The conference moderator is Gísli Ragnar Guðmundsson, an AI specialist at Almannarómur. He leads Iceland's participation in the joint Nordic AI centre, New Nordics AI. Gísli previously took part in shaping Iceland's first action plan on artificial intelligence and has extensive experience in consulting, education and innovation within public administration. He has a special interest in how AI can be used responsibly to improve public services, empower staff and build trust in an era of rapid technological change.

Daði Már Kristófersson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.

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Birna Íris Jónsdóttir took over as the CEO of Digital Iceland in November 2023. She is a computer scientist by education with an MBA degree and a diploma course in positive psychology. Before joining Digital Iceland, she held key positions in IT departments at Landsbankinn, Sjóvá, Högum, and Össur. In her free time, she runs and occasionally hikes.

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Christine Bellamy is a leader in digital public services who joined the civil service in 2022 after a decade in digital transformation at the BBC; she was the Director of GOV.UK and later the Chief Executive of the Government Digital Service (GDS). Today, she is the interim Director-General at GDS, where she leads strategic product development for public digital services.

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Christian Bason is a Danish political scientist and design thinker (Ph.D.), known for his pioneering work in public sector innovation and design — first as the director of MindLab and later as the CEO of the Danish Design Center. Today, he is the co-founder of Transition Collective, as well as working as an author, speaker and advisor on sustainable transitions, leadership and public innovation.

In his talk, From ambition to reality: Making change in government, Christian Bason will address the question of how to realise deep and lasting change in the public sector. Drawing on his extensive research and writing, and three decades of experience working with and inside government in Denmark and globally, he will share insights and cases on how to envision, lead, and realise change that makes a difference to citizens and society.

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Hjálmar Gíslason is the founder and CEO of GRID. He chairs a task force appointed by Iceland's government in the summer of 2026 to critically review the country's approach to AI.

Drawing on that work, and on three decades of founding and building data and software companies, he will explore the questions a small nation must answer for itself: where its real leverage lies, what to build and what to buy, why adoption and skills matter at least as much as technology, and whether a nation of 400,000 can turn its size into an advantage in the age of AI.

The task force reports at the end of September, so Hjálmar will focus on the questions, and how the task force is approaching the work, if not yet all the answers.

Hjálmar Gíslason previously served as VP of Product Management at Qlik in Boston. He was the founder and CEO of DataMarket, founded in 2008 and sold to Qlik in 2014. Hjálmar is a data nerd and entrepreneur through and through, who has for many years published articles on a wide range of topics related to technology and industry development across various platforms, including his website, hjalli.com.

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Eiríkur is a co-founder and CTO at Aranja, a digital agency that specialises in front-end development for websites and apps.

In his talk, “Connecting the State … to ChatGPT?”, Eiríkur will take a peek into a future where chatbots connect directly to public data and services. He will discuss how the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can bridge the gap between chatbots and digital systems and will show an experiment where ChatGPT was connected to personal data on Ísland.is. In doing so, he will shed light on the potential for more automated and personalised public services – while also asking the key question: Who should control access to your data?

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Sigurður Þórarinsson has extensive professional experience in the field of technology solutions in Iceland and the United States. He has worked in software development and innovation, in the operation and outsourcing of IT systems, and in security and quality assurance in the development division and IT department of Landspítali (National University Hospital of Iceland), as well as serving as Director of Development at Tempo.

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Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir is a lawyer and former Member of Parliament for the Independence Party, who served as Minister of Justice from 2019 to 2021 and Minister of Higher Education, Industry and Innovation from 2021 to 2024, roles in which she led, among other things, policy on digital development and innovation within the public sector. She stepped down from Parliament in June and recently completed a Master of Public Administration (MPA) at Columbia University in New York, with a focus on international leadership and public administration.

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Awards will be presented to public entities for digital steps in public services. There are nine digital steps in total; they are incentive awards intended to encourage the use of investments in digital infrastructure.

At the end of the conference, we'll come together and raise a toast to the future — and to all public services in one place.

A workshop for managers and leaders on skills development, future vision and opportunities.

A workshop for staff and managers of institutions, and other public entities, on the future development of public services. The role of the web, change management and the potential of artificial intelligence in analysis, content creation and communication will be discussed.

A workshop for technology and data managers on the development of shared data, the current situation and the prioritisation of next steps.