Connecting the State, the annual conference of Digital Iceland, will take place on Thursday, 17 September at the Hilton Nordica. The programme will also be accessible via live stream.

The theme of this year's conference is “The Future of Ísland.is”.

Planning is in full swing and the programme is filling up with interesting and exciting talks that revolve around questions such as:

• How are public websites developing? Will they still exist in 5 years?

• How might agencies need to evolve?

• What impact does the use of artificial intelligence have on trust in public services?

• What skills do staff need to have?

• What can we soon stop doing?

Key note speakers 2026

Christine Bellamy

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. Read more on LinkedIn

From ambition to reality: Making change in government

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, 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.

Read more on LinkedIn.

Hjálmar Gíslason

Hjálmar Gíslason is the founder and CEO of GRID. Hjalmar 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. More on LinkedIn.

A more detailed programme will be announced here on the page.

Workshops 2026

In connection with the conference, Digital Iceland is organising three workshops on specific topics. They will take place on the morning of the conference day and are for invited guests only.

The results of the workshops will be used for continued development and dialogue with the business community and the government.