Merge pull request #353 from vilmahakkinen/gh-pages

News article on the Nordic AI Union (NAU)

Author: vilmahakkinen

_posts/2026-03-03-nordic-ai-union.md

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+title: "Joining forces in developing AI ecosystem: Nordic AI Union"
+summary: NeIC is taking part in an initiative investigating how promising AI solutions can be promoted through Nordic-Baltic cooperation and by developing the AI innovation ecosystem. The Nordic AI Union (NAU) pre-study is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
+photo: /assets/images/latest-news-13.png
+---
+
+Joining forces in developing AI ecosystem: Nordic AI Union
+===========================
+NeIC is taking part in an initiative, the Nordic AI Union (NAU), that supports the creation of AI regulatory sandboxes across Nordic and Baltic countries, aligned with the [EU AI Act](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai). NAU is a pre-study solicited and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, setting the grounds for future cooperation. NeIC joined NAU at the very beginning, in August 2025, as a part of NeIC’s strategy to identify Nordic-Baltic efforts on leading-edge technologies and create synergies. 
+
+NAU maps existing and missing innovation support systems, regulatory frameworks, and resources from companies’ perspectives, and explores how Nordic cooperation can promote future AI solutions. The initiative investigates how promising AI solutions can be promoted through Nordic-Baltic cooperation and by developing the AI innovation ecosystem. NAU also aims to strengthen the Nordic-Baltic AI ecosystem.
+
+Emphasizing a joint approach and seamlessness, the pre-study brings together important stakeholders, such as AI innovators, AI accelerators, national regulators, and EU-level entities, in workshops. First of the four workshops was held in Estonia in January 2026, and the following three are to be held in the coming months. Findings will be reported back to the Nordic Council of Ministers by May 2026.
+
+– In creating a Nordic-Baltic AI ecosystem, it is important to give all key stakeholders – companies, support organizations (EDIH, AI Factory, TEF, Data Spaces, etc.), public actors, financiers and authorities – the opportunity to get their voice heard, and the NAU project is exactly for that, says **Altti Lagstedt**, the project leader from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.
+
+<p align="center">
+<img class="normal" src="{% include baseurl %}/assets/images/news/NAU-workshop-jan26.png"> </p>
+<p align="center"><i>Tomasz Malkiewicz, the Director of NeIC, presenting at the first NAU workshop in Estonia.</i></p>
+
+Read more about the pre-study on [Haaga-Helia’s website](https://www.haaga-helia.fi/en/rdi-projects/nordic-ai-union).