Auckland beats Oz for top global AI conference

Auckland will welcome around 3,000 delegates to the 2027 International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI). 

The announcement was made this week in South Korea, which is hosting the 2025 conference, with 3,400 participants. 

MICCAI 2027 will be the 30th annual event, and the largest AI medical imaging and robotics conference ever staged in the Southern Hemisphere, securing Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) a central role on the global stage.

It will be held at the New Zealand International Convention Centre, which is due to open in February next year.

A landslide victory

Auckland Bioengineering Institute Associate Professor Jichao Zhao, who was leading the bid on behalf of the University of Auckland, said the selection panel had been unanimous in its decision, with all eligible votes cast for Auckland.  

“Our bid showed real unity. We had leading researchers on the team, from the University of Auckland and also from King’s College London and Western University in Canada. We also had strong support from the Auckland Convention Bureau, Tourism New Zealand, and even our Trade Commissioner to Korea was present in person for the bid presentation.

”Tourism NZ, the Auckland Convention Bureau and the International Convention Centre together put up $610,000 to support Auckland's bid."

The selection panel praised the Auckland bid for striking a balance between the scientific programme and the tourism and business strengths of the city and the country, Zhao said.

This is the second time Auckland has bid to host the MICCAI conference, which was first run in 1998 in the US.

New Zealand's largest city lost out to Daejeon in Korea in 2021, bidding for the 2025 event.

“If we had lost to Australia this time, we would have had to wait another 20 years for a real chance to host again.” 

Zhao says hosting the conference in Auckland will “strengthen engagement across Oceania, attract leading experts and new talent from around the world, and highlight research from Aotearoa New Zealand, while fostering progress in research, education, and clinical practice worldwide”.

Gemma Wood, business development manager at Auckland Convention Bureau, says MICCAI 2027 is expected to attract 2800-3000 delegates and generate an estimated economic impact of $5.7 million for the city, including approximately 15,500 visitor nights.

The proposed theme for the Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention 2027 conference is ‘From the Pacific to the world: Driving MICCAI’s impact towards equitable healthcare’.

This reflects Aotearoa New Zealand’s vibrant research culture, its ethnically diverse society, and its rapidly growing health-tech sector, Zhao says. 

“We aim to focus MICCAI’s innovations on real-world, deployable technologies that address pressing healthcare needs in both developed and resource-limited settings – delivering affordable, accessible healthcare to the majority of the world for whom costly solutions remain out of reach."

Auckland Bioengineering Institute director Professor Merryn Tawhai says the conference win is significant.

“MICCAI has long been considered the premier conference in its field with a highly selective peer-review process for submissions. It covers areas that are very relevant to New Zealand’s medical technologies research, including AI and medical robotics. 

“This will be a wonderful opportunity for Auckland Bioengineering Institute and University of Auckland staff and students, and the wider medtech community, to engage with world leaders in advanced technologies that are driving the field forward.”