AI Talk | The public sector has an AI Strategy. Does it have the skills?

Join us on Thursday 3 September at 17:30 to discuss whether the public sector has the skills to deliver its AI ambitions.

Join us on Thursday 3 September at 17:30 for an evening built around a question every public institution is grappling with right now: if there is an AI strategy, do we also have the workforce to deliver it?

FARI, CEPS and VUCABLE join forces for this session, marking the local launch of MagiX, a new Master's programme in digital governance and transformation, AI and data, and human centred design for the public sector. Expect an informal, conversational evening, with plenty of room for your own questions and a proper networking moment to close.

This in person event takes place on Thursday 3 September at 17:30 in the FARI Test & Experience Centre (Cantersteen 16, 1000 Brussels).

Invited guest : Amy Carmichael works with the Ada Lovelace Institute, researching how public institutions in the UK adopt data and AI in practice, with a recent focus on local authorities and social care. Her work looks closely at how frontline services take on new technology, and where oversight keeps pace with adoption, and where it does not.

Description of the session : The evening opens with a keynote grounded in direct research into AI adoption in UK local government and social care, touching on the pace of oversight relative to tool rollout, and the practical realities frontline staff face day to day.

A moderated discussion with FARI, CEPS and VUCABLE then widens the conversation to what a real skills gap looks like in public administration, how AI adoption can narrow or widen existing inequalities between institutions and staff, and what the future of public sector work looks like as these tools become part of daily practice.

These questions show up across every layer of digital government right now: through procurement, design processes, frontline services adopting new tools faster than the safeguards built to govern them, or data foundations too patchy to support what is being asked of them.

Is this for you? This session is for you if you work in or with government and feel the distance between the AI strategy on the shelf and the AI actually happening on the ground. It is just as much for you if you are building toward that kind of work, whether already inside an institution or on the way there. Public sector professionals, digital transformation leads, and anyone developing these skills are welcome to join.

A balanced mix of learning and networking: the evening closes with an open Q&A, plenty of room for your own questions, and informal networking with the speaker and the three partner organisations over drinks.

This event is free to attend, but registration is compulsory. It is organized by FARI, CEPS and VUCABLE.

Summary

• Time: Thursday, September 3, 17:30–19:00
• Place: FARI Test & Experience Centre, Cantersteen 16, 1000 Brussels
• Speaker: Amy Carmichael (Ada Lovelace Institute)
• Networking: Drinks & snacks after the session
• Cost: Free to attend
• Target Audience: Public sector professionals, policymakers, GovTech practitioners, researchers, students, and AI enthusiasts