Queen\u2019s University convened some of the world\u2019s most influential business minds in Belfast this week for a high-level Economic Forum, aimed at putting Northern Ireland at the centre of the global AI-driven economy.<\/p>\n
Coinciding with the international spotlight of The Open Championship, the Forum brought together more than 100 senior investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers and researchers to explore how AI can supercharge Belfast and Northern Ireland\u2019s potential as a global hub for innovation, investment and economic growth.<\/p>\n
Key contributors included some of the world\u2019s most influential thinkers and investors, including one of Ireland\u2019s most successful businesspeople, financier and serial investor Dermot Desmond, as well as former US trade envoy Dr Joseph P. Kennedy III, senior executives from OpenAI, Mastercard, Salesforce, PWC, and some of Northern Ireland\u2019s fastest-growing deep-tech companies.<\/p>\n
Dermot Desmond had a clear message for invitees:<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthern Ireland is in a unique position to attract global investors and build a competitive, resilient economy. With dual access to the UK and EU markets, a lower cost of living than other capital cities, and a world-class university producing a steady stream of talented and highly skilled graduates, Belfast has the potential to be a global economic powerhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Forum focused on four key areas where Queen\u2019s has demonstrated international leadership:<\/p>\n
Attendees also heard from Queen\u2019s-supported spinouts including Analytics Engines,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bia Analytical, Catagen, and Ionic Technologies \u2013 companies that began life on campus and are now attracting global investment across energy, diagnostics, data and AI.<\/p>\n
American economist and former White House advisor Dr Pippa Malmgren told delegates:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe island of Ireland, both north and south, has always been a region of storytellers and storytelling which is an essential skill for technological advancement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not enough to have great tech. Someone needs to explain it. Also, your long history of polymathic inventors since the industrial revolution means that you can become experts in not just individual technologies but in techplexity which is the relationships between many technologies that are all advancing at a hyper fast pace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queen\u2019s President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer added:<\/p>\n
\u201cWith thousands of visitors from around the world arriving for The Open, this is the moment and opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland\u2019s strengths and our ambition to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cQueen\u2019s is leading the way for entrepreneurial impact and we will ensure today\u2019s Forum isn\u2019t just a one-off conversation \u2013 it\u2019s a launchpad for new ideas, lasting connections and future investments that will shape the next chapter of Northern Ireland\u2019s economic story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are particularly pleased to welcome Dermot back to Queen\u2019s where he has made such an input to our work, in particular, supporting the Patrick G Johnston Fellowships which allowed exceptional individuals to develop translational research programmes to benefit patient care and advance cancer diagnosis and treatment in Northern Ireland and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Forum is part of Queen\u2019s year-long celebration of its 180th anniversary, marking nearly two centuries of delivering innovation, education and civic leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen\u2019s University convened some of the world\u2019s most influential business minds in Belfast this week for a high-level…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-268503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114866918942922731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}