Publications
EPIC Futures NI connects you with valuable research to guide policy decisions. While we gear up to launch the Labour Market Observatory in 2026, you can explore existing research or submit your own research reports here to contribute to informed policymaking.
A collection of case studies showcasing how Northern Ireland’s public sector is rethinking policy design and delivery. The initiatives featured in this volume demonstrate how organisations are responding to sustained complexity, fiscal constraint, and heightened public scrutiny through practical, evidence-informed innovation. In this collection, policy context is understood broadly. It includes initiatives within Northern Ireland government departments, arm’s-length bodies, local authorities, and cross-sector partnerships, including collaboration with community and voluntary organisations. This reflects the reality that policy innovation increasingly takes place across organisational boundaries rather than within single institutions. Together, these examples highlight how innovation is emerging across sectors through collaboration, behavioural insight, digital transformation, workforce development, and preventative public service approaches.
This document explores UK unemployment measurement, focusing on Claimant Count and International Labour Organisation (ILO) methods, the latter providing the official rate via Labour Force Survey data.
This document explores the post-Covid labour market recovery, highlighting record employment levels alongside ongoing skills shortages, inflationary pressures, and demographic challenges. It examines hidden labour market capacity beyond headline statistics and proposes alternative measurement approaches.
This document explores the Northern Ireland labour market recovery post-pandemic, highlighting record employment and low unemployment. However, it examines hidden unemployment and underemployment, emphasizing the importance of hours-based measures for a fuller understanding of labour market performance.
This research report examines attitudes and experiences relating to economic activity, skills development and lifelong learning in Northern Ireland. Drawing on findings from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, it provides evidence on participation in education and training, barriers to skills development, and public perspectives on learning throughout the life course, helping to inform policies that support fair and inclusive employment.
This policy brief explores how behavioural insights can support evidence-based policymaking in Northern Ireland. Drawing on behavioural science, it highlights practical approaches for designing, implementing and evaluating policies that encourage positive behaviours, improve public services and support fair and inclusive employment outcomes.
Drawing on data from the 2025 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, this report analyses public perceptions of artificial intelligence, AI learning and skills development, labour-market impacts, inclusion, governance and public trust, and sets out a practical policy framework for inclusive and responsible AI adoption across Northern Ireland.
The NI Employer Compass is an AI-powered skills navigation platform designed to simplify how employers access apprenticeships, workforce development programmes and business support across Northern Ireland. Developed by IntrinsicAI in partnership with Pivotal Policy and funded through the EPIC Futures NI Policy Commissioning Call, the platform addresses the challenge of navigating a fragmented skills ecosystem where information is often dispersed across government departments, colleges, training providers and support organisations.
