THE NORTHERN IRELAND AI UNIVERSE

News (30 days): 2

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Northern Ireland AI dates

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AI entries — the full list

Every entry on this page, generated from data.json. Click a name to open its panel at the top of the page. Entries with one source are tagged "one source".

Entry	Type	First source	Confidence	ID

Also on other pages

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Identity

As written in the research. Data as of 28 October 2026 (edition 2.1).

official nameNorthern Ireland Executive (AI strategy led by The Executive Office; AI economic policy led by the Department for the Economy)

short labelNI Executive

govuk categoryDevolved government

govuk urlnorthernireland.gov.uk/

headquartersStormont Castle / Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3SG; lat 54.595395, lng -5.826216 (source: https://api.postcodes.io/postcodes/BT43SG — "postcode": "BT4 3SG", "latitude": 54.595395, "longitude": -5.826216, "admin_district": "Belfast" (accessed 2026-10-28)). Building names are from the task brief and were not checked on an NI government page. [unverified — check address wording]

parent (as of 2026-10-28)none — devolved government accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly

previous parent / parent changednone

blurbThe devolved government of Northern Ireland. The Executive Office runs an Office of AI and Digital (launched June 2025) and is consulting on a draft public-sector AI Strategy until 4 November 2026; the Department for the Economy funds the AI Collaboration Centre, chairs an AI Advisory Panel and has an AI Economic Policy team.

website still shows old brandingno evidence found (main NI government sites could not be opened). The TEO launch release does not name a department "home" for the Office of AI and Digital beyond saying it will "sit alongside the Office of Science and Technology".

Gaps the research left open

16Shown as gaps, never filled in by guesswork. Supplement 1 (the second pass) closed some; they are listed below.

Permission blocks: these pages could not be opened because the permission request was not answered: https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/ ; https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/ (home) ; https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/ ; https://www.investni.com/ (home) ; https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/news ; https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-08/draft-ai-strategy-august.pdf ; https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/publications/ai-strategic-direction. The northernireland.gov.uk copy of the draft strategy PDF was blocked by robots.txt. The aicc.co pages and the 2026 Ulster news items returned client errors. Work continued using search-result URLs only. — Partly closed (Supplement 1): Opened this time: the draft strategy PDF; DfE AI Strategic Direction article; DoF home page and FOI listing; TEO home page (news list). Still blocked: northernireland.gov.uk; economy-ni.gov.uk home and the AI Strategic Direction publication page; executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/news; investni.com home; DoF FOI PDFs; aicc.co (site error). — Partly closed (Supplement 1): GOV-NI-003 date fixed to 8 December 2025; AI Economic Policy team (GOV-NI-029). The publication page itself was blocked twice, so pillars, actions and money remain unrecorded.
Consultation closing date conflict: 12 August 2026 launch release says 7 October 2026 (eight weeks); consultation page (modified 12 October 2026) says 4 November 2026. Treated as extended; the extension notice itself was not seen. — Closed by Supplement 1: "Consultation closing date conflict: … 7 October 2026 … 4 November 2026" (S1 GOV-NI-001 status and rule: 4 November 2026, 5.00 pm, on the consultation page, the nidirect hub and the TEO home page. The 7 October date is only in the unrevised 12 August release. No published extension notice was found.)
Office of AI and Digital: launch date verified as 12 June 2025 (TEO release); the brief's 13 June 2025 was not confirmed. Head, staffing, budget and exact departmental home not published on pages opened. — Partly closed (Supplement 1): S1 GOV-NI-002 and GOV-NI-024 (GAIN, AI Champions). Head, staff numbers, budget and home department are still not stated in the draft strategy or any page opened. PAC has asked TEO about the Chief Digital Officer's role structure (GOV-NI-015).
Finance Minister and Department of Finance digital/AI work: finance-ni.gov.uk could not be opened; the current Finance Minister is not recorded. Digital Shared Services / NICS digital AI work (e.g. Copilot pilots) not found beyond the March 2025 "proof of value" letter.
Which minister "holds the AI brief": no single NI minister has an AI title. TEO (First Minister and deputy First Minister) leads the AI Strategy and the Office of AI and Digital; the Economy Minister leads AI economic policy. The PAC report says TEO should lead.
NI AI Capability Census 2026 ("400 firms"): not verified. Search results showed an Ulster University item titled "Northern Ireland's AI economy doubles in a year as £200m milestone reached two years early" (September 2026) and a 2026 census page on aicc.co, but neither could be opened.
Invest NI AI grants beyond AICC and First Derivative: not found (Napier and Spark support amounts undisclosed). — Partly closed (Supplement 1): nibusinessinfo lists Invest NI help "developing digitalisation strategies and adopting AI tools" without amounts; HartreeNI (GOV-NI-037); DTFF (GOV-NI-034). The Invest NI/DfE/Innovate UK Collaborative Innovation Plan has no AI-specific commitments. No named Invest NI AI grant scheme found.
HSC Business Services Organisation AI Policy (v2.1) and Northern Trust AI Policy: named in the HSC AI Framework but not opened.
"AI for Northern Ireland" government strategy: none exists as a published final strategy; the draft NI AI Strategy is at consultation. "AI for NI" (May 2025) is an independent Ulster University paper.
ATRS: no NI body has an entry on the UK register.
Health Minister: Mike Nesbitt named as of 13 November 2025; status in October 2026 not checked.
Windsor Framework / EU AI Act: the Committee's report on Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 could not be opened (URL too long); conclusions taken from the Assembly page and newsletter.
WebSearch allowance: all 15 searches were used (7 Wales, 8 Northern Ireland, one of which the proxy rejected). Work stopped after the final searches on the Windsor Framework item; no further NI pages could be found.
Partly closed (Supplement 1): "Finance Minister and Department of Finance digital/AI work: … the current Finance Minister is not recorded … Copilot pilots not found" — Finance Minister John O'Dowd MLA (S1 People row; S3 People). NICS generative AI policy and guidance (GOV-NI-028). Copilot: only a Committee question (GOV-NI-035); NICS Copilot use, numbers and cost still unverified because the FOI PDFs would not open. DSF named (S3 Structure); its AI work not found.
Partly closed (Supplement 1): Upcoming dates — S3 Upcoming dates: DfE decision on the BRCD AI Adoption business case (date not set). No Assembly AI committee session in the next six months was found.
Partly closed (Supplement 1): WebSearch allowance — All 8 permitted searches used. Work stopped after the Assembly and City Deal searches; HSC, PSNI and Mid South West / Causeway deal sites were not reached.

Closed by Supplement 1 (7)

"Draft NI AI Strategy content: … the document itself (ministerial foreword, actions, any money, any AI register commitment) was not read" — S1 GOV-NI-001 (function, money, rule); GOV-NI-024 to GOV-NI-027. No foreword; six summary actions; no new money; AI Register of Systems proposed.
"Consultation closing date conflict: … 7 October 2026 … 4 November 2026" — S1 GOV-NI-001 status and rule: 4 November 2026, 5.00 pm, on the consultation page, the nidirect hub and the TEO home page. The 7 October date is only in the unrevised 12 August release. No published extension notice was found.
"Which minister 'holds the AI brief'" — S3 People note: no AI title; FM/dFM (TEO) own the public-sector strategy and OAID; Economy Minister owns AI economic policy; DoF holds the NICS generative AI policy. FM and dFM start dates still not sourced.
"NI AI Capability Census 2026 ('400 firms'): not verified" — GOV-NI-030: 400 firms, 2,402 FTE roles, £214m GVA, published 22 September 2026 — confirmed by ITV/UTV and The Irish News. The AICC/Ulster primary page still would not open.
"Belfast Region City Deal / other City and Growth Deals AI elements: not verified … Momentum One Zero … funding and owner were not confirmed" — GOV-NI-022 amendments (Queen's University, over £70m, completion November 2027); GOV-NI-031 (£4.6m AI Adoption programme); GOV-NI-032; GOV-NI-033 (CADRIC £39m); GOV-NI-034 (DTFF). Mid South West and Causeway Coast and Glens: no AI project named on the Invest NI City Deals page; their own sites were not opened.
NI Assembly committees' AI work (task item) — GOV-NI-035 (Economy, TEO and PAC committees; plenary items); GOV-NI-036 (26 January 2026 motion). The 14 September 2026 "Artificial Intelligence Strategy" debate is listed in the Official Report contents but its text was not in the page read — still open.
"News (last 30 days): only one item confirmed … Sovereign AI Fund visiting Belfast … could not be opened" — S3 News: Irish News, 9 October 2026 (event 8 October). TEO home page shows no AI news after 9 September 2026.

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