A UK MSP could get to showcase their AI solution on the world stage next year if they win a three-stage AI for Good contest run by the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA).
GTIA this week announced it has been selected by the United Nations to host AI for Good in the UK and the US (as a partner of UN agency the International Telecommunication Union [ITU]).
The non-profit trade association will host three annual virtual AI innovation competitions in the two countries, each with an open call for innovative solutions, with winners selected in each market.
The top solutions from the UK and the US go on to compete at the UN’s AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva in June 2027.
“Nowhere else could they open up doors like this”
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen at the GTIA’s ChannelCon EMEA 2026 event, GTIA Chief Channel Officer Nancy Hammervik stressed the contest could potentially be won by an MSP, rather than a vendor.
“It’s open to all our members that may be driving innovation and have new solutions, and nowhere else could they open up doors like this,” she said.
“I feel like the MSPs are a little bit closer, a little bit more nimble, and can move faster.”
Through its AI for Good initiative, the UN is seeking to celebrate AI solutions that map onto its sustainable development goals, which span areas such as eliminating poverty, improving education and economic development.
“There’s the FUD factor of AI. But AI is also solving a lot of critical world problems. So we’re celebrating the good side of it,” Hammervik said.
As well as getting to showcase their solution on the world stage, the winners will gain free GTIA membership, free stands at the GTIA’s ChannelCon events, and access to GTIA analyst Carolyn April to build a go-to-market plan.
”The partnership will also give the GTIA a seat at the table when it comes to the ITU’s AI for Good initiative, Hammervik emphasised.
“They’re working on the responsible deployment of AI, and on guardrails and guidelines. As we’ve been developing our own initiatives, like the Managed Intelligence Alliance and the Consortium for the Responsible IT Services that we’re doing with Texas A&M, it’s all connecting,” she said.
The first call for submissions is slated to take place later this month, with the second call occurring “pretty quickly” after that, Hammervik indicated.
“The US winners are going to face off together. The UK winners are going to face off together, and we’re going to select our best solution from the US and UK and send them to the AI for Good Summit,” she explained.
“So they’ll have a world stage.
“They’ll be representing their countries as the best of the best, and then there’s an overall global winner, but anybody that gets to the world stage of the UN at their summit is a winner.”
This article was produced in association with the GTIA and is classified as partner content. What is partner content? See more here.
