Science and technology foresight is only valuable if it leads somewhere. Matrix’s role is to help Northern Ireland identify important technological and economic changes early, understand where we have genuine strengths, and turn evidence into action. As Deputy Chair, I believe one of our greatest assets is not only the research we commission, but the breadth of experience around the Matrix panel table – and our ability to use that experience to help move good ideas from reports into policy, investment and delivery.
Matrix is Northern Ireland’s industry-led science and technology advisory panel. It brings together leaders from business, academia and government to provide independent, evidence-based advice on how science, technology and innovation can support economic growth and better outcomes for society.
The diversity of the panel matters. Members bring experience across areas including technology, advanced manufacturing, life and health sciences, space, entrepreneurship, investment, research, skills and commercialisation. That mix means we can look at an issue from several perspectives: where the research is strong, where markets are moving, what businesses need, what may prevent adoption and where government intervention could make a difference. Full details of the Matrix panel can be found here.
For a small economy, this is particularly important. Northern Ireland cannot lead in every emerging technology. We need to identify the areas where we already have capability, where change is creating new opportunity, and where focused intervention could give us an advantage.
The proof of this approach lies in what happens next. Matrix studies are intended to provide policymakers, industry and researchers with an objective evidence base for decisions about investment, skills and strategy. Some of our earlier work already shows how that can translate into practical outcomes.
AI and the next generation of communications
Artificial intelligence is one example. Our 2019 study into AI helped make the case for a regional AI capability, contributing to the development of the £16.3 million Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre. Our more recent AI and the Future of Work in Northern Ireland report has moved the conversation on again. It estimates that AI could contribute between £0.2 billion and £3.7 billion in additional GVA by 2030, depending on the pace of adoption and on how effectively we develop the skills, leadership and organisational capacity needed to use it well.
The report also highlights a more important point than the headline numbers: the impact of AI is not predetermined. Much will depend on the choices we make now. AI will reshape work across the economy, with between 12 and 23 per cent of employment tasks expected to be reconfigured by AI but it also creates opportunities to augment people, improve productivity and enable more rewarding, higher-value work. The challenge is to help businesses understand where AI can add value and to ensure that people have the opportunity to adapt and develop the skills needed for changing roles.
Our work on Advanced Wireless Networks provides a second example. The importance of advanced connectivity is not simply faster networks. It is what those networks enable. Technologies such as AI, smart cities, the Internet of Things, autonomous systems and increasingly data-intensive public services will depend on reliable, high-capacity and low-latency connectivity.
Matrix analysis estimated a potential £3.1 billion to £4.5 billion uplift in Northern Ireland GVA by 2035, depending on how effectively barriers to deployment and adoption are addressed. Our subsequent Advanced Wireless Networks: Active Demand Stakeholder Study therefore focused on the practical side: where businesses see value, what prevents adoption and how industry, academia and government can work together to turn advanced connectivity into economic and societal benefit.
Space and beyond
Space offers a third illustration. Our Building on our Strengths – Northern Ireland’s Growing Space Industry work identified strengths that Northern Ireland could build upon, particularly in advanced manufacturing, cyber security and communications. It subsequently informed the NI Space Ready Programme, which secured external funding and is helping thirteen local advanced manufacturing companies develop the capabilities required to enter the global space supply chain. This is exactly the kind of progression we want to see – from identifying an opportunity, to attracting investment, to helping local businesses participate in a growing global market.
Across these and other studies, recurring themes emerge. Northern Ireland has excellent research, innovative companies and areas of genuine international expertise, but we do not always translate those strengths into commercial or public-service impact as effectively as we could. Skills gaps, fragmented activity and the distance between research, adoption and scale appear repeatedly.
That is why the major innovation investments now being delivered through Northern Ireland’s City and Growth Deals are so important. Facilities such as the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre, Momentum One Zero, iREACH Health and Studio Ulster give us significant new capability in advanced manufacturing, secure connected intelligence, health innovation and creative technologies.
The opportunity is not simply to have these centres, but to connect them – to each other, to businesses and to the emerging technologies identified through foresight. AI, advanced connectivity, cyber security, manufacturing, data and health innovation should not develop as separate islands. For a relatively small region, our ability to join up people, infrastructure and expertise can itself become a competitive advantage.
This also points to how the role of Matrix is evolving. Publishing a foresight report should not be the end of the process. Panel members can use their experience and networks to challenge recommendations, make connections, encourage collaboration and keep important opportunities visible. We can help translate evidence into conversations, and conversations into action.
Three practical priorities
Foresight should be used consistently to inform investment and economic policy choices, helping Northern Ireland concentrate effort where it has the strongest potential advantage.
We need stronger alignment between research and economic opportunity, and the right conditions to translate that research into impact. That means closer collaboration, alongside practical support to help businesses overcome barriers to adoption, commercialisation and scale.
Every major foresight exercise should have a clear route from recommendation to implementation, with ownership, follow-through and progress visible after publication.
Northern Ireland has genuine strengths, significant new innovation infrastructure and a highly connected business, research and policy community. The task now is to make those assets work together.
That, for me, is where Matrix can make its greatest contribution: not simply anticipating the future, but helping Northern Ireland to shape it.
Patricia O’Hagan MBE, Tech Entrepreneur and Matrix panel member.
Patricia is co-founder of Core Systems, a world leader in prisoner self-service technology. She comes from an engineering and product development background and has over 20 years of Corrections Technology experience.
Patricia served on the Skills for Security Consultation Group for Biometrics and Human Identity, contributing to the development of national occupational standards for the industry. She is active in the local community, encouraging greater female entrepreneurship and inspiring girls and women to consider roles in the technology sector.
Patricia was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2013 Royal New Year Honours list for services to the Northern Ireland Economy.
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