Harnessing AI for Smarter Governance: Boosting Productivity, Value, and Trust in Local Authorities

How can local authorities leverage AI to drive staff productivity, improve value creation for residents, and build trust?

Tony will share the work that is being done in Buckinghamshire, as well across the country as part of his role supporting a network of 'AI-curious' local councils.

What approach does he recommend to responsibly introduce AI into the local government workplace.

AI - Bringing in the Winds of Change

The Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, harnesses AI and Snowflake’s powerful data cloud to transform weather forecasting and deliver impactful new use cases for industries worldwide.

People often think weather data is limited to determining whether they can have a BBQ on the weekend; weather data is pivotal in the agriculture, energy, retail, and transportation sectors and beyond. Despite being UK-based, the Met Office collaborates extensively with global weather agencies, integrating global datasets to provide comprehensive, real-time insights for the entire planet. This fireside chat will explore how AI-driven forecasting enhances business operations and supports sustainability initiatives.

Redefining Data Leadership: Merging the Roles of Chief Data and AI Officer.

Richard, the first-ever Chief Data & AI Officer at the US Department of State's Bureau of the Comptroller, will explore the integration of data governance with emergent AI technologies.

This new role combines the strategic oversight of data with AI-driven insights, enabling the State Department to harness both traditional data management and innovative AI capabilities to support diplomacy, enhance decision-making, and shape global policies.

Harnessing data foundations for public sector transformation

Explore how strong data foundations support successful AI projects in the public sector. This session highlights innovative AWS programs that empower government organisations to assess and refine their data strategies. Learn how to align these strategies with future goals, enhancing the impact of data & AI projects. Gain insights into real-world examples, and discover best practices to improve public services for UK citizens.

How are data, data analytics and AI supporting Defra's ambitions?

Sue will focus on how Defra is integrating AI and data analytics to streamline processes, improve research capability and forecasting, and enhance decision-making.

Buy v Build

Building highly complex, sophisticated and scalable platforms is becoming increasingly difficult for the public sector where technical skills are a scarce resource. More and more organisations are moving toward platforms as a way of removing technical debt and ensuring ongoing updates, routine maintenance are all completed automatically without additional cost.  Join Joel to consider the benefits of ‘buy rather than build’.

Harnessing Data to Improve Citizen Services and Benefits Delivery

During this presentation, Jacqui will discuss how DWP is utilizing data and AI to enhance service delivery, improve decision-making, and create personalized citizen experiences. She'll explore how AI has streamlined claims processing, identified fraud, or enhanced resource allocation, as well as how ethical considerations are managed in implementing AI-driven solutions.

Leveraging Data & AI: Driving Public Sector Efficiency and Innovation

In this presentation, Datamatics showcases the transformative potential of AI for the public sector. By leveraging Data & AI, achieve Government transformation and enhance Citizen experience.

Transforming Public Services with Data and AI: Avanade's Blueprint for Responsible Innovation

In this session, Avanade will showcase how its cutting-edge generative AI services empower public sector organizations to streamline operations, enhance citizen services, and build trust. Learn how Avanade’s AI-readiness frameworks, real-time governance tools, and data-driven insights enable leaders to responsibly scale AI and unlock agility, efficiency, and innovation, ensuring the public sector is prepared for an AI-powered future

Building a Connected Future: Driving Government-Wide Data Integration through AI and Standards.

Charles will discuss how the ONS is leading efforts to create a unified data architecture for government.

By leveraging AI, advanced data linkage, and metadata models, the ONS is setting new standards for data interoperability and discoverability. Baird will share insights into large-scale data integration projects and the vital role of collaboration across government departments to enhance the use of data for public good.

Overcoming the ethical, legislative and security challenges when delivering AI projects.

When tasked with introducing AI into public sector operations, it can be easy for policy and strategy to focus on the delivery of the technology elements. Although important, the way to create a smooth path to successful deployment is to lay firm foundations by understanding the ethical, legislative and security landscape.

This panel session will discuss in more detail the opportunity that new legislation can bring to public sector organisations and some of the security challenges, including the guiderails and procedures you need to have in place from the start and whether implementing AI could open you up to more risk of a cyber-attack. We will also discuss:

Key ethical considerations when implementing AI projects and policy using sensitive dataThe role GDPR and EU AI legislation plays in developing data & AI strategy
Challenges around using tools such as copilot and the protection of personal data 
Best practice advice to ensure you understand where your data is being used and keeping it secure.

Unlocking Data for Government: AI-Driven Data Sharing and Interoperability.

Jenny will explore how AI is revolutionising data sharing across government.

She will discuss the development of the Data Marketplace, a hub designed to securely and ethically share data across departments, and the Generative AI Framework, which promotes responsible AI adoption.

Jenny will also highlight best practices in data governance and how improved data standards are driving efficiency and innovation in public service delivery.

Keeping people first in Transformation 

At the start of any transformation journey, all will recognise that the three factors of People, Processes and Purpose are integral to success and continually reinforced. In the experience of BMT, the journeys that have sustained the benefits and led to a culture of continuous improvement, are the ones where People have been involved from the start and engaged throughout the journey. We will share our insights and the key features of our approach that help establish the foundation for a successful and sustained transformation.

Apache Iceberg - Open Table Formats removing vendor Lock In

Open Table formats are providing a release from vendor lock-in. Organisations are embracing the benefits of table formats like Apache Iceberg to create greater flexibility and increased level of adoption of open source open standard. Join Joel to consider how open formats can unlock your data to other technologies whilst maintaining governance and security.

Harnessing AI for Security and Intelligence: Navigating Risks and Opportunities for Leaders

What do leaders need to consider in order to make informed decisions about integrating AI into their security and intelligence frameworks?

- Build vs buy challenge: what are the key considerations facing intelligence and security leaders when they're thinking about build vs buying AI tools. Finding or building a solution that is fit for purpose for the high-stakes nature of security and intelligence and the often nuanced needs of teams in this space; seeing through the hype; fear over use of AI and the potential negative consequences; demonstrating ROI to the organisation and the benefits of teaming human analysts with AI.

- The opportunity: Specialist AI tools are already delivering value in this space, with human-machine teaming augmenting analysts and increasing the quality and speed of outputs. For security and intelligence teams this means the ability to force multiply their analysts, scale the volume of reports they create, and deliver more competitive intelligence.- What is required to successfully and safely design, deploy, and scale AI solutions in order to get these results?

Organizational Impact of Data Loss and Mitigation Strategies with AWS

This session examines the far-reaching consequences of data loss for organizations, including operational disruptions, financial implications, regulatory compliance risks, and reputational damage. Additionally, the session explores effective strategies for business continuity and disaster recovery planning, offering practical insights into data backup solutions, incident response protocols, employee training, redundant systems, and regular testing to safeguard against data loss incidents and mitigate associated risks.

The Data Dilemma

Balancing growth & fraud risk; establishing trust in the digital age.

• Entity verification: standards, industry trends, best practice & AI implications
• Investigations: emerging fraud typologies & automated network detection
• Public-private-partnerships: new initiatives & key takeaways

How systems thinking, data and AI are transforming the path to NetZero 

Join Adam Mackenzie-Jones, Head of Net Zero Systems at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) , as he discussed their transformative journey in bringing system thinking to life for policy makers across government. Adam will share insights into his team’s experiences, their impact on Net Zero policy making, and their next steps in leveraging data and AI techniques

Introducing Snowflake Cortex with AWS Bedrock: A Comprehensive AI Suite for
Unstructured Data and Agentic Solutions

Snowflake Cortex offers a robust suite of AI capabilities powered by large language models (LLMs) designed to comprehend unstructured data, respond to freeform queries, and provide advanced intelligent assistance. By integrating these capabilities with Amazon Bedrock, organizations can create highly sophisticated agents that deliver best-in-class, agent-driven  experiences. In this session, Jai Parmar will provide an in-depth overview of how AWS and Snowflake can collaboratively build agentic workflows using Cortex Analyst and Cortex Search, in conjunction with Amazon Bedrock

Using data to accelerate the energy transition

Harnessing AI to Transform Public Services: Lessons from Barnsley.

David will share insights into how AI is being deployed to enhance service delivery across the council.

He will explore how AI is alleviating staff workloads, enabling faster decision-making, and improving operational efficiency in areas such as social care and waste management.

David will also highlight key strategies and lessons learned in implementing AI solutions that streamline internal processes, free up staff time for critical tasks, and enhance overall citizen experience.

Transforming Public Services with Generative AI

Generative AI is revolutionising public services by transforming how governments interact with citizens and manage data. From automating routine tasks to providing personalised citizen services, AI is offering unprecedented efficiency and innovation in the public sector. However, alongside these exciting opportunities lie challenges, including ethical considerations around data privacy, bias, and trust. Public sector organisations must ensure that their AI strategies are built on a foundation of robust data governance and transparency.

This session will explore the transformative potential of generative AI in public services, showcasing real-world applications and strategies for ethical, secure implementation. By examining both the opportunities and risks, we will look at how AI can empower governments to serve citizens more effectively.

Key Takeaways:

• How generative AI is transforming public services by automating workflows and enhancing citizen interactions
• The importance of data governance and trust in AI implementation
• Real-world examples of how AI has been successfully integrated into public services

Empowering Public Sector Innovation: Unleashing AI Through Advanced Data Architectures

Join us to explore how Pure Storage is transforming AI adoption in the public sector. This presentation highlights validated architectures, developed with NVIDIA, that enhance data infrastructure for AI applications. Discover strategies to accelerate insights and improve efficiency in government agencies, fostering data-driven decision-making to elevate public service delivery.

AI and its place in our future (and the things we strongly need to consider)

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, it's crucial to understand the foundational elements that enable effective AI implementation. By focusing on the basics, we can leverage AI without unnecessary complications. However, it's important to recognize that significant investment is required for infrastructure, maintenance, and continual updates. Additionally, AI models consume vast amounts of energy, contributing to carbon emissions, which is a critical consideration for sustainable development.

Moreover, while AI has the potential to replace jobs, this comes with its own set of challenges. It's essential to consider these implications in your strategy. Lastly, embracing a culture of experimentation allows for rapid learning and understanding of whether a use case delivers a return on investment. Are you incorporating this approach in your strategy?

Digital-first transformation. How do we build intelligent products and services that link the best of human expertise to advances in AI for maximum impact.

The AI age is evolving in ever-accelerating digital time, transforming how knowledge, experience and expertise are managed and accessed. What does this mean for Government, staff and the citizens who access services, as AI and automation evolves to perform more complex cognitive tasks? Learn how to manage complex and accelerated learning and apply this to transformation programmes for maximum benefit.