AI in Government Conference 2027
Manchester 26 January 2027, 9:00am - 4:00pm
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8:30am
Registration
9:30am
Chair's Welcome Address
Professor Keeley Crockett, Professor in Computational Intelligence, Manchester Metropolitan University
9:40am
From Ambition to Action: Delivering AI Strategy Across a City-Region
- Setting a system-level AI strategy across a city-region
- Closing the gap between national AI ambition and what's realistically deliverable at regional/combined authority level
- Lessons from Greater Manchester's approach that other regions and authorities could adapt
Professor Mandy Parkinson is Associate Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor for Knowledge Exchange at the University of Salford, and Interim AI.GM Lead, Greater Manchester Combined Authority
10:00am
National Ambition, Local Reality: Translating AI Strategy into Trust-Level Delivery
- Turning national AI ambition and policy roadmaps into an actual delivery plan at organisational level
- Balancing strategic vision with the practical realities of budget, capacity and risk appetite
- What cross-sector experience (health, and beyond) teaches about translating big ambition into working delivery
Tony Mears, Director of Transformation, Improvement, Planning and Strategy, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
10:20am
Presenting Partner
Senior Representative from MongoDB
10:40am
Questions and answers
10:50am
Break and Networking
11:20am
Foundations First: Getting Council Data AI-Ready
- The state of data and infrastructure readiness across local authorities
- Building a modern DDaT function capable of supporting AI at scale within a resource-constrained council
- Practical steps councils can take now to get legacy data and systems "AI-ready"
11:40am
Presenting Partner
Senior Representative from Lumilinks Group Ltd
12:00pm
Using AI to Streamline Services and Strengthen Leadership
- Treating AI as a strategic lever for service efficiency, not just a productivity tool
- Shifting from reactive to preventative service models, and where AI can help identify and act on need earlier
- The leadership and cultural skills required to drive AI adoption at scale, and what that demands of senior teams
12:20pm
Presenting Partner
Granicus-Firmstep Ltd
12:40pm
Questions and answers
12:50pm
Lunch and Networking
1:50pm
Inside a Regional AI Taskforce
- What a genuine regional AI strategy looks like in practice, and how it's built from the ground up
- Standing up an ethical AI taskforce for a city region, governance structures, early priorities and the hard trade-offs
- Translating strategy into tangible outcomes for residents and local businesses, not just a policy document
Tiffany St James, Chief AI Officer, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
2:10pm
Presenting Partner
MSQ
2:30pm
Closing the Public Sector AI Skills Gap
- The current state of AI skills and confidence across the local government workforce
- Why ethics training is too often reduced to data protection and statutory compliance alone, and what's missing
- What the LGA is doing nationally to support councils with AI upskilling and capability-building
2:50pm
Questions and answers
3:00pm
Networking Break
3:30pm
Trust by Design: Making Public Sector AI Accountable
- What "responsible AI" actually means in practice for a public sector organisation, not just in policy documents
- Building public trust in algorithmic decision-making — transparency, explainability and accountability
- Practical governance frameworks public bodies can adopt now, rather than waiting for future regulation
- Questions and answers
3:50pm
Chair's Closing Remarks
4:00pm
Close
*programme subject to change without notice