Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has picked eight fellows to join the third cohort of the Governor’s Science and Technology (Sci-Tech) Fellowship, to support state departments’ adoption of technologies to help modernize operations.
Governments are working to attract new civic technologists to the public sector, while stakeholders are seeing increasing public interest in improving government operations. New York City recently launched a similar initiative through which technologists will help city agencies tackle public interest challenges.
Pennsylvania’s Sci-Tech Fellowship is a competitive, yearlong program placing STEM graduates in state agencies to solve challenges in areas including data analytics, operational efficiency and emerging technologies.
“Programs like the Governor’s Sci-Tech Fellowship help us attract people with specialized knowledge to public service, give them hands-on opportunities to make a difference, and retain many of them as long-term Commonwealth employees where their skills can continue to serve our communities,” Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver said in a statement.
The 2026 Sci-Tech fellows, made up of people who have earned at least a master’s degree between December 2020 and August 2026, will support “priority projects,” per the announcement, to improve services and operations with technologies including AI.
The 2026 fellows will serve the departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, General Services, Human Services, Labor and Industry, and Insurance and the Governor’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity.
The projects vary by department. In the Department of Agriculture, the goal is to expand the use of genetic testing for animal diseases. In the Department of Environmental Protection, the work will focus on the PennEnviroScreen tool’s internal and external deployment, along with other data tools.
In the Department of Human Services, the intent is to improve program outcomes through systematic data analysis. In the Insurance Department, the aim is critical analysis of the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund’s historical claims data to improve decision-making.
Several departments’ work with these fellows will focus on AI. In the Department of General Services, the work will center AI and data initiatives to improve data quality, accessibility and operational efficiency.
In the Department of Labor and Industry, the fellowship’s goal is to strengthen workforce development outcomes with AI and to improve AI literacy in publicly funded programs. This department will also work to improve labor law enforcement through data and AI tools. Finally, the Governor’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity will task a fellow with serving as an AI expert to bring the technology into operations.
This is one of several programs contributing to the state’s talent strategy, along with the William and Hannah Penn Fellowship and the Summer Legal Policy Fellowship. Nearly 75 percent of fellows across all Pennsylvania programs have found permanent appointments within state government after completing their fellowships, according to the announcement.
Last year’s Sci-Tech Fellowship participants supported the Pennsylvania departments of Health, Transportation, Community and Economic Development, Environmental Protection, and Conservation and Natural Resources.
Find information about this and other Pennsylvania fellowship programs on the state’s website.