Step into the future of human services and explore how technology is reshaping how agencies serve families and support the workforce. This focus area highlights emergent and disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), automation, cloud platforms, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure. Sessions will showcase practical implementations, modernization efforts, and lessons learned from deploying technology at scale, focusing on usability, sustainability, and readiness rather than hype alone.

Discover how human services systems are being transformed when communities, clients, and frontline staff are placed at the center of design. This focus area spotlights participatory frameworks, co-design practices, and human-centered design (HCD) approaches that strengthen service delivery and agency capacity. Sessions will feature community-led solutions, workforce-driven redesigns, and inclusive design practices that improve accessibility, trust, and real-world usability across programs and platforms.

Learn how agencies are breaking down silos to deliver more coordinated, effective services across programs and partners. This focus area explores cross-system collaboration, interoperability, and operational change management that align policy, technology, and service delivery. Sessions will highlight how evidence-informed policy decisions and implementation data are used to guide system integration, navigate regulatory complexity, and support scalable, compliant, and person-centered solutions.

Centers on modernizing benefits delivery systems to improve access for eligible individuals and enhance program performance. Sessions should include eligibility and EBT modernization, streamlining and simplification, reducing administrative burden, and improving access to nutrition and health supports that promote well-being.

The Possibility Lab is a forward-looking forum for state, county, and nonprofit leaders to challenge the status quo and explore emerging ideas, theories, and future-state concepts for human services IT. This focus area is intentionally open and exploratory, welcoming early-stage thinking, conceptual models, and “what if” scenarios that are not yet ready for implementation.

Sessions may take the form of e-poster presentations, short talks, or facilitated open discussions in an open-format setting. The emphasis is on public-sector–driven ideas that reimagine service delivery, systems, and experiences, creating space to think beyond current constraints, legacy systems, and existing approaches.