Sunderland City Profile: Frontier transformation in practice
Download the SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Sunderland Cities everywhere are facing the same pressure: modernize infrastructure, grow the economy, and improve quality of life, without widening inequality. Sunderland offers a credible path forward. Once defined by shipbuilding and coal mining, Sunderland has spent the last four decades deliberately reinventing itself. Today, it is positioning itself as the UK’s leading smart city by investing in digital infrastructure, data, and low‑carbon innovation to drive inclusive, long‑term growth. The latest City Profile from SmartCitiesWorld captures how this strategy is being executed and why it matters for city leaders globally. A digital backbone built for outcomes, not optics Sunderland’s progress starts with a clear foundation: connectivity and data designed with purpose. Full‑fibre connectivity across the city Citywide 5G and LoRaWAN coverage A secure, cloud‑based smart city data platform Together, this stack enables real‑time visibility across transport, environment, and public services. More importantly, it shifts the city from reactive decision‑making to proactive, evidence‑led operations. The impact is measurable. Data and analytics now support: Safer, more predictable event planning Smarter traffic and mobility management Earlier environmental interventions More targeted social and health services From digital health hubs that reduce exclusion to intelligent transport pilots that cut emissions and improve safety, Sunderland is applying technology where it delivers the highest public value—not where it looks most impressive on a slide. What comes next: two opportunities to scale impact The City Profile also highlights where cities like Sunderland can go further. Two opportunities stand out. Move from smart services to predictive city operations With real‑time data already in place, the next step is predictive modeling—anticipating demand across social care, transport, energy, and public safety before pressure points emerge. Done right, this enables earlier investment decisions, lower long‑term costs, and better outcomes across services. Turn digital inclusion into a workforce engine Sunderland’s digital health hubs create a foundation for something bigger: linking access and digital skills directly to workforce development. By aligning inclusion efforts with local demand in advanced manufacturing, data, and clean energy, cities can convert access into sustained economic mobility. Why Sunderland’s approach matters Sunderland’s experience reinforces a critical point: smart city transformation is not about technology in isolation. It is about aligning infrastructure, data, governance, and community priorities around a shared vision for inclusive growth. For public‑sector leaders moving from ambition to execution, the full City Profile provides practical insight into the partnerships, operating models, and decisions behind Sunderland’s approach. It’s a useful reference for anyone looking to translate a digital‑first strategy into measurable impact—for people, place, and long‑term resilience.From AI pilots to public decisions: what it really takes to close the intelligence gap
Across the public sector, the conversation about AI has shifted. The question is no longer whether AI can generate insight—most leaders have already seen impressive pilots. The harder question is whether those insights survive the realities of government: public scrutiny, auditability, cross‑department delivery, and the need to explain decisions in plain language. That challenge was recently articulated by Sadaf Mozaffarian, writing in Smart Cities World, in the context of city‑scale AI deployments. Governments don’t need more experiments. They need decision‑ready intelligence—intelligence that can be acted on safely, governed consistently, and defended when outcomes are questioned. What’s emerging now is a more operational lens on AI adoption, one that exposes two issues many pilots quietly avoid. Decision latency is the real enemy In government, decision latency is not about slow analytics, it’s the time lost between having a signal and being able to act on it with confidence. Much of the focus in AI discussions is on accuracy, bias, or model performance. But in cities, the more damaging problem is often this latency. When data is fragmented across departments, policies live in PDFs, and institutional knowledge walks out the door at 5pm, leaders may have insight but still can’t decide fast enough. AI pilots often demonstrate answers in isolation, but they don’t reduce the friction between insight, approval, and execution. Decision‑ready intelligence directly attacks this problem. It brings together: Operational data already trusted by the organization Policy and regulatory context that constrains decisions Human checkpoints that reflect how accountability actually works The result isn’t faster answers—it’s faster decisions that stick, because they align with how governments are structured to operate. Institutional memory is infrastructure Cities invest heavily in physical infrastructure—roads, pipes, facilities—but far less deliberately in institutional memory. Yet planning rationales, inspection notes, precedent cases, and prior decisions are often what make or break today’s choices. Consider a routine enforcement or permitting decision that looks reasonable on current data, but quietly contradicts a prior settlement, a regulator’s interpretation, or a lesson learned during a past inquiry. AI systems that don’t account for this history don’t just miss context, they create risk. Decision‑ready intelligence treats institutional memory as a first‑class asset. It ensures that when AI supports a decision, it does so with: Access to relevant historical records and prior outcomes Clear lineage back to source documents and policies Logging that preserves not just what was decided, but why This is what allows governments to move faster without relearning the same lessons under audit pressure. Why this matters now Public sector AI initiatives rarely fail because of a lack of ambition. They stall because trust questions—governance, records, explainability—arrive too late. By the time leaders ask, “Can we stand behind this decision?” the system was never designed to answer. Decision‑ready intelligence flips that sequence. Governance is not bolted on after the pilot; it’s built into the operating model from the start. That’s what allows agencies to scale from a single use case to repeatable patterns across departments. A practical starting point The cities making progress aren’t trying to transform everything at once. They start small but visible: Identify one cross‑department “moment of truth” Define what must be logged, retained, and explainable Connect just enough data, policy, and work context to support that decision From there, they reuse the same patterns—governed data products, policy knowledge bases, and human‑in‑the‑loop workflows—to scale responsibly. AI in government will ultimately be judged the same way every public investment is judged: by outcomes, fairness, and public confidence. Closing the intelligence gap isn’t about smarter models. It’s about designing decision systems that reflect how governments actually work—and are held accountable. Learn more by reading Sadaf's full article: Closing the intelligence gap: how cities turn AI experiments into operational impact
Providing Early Feedback - Simplified Teams app bar 557169
How do we provide early feedback to prevent this from happening or requesting the option to disable this feature? If anything, I want Teams to de-simplify. Microsoft keeps going out of their way to hide things that are crititical to productivity. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=557169 I mean - generally - how do we get Microsoft to stop making things worse? It seems like the recommendation is to use the feedback button in the app; but by that time it's too late. Telling the 100+ people who ask me what Microsoft broke this week to use the feedback button is not helping avoid their distaste and distrust of this platform. This is why people are avoiding Teams and prefer text messaging and WhatsApp. We desperately need to increase adoption but Microsoft keeps obscuring features that lead to increased confusion. Where do we make requests to decrease simplicity and increase productivity?Announcing the 2026 Microsoft 365 Community Conference Keynotes
The Microsoft 365 Community Conference returns to Orlando this April, bringing together thousands of builders, innovators, creators, communicators, admins, architects, MVPs, and product makers for three unforgettable days of learning and community. This year’s theme, “A Beacon for Builders, Innovators & Icons of Intelligent Work,” celebrates the people shaping the AI‑powered future — and the keynote lineup reflects exactly that. These leaders will set the tone for our biggest, boldest M365 Community Conference. Below is your first look at the official 2026 keynote order and what to expect from each session. Opening Keynote Jeff Teper — President, Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps & Platforms Building for the future: Microsoft 365, Agents and AI, what's new and what's next Join Jeff Teper, to discover how AI-powered innovation across Copilot, Teams, and SharePoint is reshaping how people communicate, create, and work together. This session highlights what’s new, what’s fundamentally different, and why thoughtful design continues to matter. See the latest advances in AI and agents, gain insight into where collaboration is headed, and learn why Microsoft is the company to continue to bet on when it comes to building what’s next. Expect: New breakthroughs in collaboration powered by AI and agents Fresh innovations across Teams, Copilot, and SharePoint Practical guidance on how design continues to shape effective teamwork Real world demos that show how AI is transforming communication and content Insight into what is new, what is changing, and what is coming next Business Apps & Agents Keynote Charles Lamanna — President, Business Apps & Agents In this keynote, Charles Lamanna will share how Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Apps, and Agent 365 come together to help makers build powerful agents and help IT teams deploy and govern them at scale. We’ll share how organizations can design, extend, and govern a new model for the intelligent workplace – connecting data, workflows, and systems into intelligent agents that move work forward. Copilot, apps, and agents: the next platform shift for Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 Copilot has changed how we interact with software. Now AI agents are changing how work gets done – moving from responding to prompts to taking action, across the tools and data your organization already relies on. Expect: A clear explanation of how to leverage and build with Copilot and agents How agents access data, use tools, and complete multi-step work A deeper look at the latest capabilities across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and Power Apps End-to-end demos of agents in action Security, Trust & Responsible AI Keynote Vasu Jakkal — Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security & Rohan Kumar — Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security, Purview & Trust In our third keynote, Vasu Jakkal and Rohan Kumar join forces to address one of the most urgent topics of the AI era: trust and security at scale. As organizations accelerate into AI‑powered work, safeguarding identities, data, compliance, and governance is mission‑critical. Securing AI: Building Trust in the Era of AI Join Vasu Jakkal and Rohan Kumar as they unveil Microsoft’s vision for securing the new frontier of AI—showing how frontier firms are protecting their data, identities, and models amid rapid AI adoption. This session highlights how Microsoft is embedding security and governance into every layer of our AI platforms and unifying Purview, Defender, Entra, and Security Copilot to defend against threats like prompt injection, model tampering, and shadow AI. You’ll see how built-in protections across Microsoft 365 enable responsible, compliant AI innovation, and gain practical guidance to strengthen your own security posture as AI transforms the way everyone works. Expect: Microsoft's unified approach to secure AI transformation Forward‑looking insights across Security, Purview & Trust Guidance for building safe, responsible AI environments How to protect innovation without slowing momentum Future of Work Fireside Keynote Dr. Jaime Teevan — Chief Scientist & Technical Fellow, Microsoft Dr. Jaime Teevan, one of the foremost thought leaders on AI, productivity, and how work is evolving. In this intimate fireside‑style session, she’ll share research, real‑world insights, and Microsoft’s learnings from being both the maker and the first customer of the AI‑powered workplace. Expect: Insights from decades of workplace research The human side of AI transformation Practical guidance for leaders, creators, and practitioners Why collaboration is essential to unlock the true potential of AI. Community Closer Keynote Karuana Gatimu - Director, Microsoft Customer Advocacy Group & Heather Cook - Principal PM, MIcrosoft Customer Advocacy Group From Momentum to Movement: Where Community Goes Next As the final moments of Microsoft 365 Community Conference come to a close, Heather Cook and Karuana Gatimu invite the community to pause, reflect, and look forward together. This Community Closer keynote connects the breakthroughs, conversations, and shared experiences of the week into a bigger story—one about people, purpose, and progress. Together, they’ll explore how community transforms technology into impact, how advocates and builders shape what’s next across Microsoft 365, and why this moment matters more than ever. More than a recap, this session is a call to action—challenging attendees to take the energy of the conference back to their teams, regions, and communities, and turn inspiration into sustained momentum. You’ll leave not just with ideas, but with clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of belonging—because community doesn’t end when the conference does. It’s where the real work begins. More Than Keynotes: Why You’ll Want to Be in Orlando The M365 Community Conference brings together: 200+ sessions and breakouts 21 hands‑on workshops 200+ Microsoft engineers and product leaders onsite The Microsoft Innovation Hub Ask the Experts, Meet & Greets, and Community Studio Women in Tech & Allies Luncheon SharePoint’s 25th Anniversary Celebration And an epic attendee party at Universal’s Islands of Adventure Whether you create, deploy, secure, govern, design, or lead with Microsoft 365 — this is your community, and this is your moment. Join Us for the Microsoft 365 Community Conference April 21–23, 2026 Loews Sapphire Falls & Loews Royal Pacific 👉 Register now: https://aka.ms/M365Con26 Use the SAVE150 code for $150USD off current pricing Come be part of the global community building the future of intelligent work.What to Expect from the Copilot & AI Sessions at Microsoft 365 Community Conference
AI isn’t a side conversation at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference—it’s at the center of how work is changing. The Copilot, Agents, & Copilot Services Sessions are designed for anyone who wants to move beyond curiosity and into real-world application. This is an opportunity to learn how Copilot works today and how agents extend it. You will also explore how organizations can govern, scale, and operationalize AI across Microsoft 365. Questions these sessions will help answer: How do we move from experimentation to real value? How do we scale AI responsibly? How do agents fit into the way we already work? What skills do teams need next? Business leaders, IT pros, developers, and community practitioners will join sessions to find practical insights into how AI shows up in your daily work, and what it takes to deploy it responsibly and effectively. There will also be a focus on change management, champion programs, and adoption frameworks, because deploying AI isn’t just a technical decision, it’s a cultural one. From Copilot to Agents: The Shift from Assistance to Action One of the biggest themes across the sessions are the evolution from AI as a helper to AI as an active participant in work. If you’re curious about what “agentic AI” actually means in practice, attending these sessions will make it concrete. Join your peers as you learn how Microsoft 365 Copilot is being extended through agents that reason, act, and automate. Learn about agent orchestration across tools like Copilot Studio, SharePoint, Teams, Planner, and Power Platform. Discover new agent patterns including declarative agents, multi-agent configurations, workflows agents, and computer-use agents. In these sessions you’ll explore how agents can: Take action on your behalf and do more than suggest content. Work across apps, data sources, and workflows. Participate alongside humans as part of the team. Real Adoption Stories (Not Just Demos)! Go beyond feature walkthroughs to focus on how organizations are actually adopting Copilot and agents at scale. In these adoption stories you’ll hear: How Microsoft uses Copilot and agents internally as Customer Zero. What adoption looks like across large enterprises, frontline environments, and regulated industries. Lessons learned from early adopters—what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently. Governance, Trust, and Control Are Front and Center AI adoption only works when people trust it—and trust is built through strong governance. Learn how organizations are balancing innovation with oversight and enabling teams to build and use agents while maintaining enterprise-grade guardrails. A significant portion of the Copilot & AI track is dedicated to: Agent lifecycle management. Security, compliance, and data protection. Preventing oversharing and managing risk. Observability and control using tools like Agent 365, Microsoft Purview, and Copilot Control System. This is especially valuable for IT and security leaders who are being asked to “move fast” without compromising standards. Building with Copilot: No-Code, Low-Code, and Pro-Code Paths No matter where you sit on the technical spectrum, there’s a clear path to learning how to build responsibly and effectively. Not everyone builds the same way and organizations need prompt engineering that delivers results. In these sessions you’ll learn how to choose the right agent type for the job, extending Copilot with enterprise data, and designing agents that are production ready—not just impressive in demos. These sessions are tailored to: Business users and makers getting started with Copilot Studio Low-code developers extending Copilot with workflows, connectors, and prompts Pro developers building advanced agents using APIs, MCP servers, Microsoft Graph, SharePoint Embedded, and Azure AI Copilot in the Flow of Everyday Work Rather than abstract AI concepts, you’ll see end-to-end workflows that demonstrate how Copilot helps people save time, reduce manual work, and focus on higher-value outcomes. The emphasis in these sessions is on practical impact, not hype showing how AI is grounded in real work. These sessions will showcase Copilot and agents embedded into: Meetings, chats, and channels. Task and project management. Content creation and knowledge management. Business processes and frontline operations. Why the Copilot and AI track matters If AI is part of your roadmap, or already part of your day, this track will show you how strategy can meet execution. Join us to explore clear mental models for Copilots and agents, see real examples you can apply to your work, and gain a better understanding of what’s now—and what’s coming next. Each year, #M365Con26 is built around one simple idea: bringing our global community together to learn, grow, innovate, and get hands-on with the technologies shaping the next era of work. This year’s conference delivers our most expansive program yet, including: 200+ sessions, workshops, and AMAs, covering Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Copilot Studio, and more. 100+ Microsoft-led sessions, giving you unprecedented access to the people building the apps and AI capabilities you use every day. A keynote lineup featuring Microsoft leaders including Jeff Teper, Charles Lamanna, Vasu Jakkal, Rohan Kumar, Jaime Teevan, and many more. Deep-dive workshops to elevate your skills with real-world scenarios and hands-on learning. Exclusive attendee parties and networking events where you can connect with peers and icons. You’ll also get the chance to meet hundreds of Microsoft executives, engineers, and product leaders—ask questions, share feedback, and help shape the roadmap of the technologies you rely on. Register now, save $150 with code SAVE150 - https://aka.ms/M365ConRegisterCopilot adoption: Move your org from pilot to production with this guide
Are you an IT admin or Copilot adoption lead ready to safely start or scale your rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot? Piecing together the right guidance can be something of a treasure hunt so we created a trusted, single starting point for you: 8 Copilot & agent hubs every adoption leader should bookmark. This guide is organized around the typical adoption lifecycle (plan → build → operate) to help you accelerate your Copilot adoption without skipping governance. Inside the guide, you’ll learn: What each resource hub includes—and how each maps to plan → build → operate for Copilot. How to turn guidance into motion: Practical steps you can reuse for rollout and change management (not just reference links). Which resources to share with each audience—admins, champions, and business sponsors—so everyone stays aligned. How to scale with confidence: Starting points. that support a governed, production-ready Copilot program To get started, check out the full post and bookmark each resource hub today. Did you know? FastTrack helps eligible customers with Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption by providing expert guidance, self‑service resources, and structured engagements at no additional cost. If your adoption program could use a boost, FastTrack can help. Visit the Microsoft 365 Accelerator site for Copilot quickstart guides, governance templates, and adoption kits—or submit a request for personalized deployment and change management assistance (RFA) from FastTrack today.Copilot Pages & Notebooks, Microsoft Loop: IT Admin Update – December 2025
For background, check out last year's Nov 2024 IT Admin update. Here's this year's progress and summary: Many key governance, lifecycle, and compliance features for Loop workspaces and Copilot Pages & Notebooks are now available. Learn more here Key deliverables remaining: M365 Group enforcement for shared Loop workspaces Departed User workflows for Copilot Pages, Notebooks, and the My workspace in Loop Multi-Geo Create in user's PDL for shared Loop workspaces Read the rest for details What’s Delivered (since Nov 2024) Sensitivity Labels for Loop workspaces Learn more here Guest Sharing for Loop (Entra B2B: Jul 2024 | for orgs with Sensitivity Labels: Mar 2025) Learn more here Retention Labels for Loop pages and components Learn more here Admin Management: Membership, ownership, deletion, restoration, search, filter, in SharePoint Embedded Admin Center and PowerShell for containers Learn more here Promote Members to Owners for Loop workspaces Learn more here M365 Group owned workspaces: managed by M365 Groups for workspaces created within Teams channels Learn more here Also, check out the latest from Ignite 2025 on Unlocking Productivity with Copilot Pages. What’s In Progress / Coming Soon Feature / Scenario Status Target Date Notes Enforce Microsoft 365 group-owned Loop workspaces In development Q1 CY'26 - 422725 IT policy to require Microsoft 365 groups for lifecycle management of shared Loop workspaces Multi-Geo Create In development Q4 CY'25 - 421616 All new Loop workspaces saved in creator’s PDL geo Departed User Workflow In development Q1 CY’26 - 421612 Temporary or permanent reassignment of existing user-owned containers, copy capability for data URL to Open Containers in app In development Q1 CY'26 - 421612 Application Redirect URL that opens in app when clicked if user has permissions User-Accessible Recycle Bin In development H1 CY’26 - 421615 Restore deleted Copilot Pages, Notebooks from Microsoft 365 Copilot app, restore deleted workspaces from Loop app Groups as Members (tenant-owned) In development H1 CY’26 Invite Microsoft 365 groups as members to Notebooks and workspaces Graph APIs for management In development H1 CY'26 For organizations with dev teams and in house management tools Read-only members Paused Due to lower overall feedback volumes, this work is paused Target date disclaimer: dates and features are estimates and may change. For the latest status, see the Microsoft 365 Public Roadmap links. Instead of creating and repeating content directly in the post this year, our IT Admin documentation on learn.microsoft.com and the Microsoft 365 Public Roadmap has been updated based on the above. We recognize that lack of some of these capabilities may still block your rollout. Please drop questions in the comments or reach out to us through your account team. We're excited to be enabling the rollouts of Copilot Pages, Notebooks, and Loop workspaces in your organization.From SOP Overload to Simple Answers: Building Q&A Agents With SharePoint Online + Agent Builder
Government teams run on Standard Operating Procedures, manuals, handbooks, review instructions, HR policies, and proposal workflows. They’re essential—and everywhere. But during every Government Prompt‑a‑thon we've run this year, one theme kept repeating: "Our policies are many and finding the right answer quickly is nearly impossible." Turning SOPs into Simple Q&A Agents with M365 Copilot's Agent Builder or SharePoint Agents is possibly one of the fastest wins for public‑sector teams.
Channel Meeting Chat can only be viewed from the channel
Why can't chats from a meeting channel appear in the chat section of Teams? Our project team have decided against holding meetings in channels due to this reason because it's a hassle to navigate back to the Team. I have the view set up correctly an you cannot see the chat where we would do all other regular meeting chats. Apparently this is by design? Why...?Microsoft 365 Community Conference: A Beacon for Builders, Innovators, and Icons of Intelligent Work
You’re passionate about what you do, and we’re passionate about empowering your potential. Microsoft 365 Community Conference - is your chance to keep up with AI, build game-changing skills, and take your career (and business) even further. With over 200 sessions, workshops, keynotes, and AMAs, you’ll learn directly from the experts and product-makers who are reimagining what’s possible in the workplace. Conference Details Join us in Las Vegas April 21-23. 2026 for the premier Microsoft 365 community event. We want to help you get the most out of the tools you use every day, so we’re bringing back the conference you know and love—with even more opportunities to learn, connect, and level up. Here’s what you can expect: Meet one-on-one with the people who create Microsoft products—ask questions, share feedback, and discover real-world solutions Explore Microsoft’s latest product updates and learn about what’s on the horizon Build and sharpen skills you can use immediately to be more productive, creative, and collaborative with the Microsoft tools you use every day Grow your network, dive deep, and have fun with the best community in tech How to Register Register today and get ready to transform the way you work. Save $150 with our exclusive customer code SAVE150. https://aka.ms/M365ConfWebsite Explore Sessions and Workshops There’s plenty of breadth—and depth—to the learning opportunities at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference. No matter your role or experience level, we've got something for everyone! https://aka.ms/M365ConfSessionsWebPage Meet the Speakers Our lineup of speakers includes some of the brightest minds behind the most powerful Microsoft innovations. You’ll hear from experts like: Jeff Teper | President, Collaborative Apps and Platforms Charles Lamanna | President, Business Apps and Agents Vasu Jakkal | Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security Business Rohan Kumar | Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security, Purview & Trust The Microsoft 365 Community Conference is more than an event. It’s the gateway to what’s next for your career, community, team, customers, and business—and for work itself. Claim your front-row seat to the future of work today!
