital Literacy
NAPA reminds us that AI will reshape jobs more than it will replace them. Through DICE, local governments and universities are ensuring that tomorrow’s workforce is prepared for that reshaping, training in automation, data management, and AI ethics so that people and machines can coexist with minimal eye-rolling.
3. Open Data as Civic Infrastructure
While the national report champions transparency, it doesn’t say much about GIS, the quietly heroic system that turns data into maps that humans can actually understand. Van Buren County’s GIS program provides this missing layer, offering a spatial backbone for AI. In short, it’s what helps an algorithm understand that “Elm Street” is not a metaphor.
4. Ethical and Responsible AI
The report recommends fairness, accountability, and transparency, three concepts that sound simple until a chatbot starts answering planning questions. Van Buren County’s AI Task Force, AI Steering Committee and DICE governance model are developing policies to keep innovation useful, safe, and firmly on the right side of the privacy line.
5. Iterative Design and Feedback
NAPA suggests that communities test ideas in small, manageable steps. DICE’s “micro-tool” strategy takes this to heart: lightweight automations that handle practical tasks—Tax Address Change requests, HR forms, dog licensin, each designed, tested, and refined with user feedback. It’s government transformation by gentle increments, rather than heroic leaps.
Turning Research into Reality
The NAPA study validates what Van Buren County and its partners have already begun: treating digital and AI readiness as public infrastructure, as fundamental as roads or power lines but requiring fewer pothole repairs.
Through DICE, regional governments are showing that small and mid-sized communities can share technology, talent, and data responsibly, achieving results once reserved for cities with significantly larger budgets and, occasionally, their own press offices.
“This report shows that the path forward for local AI is collaboration,” said Jerry Happel, Director of the Digital Information Department and DICE founder. “We’re proving that counties can move faster and smarter together than alone.”
One suspects that the algorithms would agree, if only they had voting rights.
What’s Next
Van Buren County will continue advancing regional collaboration through DICE by:
- Expanding open-source GIS and AI-ready infrastructure across counties.
- Developing training pipelines with local colleges to prepare the next generation of digital professionals.
- Launching new micro-tools that automate everyday government services, so residents spend less time in line and more time in life.
Each step aligns neatly with NAPA’s call for shared capacity, ethical governance, and continuous learning. Or, to put it in local terms: progress, but with minutes and documentation.
Learn More
Read the full report from the National Academy of Public Administration here:
👉 Bringing AI to Main Street: Maximizing Artificial Intelligence’s Positive Impact on Municipal Economies
To explore Van Buren County’s Digital Innovation Collaborative Exchange and its work building AI-ready local government, visit the Digital Information Department page.
