AI Skills and Growth: From Ambition to Delivery in the North East
The North East is emerging as one of the UK’s most significant regions for AI growth. Join techUK and Newcastle University on the 16th of December at the Catalyst to help shape what that means for skills and education.
About this event
The North East has set out a clear ambition for AI through its AI Growth Zone, and the focus is now turning to delivery. AI Skills and Growth brings together employers, investors, universities, colleges, schools and regional partners to examine the skills, leadership and partnerships the region needs to turn that ambition into growth, from the classroom through to the boardroom.
Co-convened by Newcastle University and techUK, the day runs two parallel streams, one focused on business growth and AI adoption and one on education and inclusion, that come together in the opening and closing plenary sessions. It is the first in a planned series of events, held roughly every six months, designed to build lasting relationships between the region's companies, its education partners and Newcastle University. A short note of findings and follow-up actions will be circulated after the day.
Why now
The North East is one of the DfE's designated Mission North East regions, and the arrival of an AI Growth Zone gives the region a real opportunity to lead. But that opportunity depends on a workforce, a school system and a higher education sector that can develop and deploy AI skills at scale. Demand from employers is already outpacing supply, and without deliberate investment in education and skills the gap will widen. techUK has been working with national education and technology organisations to examine what that investment should look like. This event brings that work into a regional context, and creates space for partners and colleagues North East to define what comes next.
Who should attend
Technology companies working in AI, edtech and skills, particularly those with a presence or interest in the North East
Business leaders, founders and investors focused on AI adoption and workforce development
School, college and university leaders, curriculum leads and governors
Local authority and mayoral authority officers working on skills, economic development or digital strategy
Policy and representative organisations active in education or technology
Funders and intermediaries with an interest in education and AI in the North East
What we hope to cover
The North East's AI ambition and what it will take to deliver it
How businesses are adopting AI, and what skills they need from education
What schools and colleges are doing to prepare young people, and where the gaps are
The role of universities in research, skills development and regional leadership
How national policy, local authority strategy and institutional practice need to align
Practical steps for cross-sector partnership and investment in the region
Get involved
If you are a North East organisation interested in contributing to this event, whether as a speaker, a sponsor or a partner, we would love to hear from you. We are also keen to hear from organisations that want to be part of the ongoing programme of work that follows from it.
To register your interest or find out more, please contact techUK's education and edtech team.
By registering for this event, you are agreeing for us to share your details with Newcastle University.
Agenda
- 10:00-10:10
Welcome
A joint welcome from Newcastle University and techUK, followed by an introduction to the purpose of the day and how it informs the AI Growth Zone Skills work package.
- 10:10
Keynote
A contribution from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority on the first AI Growth Zone outcome, that people across the North East have the skills they need for an AI-enabled future. It sets out the skills ambition, the questions on demand, provision and matching, and what the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority wants from the organisations in the room.
- 10:35
AI Skills for North East Business Growth
This session looks at how businesses across the region find and work with the skilled people they need. It covers the full range of provision, from college courses, apprenticeships and short training through to degrees, PhD placements and applied projects, as well as the demand from SMEs and other organisations, and how the two can be brokered more effectively across the region.
- 11:25
Break
- 11:45
Growth summit - Growth Zone: Delivery, Adoption and Innovation
This session looks at delivery of the AI Growth Zone, with a focus on adoption and innovation across the regional economy and the opportunities that follow from the next phase of the programme.
- 11:45
Education Workshop - Foundations First: Digital Access, Inclusion and Pathways to AI Skills
Digital inclusion underpins the region's AI ambitions. This session looks at digital access and infrastructure across schools and communities, as well as how people furthest from the workforce can be reached, with local authorities and community organisations contributing.
- 12:35
Lunch & Exhibition
A small exhibition could allow both Newcastle University and partners a well as techUK and its members to engage with local audiences and may be a useful source of sponsorship to cover catering and other costs.
- 13:30
Growth summit - Putting AI into Action: Adoption Across the Regional Economy
This session covers practical AI adoption across the regional economy, with large employers and AI adoption specialists, as well as the workforce requirements that come with it. It includes how responsible AI is built into adoption.
- 13:30
Education workshop - Practice from Local Pioneers and Scaling What Works Regionally, Including EdTech
Some North East schools already have strong practice in edtech and digital learning. This session hears from those schools and trust leaders on what they have achieved, what good practice looks like, what edtech is working locally and what support would help it spread more widely.
- 14:20
Growth summit - The Next Generation of North East Tech Leaders: Entrepreneurship, Scaling and Investment
This session looks at the skills the sector needs from its future technology leaders, including technical skills, entrepreneurship and ecosystem support, and whether the region has the provision and environment for people to build careers and companies here. It includes an investor perspective on what sustains growth.
- 14:20
Education workshop - Technology and Childhood in Mission North East
The Department for Education has made the North East a national priority through Mission North East, a place-based programme designed to transform outcomes for children in some of England's most under-served communities. This session asks what role technology across education, safeguarding, parental confidence, staff workload and digital access can play in that mission, and what the region wants from national bodies and the Our Digital Promise Coalition.
- 15:05
Break
- 15:15
Closing Discussion
A closing conversation across both streams, reflecting on what the day has surfaced and what it suggests for the region’s next moves on AI, skills and growth.
- 16:00
Networking and introductions until 17:00
Event contacts
Austin Earl
Senior Programme Manager - Education & EdTech
