Three Scottish public sector organisations have been unveiled as the final three contenders for the 2025 Futurescot AI Challenge.
Visit Scotland, NHS Grampian and Dumfries & Galloway Council have been shortlisted for the annual competition to develop AI use cases for public services.
The bodies will now work with challenge partner Storm ID towards a ‘proof of concept’, which will be showcased at Digital Scotland on 19th of November in Edinburgh.
It follows an extensive market engagement process carried out this summer to encourage Scottish public sector bodies to consider how AI could improve services – and apply for the Challenge.
Michael Rovatsos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh, Victoria Bew, Deputy Director, Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, UK Government (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), SeanHarkin, Data Science & AI Lead, Lloyds Banking Group and Paul McGinness, Founder and Chair of Storm ID, oversaw the judging process.
The Judges said: “We are pleased to announce the nominees for this year’s AI Challenge and congratulate them on reaching the final stage of the competition.
“The shortlisted proposals demonstrated innovative and carefully developed approaches to applying AI to priority national challenges, including improvements in healthcare, the delivery of key public services, and the growth of Scotland’s tourism sector. We wish the finalists every success as they progress to the proof-of-concept stage and look forward to announcing the overall winner in November.”
They added: “While it will be disappointing for those who did not progress to the final round, the judging panel was greatly impressed by the calibre of all applications. Each submission reflected a strong awareness and mature understanding of the opportunities presented by AI. All applicants should be proud of their contribution, which underscored the exceptionally high standard of entries received this year.”
The AI use cases are as follows:
- Visit Scotland – AI-Driven Travel and Experience Planning Agent
- NHS Grampian – Colorectal Cancer Referral Tool
- Dumfries & Galloway Council – AI-powered Triage and Response for Revenues and Benefits
The winner will be announced at Digital Scotland at the Edinburgh International Conference on Wednesday, 19th of November.
For further information visit the AI Challenge website here and to register for Digital Scotland, visit here.