Senior figures from across Wales' technology, digital, cyber, government and infrastructure sectors have been brought together by Business News Wales as part of its new INFORM initiative to examine what the country needs to do to compete in an increasingly AI-driven economy.
The Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Digital Economy Editorial Board forms part of INFORM Wales, a new Business News Wales initiative designed to strengthen the voice of industry by bringing together leaders from business, government and the wider economy to identify challenges, opportunities and priorities for Wales.
Meeting at Aberthaw Power Station last week, the board considered one central question:
What does Wales need to do over the next five years to accelerate AI and digital adoption, strengthen its technology ecosystem and become a more competitive digital economy?
Participants included:
- Mark Jones, Deputy Director and Head of Office for AI at Welsh Government
- Dimitri Batrouni, Leader of Newport City Council.
- Alex Read, Head of Public Policy, Northern Europe at Vantage
- Howard Rupprecht, Managing Director of CSconnected
- Chris Elias, Head of Communications at Perago
- Ian Carline, CTO at de Novo Solutions
- Neil Cocker. Startup consultant
- John Davies, Co-founder and Chair of Cyber Wales
- Laura Newman, CCO at ModelProp
The board explored the conditions Wales needs to create if AI adoption is to move beyond individual innovators and become embedded more widely across the economy.
That includes the digital and physical infrastructure required to support an increasingly data-intensive economy, the ability of Welsh businesses to access and adopt new technologies, cyber resilience, leadership and workforce skills, and the environment needed for technology businesses to start, scale and invest in Wales.
The discussion also considered the role of government and the wider technology ecosystem in ensuring that Wales does not simply become a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere, but builds more of the capability, expertise and economic value associated with their development and deployment.
The session forms part of the wider rollout of INFORM Wales, a new model being developed by Business News Wales to connect industry insight more directly with those making decisions about Wales' economic future.
Business News Wales Managing Director Mark Powney said the development of INFORM reflected a need to create a stronger bridge between industry, media and decision-makers.
He said:
“AI and digital transformation are going to affect virtually every part of the Welsh economy, but the important conversation isn't simply about the technology itself. It's about whether Wales is creating the conditions that allow businesses to actually use it, develop it and benefit from it.
“INFORM is about bringing the people with direct experience of these issues into the same conversation and then making sure that intelligence doesn't disappear when the meeting finishes.
“Our role is to listen, interrogate the evidence and turn those conversations into useful intelligence that can inform businesses and the people making decisions about Wales' economic future.”
The findings from the Editorial Board will now feed into Business News Wales' continuing coverage of AI, technology and the digital economy and into the development of an INFORM evidence report.
The report will identify the principal issues raised by participants, areas requiring further investigation and practical questions for industry and government.
