Ashburn, VA | September 22, 2026 – The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence for Justice, Public Safety, and Security with its founding partners the IJIS Institute, Miller Center on Community Policing and Resiliency at the Rutgers University, and Professional Development Institute (PDI) at the University of Ottawa conducted our 2026 AI Summit from September 9th, 2026, through September 11th, 2026 in Tysons Corner Virginia.
This summit brought together approximately 200 government leaders, practitioners, policymakers, technologists, researchers, and industry experts to explore responsible AI adoption, implementation, collaboration, education, and hands-on demonstrations showcasing the growing role of AI across justice, public safety, and security organizations.
Through keynote presentations, workshops, panel discussions, executive roundtables, and technology demonstrations, attendees examined how AI can improve decision-making, increase efficiency, strengthen public safety outcomes, and support mission-critical operations while maintaining transparency, governance, and public trust.
“This year’s Summit demonstrated that AI is no longer a future concept for justice and public safety agencies. It is already being deployed, evaluated, and governed across jurisdictions,” said Maria Cardiellos, Executive Director of the IJIS Institute. “The conversations and knowledge shared this week highlighted both the significant opportunities and the responsibilities that come with implementing AI in mission-critical environments.”
“Ashwini Jarral, Founder of the AI Center of Excellence for Justice, Public Safety, and Security stated that this years summit demonstrated that executives, technologists, and policy makers can come together and collaborate to discuss how AI is being used legally and ethically for or by Law Enforcement agencies, Courts, Corrections, Emergency Communications Centers (ECC’s), 9-1-1, Prosecutors, Probation and Parole, Homeland Security and National Security. In the future our communities need to work together with community leaders and policy makers, to ensure that AI capabilities are being implemented in an ethical and legal manner.”
Key Summit highlights included:
- A Microsoft-sponsored workshop series that provided practical training on prompting, productivity tools, declarative agents, and rapid AI innovation for public-sector organizations.
- Presentations from the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division on current and emerging AI applications supporting criminal justice stakeholders nationwide.
- Keynotes addressing trusted technologies, human rights considerations, AI governance, court applications, and frameworks for AI-assisted investigations.
- Panel discussions featuring real-world lessons on AI adoption, governance, risk management, procurement, workforce readiness, and scaling AI programs across agencies.
- A technology showcase highlighting innovative AI solutions supporting law enforcement, corrections, courts, emergency communications, and other public safety functions.
Throughout the event, speakers and participants emphasized a common theme: successful AI adoption depends on collaboration among practitioners, policymakers, technology providers, and governance leaders to ensure AI remains secure, ethical, explainable, and mission-focused.
The Summit concluded with an advanced workshop, “From Idea to Prototype: Vibe Coding, Agentic Development, and Rapid AI Innovation,” which explored modern approaches for moving quickly from concept to implementation while maintaining appropriate governance and accountability.
The AI Center of Excellence and its founding partners extend their gratitude to the Summit’s sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, panelists, and technology showcase participants for helping advance meaningful discussions around responsible AI innovation. Special thanks are extended to Microsoft and their team for supporting the Summit workshops and helping attendees develop practical AI skills for public-sector missions.
About the AI Center of Excellence of Justice, Public Safety, and Security
The Center of Excellence on Artificial Intelligence for Justice, Public Safety, and Security mission is a joint collaboration between the IJIS Institute, the Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience at Rutgers University and the Professional Development Institute (PDI) at the University of Ottawa. The mission of the COE is to provide expertise on the responsible and ethical use of AI in justice, public safety and security. Expertise is provided by leveraging our vast network of partners in the public/private sectors and academia to help achieve operational efficiencies and improve decision-making.
For more information, contact Ashwini Jarral at Ashwini.Jarral@ijis.org.
About the IJIS Institute
The IJIS Institute is a nonprofit organization that brings together government and industry to advance information sharing and technology innovation across justice, public safety, and homeland security sectors. Through collaborative programs, thought leadership, and strategic initiatives, the Institute supports solutions that enhance public safety operations and services.