Conference win to showcase Auckland’s AI capability

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) research will be on global display when the city hosts the 31st International Conference of Neural Information Processing 2024 (ICONIP). Taking place at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) 2-6 December, the conference is expected to host 300 researchers, scientists, and industry professionals. ICONIP is a platform for showcasing research, technology, and innovations in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and computational modelling. The five-day programme will include technical sessions, tutorials, workshops, plenary/keynote and panel discussion sessions by the world’s leading researchers and professionals from both academia and industry, as well as awards to honour outstanding papers presented at this conference. The event was secured with bid and marketing support from Auckland Convention Bureau (ACB). The conference, last held in New Zealand in 2008, is expected to contribute nearly NZ$600K to Auckland’s economy. The bid to host ICONIP 2024 was led by Maryam Doborjeh, senior lecturer at AUT, and Professor Michael Witbrock from the University of Auckland, who will act as general chairs for the event, alongside associate professor Mufti Mahmud from Nottingham Trent University in the UK. Marissa Brindley, head of tech and innovation at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited said: “As New Zealand’s economic centre and tech powerhouse, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland stands at the forefront of innovation and growth. Our thriving tech and innovation sector drives productivity and prosperity, delivering an impressive NZ$13.6bn to the region’s GDP. Hosting ICONIP is a testament to our region’s prowess in this sector and contributes to Auckland being recognised as a globally competitive tech hub.”