MAIN x ITS x AWS

AI Innovation Hub

The Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network, Mississippi ITS, and Amazon Web Services are accelerating practical AI transformation across state agencies, higher education, and business.

MAINTraining Partner
ITSState Partner
AWSCloud Partner
POCUse Case Support

Statewide Collaboration

A practical hub for AI implementation

The AI Innovation Hub helps Mississippi agencies, higher education partners, and businesses explore practical AI use cases, request training, and develop proof-of-concept solutions connected to workforce development and responsible implementation.

Use case intake

Collect practical opportunities where AI could improve services, workflows, learning, research, or operations.

Training alignment

Connect requests to MAIN learning pathways, workshops, and implementation support.

Proof-of-concept support

Support selected AI projects through partner infrastructure, workshops, and implementation roadmaps.

How it works

From agency challenge to student-built proof of concept

A repeatable five-step path. Each cohort follows the same gated pipeline: predictable for agencies, structured for students, and governed end-to-end.


  1. Use case intake

    Agencies submit operational challenges they believe are well-suited for an AI proof of concept.


  2. Governance review

    The Hub evaluates risk profile, data readiness, technical feasibility, and strategic fit.


  3. Team formation

    University mentors form student teams; each team applies for a use case with mentor sign-off.


  4. Sandbox build

    Students train on AWS Skill Builder, then develop a 6 to 8 week proof of concept in the sandbox.


  5. Showcase & handoff

    Teams showcase results. POCs become open-source assets; production is at agency discretion.

Repeatable  ·  Governed  ·  Educational  ·  Scalable

Active use cases

Eight use cases in flight

A snapshot of the active cohort: what students are building inside the sandbox, and for which agencies.

08
Active POCs
20+
Pipeline depth

SOS · Secretary of State

Regulatory Research & Compliance Assistant

Faster search across Mississippi statutes, regulations, and policy; citation-grounded responses with gap and conflict detection.

Search  ·  Citations

ITS · Procurement Services

Procurement Knowledge Assistant

Surfaces grounded answers and references for the day-to-day procurement questions that drain institutional memory.

RAG  ·  Internal

MDA · Development Authority

Automated CSR Certificate Lifecycle

Agentic monitoring, renewal, validation, and reporting so state web certificates stop quietly expiring.

Agentic  ·  Ops

MDHS · Department of Human Services

NutriLink Rural Food Platform

Natural-language chatbot routing residents to local food, wellness, and nutrition resources at the county level.

Citizen  ·  Chat

MSBN · Board of Nursing

Fraud-Sensitive Transcript Verification

Extracts academic information, checks completion evidence, and flags anomalies for closer human review.

Verification  ·  Risk

MDES · Employment Security

Resume Building Assistant

Workforce tool that helps job seekers refine resumes and align experience with WIN Job Center placements.

Workforce  ·  Citizen

MDA · Development Authority

IT Helpdesk Assistant

Internal AI support that searches approved docs and walks staff through common troubleshooting steps.

Internal  ·  Support

MSDH · Department of Health

Document & Contract Lifecycle Automation

Tracks signature-dependent documents before expiry; automates reminders, routing, and renewal workflows.

Automation  ·  Ops

What the hub provides

Six things you don’t have to build

From sandbox infrastructure to soft-skill coaching, the operational layer is already in place.

Sandbox & credits

Dedicated AWS landing-zone environment with credits for student team builds.

Program management

Intake, cohort planning, and showcase coordination handled centrally.

Technical mentorship

Cloud and AI/ML guidance layered on top of your faculty mentors.

Soft-skill coaching

Stakeholder communication, demo prep, and professional presentation polish.

Communications

Visibility across ITS, agency, and statewide channels for student work and outcomes.

Workforce bridge

A connection between graduating students and Mississippi public-service technology roles.

Take Action

Get involved with the AI Innovation Hub

Submit an AI use case, request training, or share a problem statement. Submissions are reviewed by the Mississippi Innovation Hub team.

All Participants

AI Use Case and Training Request

Submit an AI use case, request training, or describe a challenge you want to solve with AI.

State Agencies

Problem Statement and Use Case

Mississippi state agencies can submit a formal problem statement or AI use case for review and potential POC support.

Questions? Email InnovationHub@its.ms.gov

Partnership Structure

Key components of the partnership

POC investment

AWS funds AI application proof-of-concept work using AWS landing zones operated by ITS.

Educational investment

AWS contributes AI/ML curriculum for higher education, supported by MAIN through labs, workshops, and certification pathways.

Innovation roadmaps

ITS, AWS, and MAIN run workshops to explore use cases and build actionable innovation roadmaps.

Advisory committee

A joint committee of ITS, MAIN, and AWS guides statewide AI initiatives.