As an initiative supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), TAIAO is committed to promoting and facilitating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science in New Zealand's environmental sector.
In this newsletter, you’ll find:
Welcome back!
Highlights from the AAAI Workshop
What’s coming up
Welcome back!
This is our first update for 2026, and we are pleased to share that we have another exciting year ahead for the TAIAO team including case study developments, learning opportunities, events and so much more.
Kicking off the year was the Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Science workshop 2026 (AAAI26 – A14ES), which was held in Singapore on 27th January 2026. More on this below.
AAAI Workshop 2026 (AI4ES)
Our TAIAO team travelled to Singapore earlier this week to host the AAAI26–AI4ES workshop. The workshop saw an international community of researchers come together to explore how artificial intelligence can help address major environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion
The event was sponsored by TAIAO and had some of its own members as part of the organising committee including Dr Qian Liu, Prof. Yun Sing Koh, and Prof. Albert Bifet. The day was packed with a keynote talk from Professor Woon-Seng of Nanyang Technological University, presentations by researchers from around the world, and engaging Q&A sessions.
The workshop concluded with a panel session featuring Prof. Yun Sing Koh and other environmental scientists where several issues was discussed including the mismatch between AI benchmarks and scientific needs, the importance of trustworthiness and deployability, and the real-world impact of AI in environmental science.
What's coming up
TAIAO AI Research Network
Last year, we launched the TAIAO AI Research Network which was focused on building partnerships between AI researched based in New Zealand and in Europe to advance data-driven sustainability, agricultural innovation and environmental monitoring. The team is focused on the continuous development of this network, to build on the connections that this network has established.
We will have more information and updates on our website in the coming months.
TAIAO course on AI Education NZ
TAIAO is proud to present free courses in AI including Quantum Machine Learning, Implementing AI, and Agentic AI in 5 minutes. We worked alongside the AI Forum New Zealand and the Artificial Intelligence Institute to launch this AI Education NZ platform.
We will continue to share more free courses throughout this year which will include:
60-minute course in Quantum Computing AI by Lea Casse
Māori Data Sovereignty hosted by Prof. Te Taka Keegan
Courses are now available for everyone to access here: https://www.aieducation.nz/
TAIAO Quantum Machine Learning Podcast
This year TAIAO will be releasing a new podcast series on our website focused on Quantum Machine Learning. The first season is hosted by PhD student Lea Casse, a member of the internationally recognised finalist team DelphiQ. The series also features fellow DelphiQ members Jacinta May and Nicolas De Matteis.
Throughout the episodes, Lea, Jacinta, and Nicolas discuss their project, which earned the team a place as grand finalists in the World Bank Climate Risk Challenge as part of the 2025 Global Industry Challenge (GIC). They explain what the GIC is, share insights from their project, and describe how their research is going to be applied in real‑world settings.
The podcast series is now available on spotify. Find out more by heading to our website.
For more information on TAIAO, our resources and upcoming events, please feel free to check out our website which we regularly update.
Ngā mihi,
The TAIAO team
