Manchester’s Digital Strategy Highlights 2024 - 2025
Community co-creation, conferences & the creative use of bin lorries: our highlights from 2024 are here!
As we take our first steps into 2025, we’re taking one last look back to reflect on an incredible year. Over the last 12 months, these are the moments that have made us most proud to be a part of Manchester’s Digital Strategy.
We became the first UK city outside of London to join CommuniCity, a programme inspiring Europe’s tech sector to develop solutions to social issues faced by underserved communities! In January, successful applicants to our city challenges will launch pilot projects - co-created with residents - to address socio-economic challenges & drive positive change for vulnerable communities in our city.
We partnered with inspiring researchers from The Manchester Metropolitan University to help residents at risk of digital exclusion access education in AI. Our September showcase celebrated the project's successes in empowering residents to shape the development of AI initiatives in Council services & on participants' personal lives - with two residents inspired to pursue further AI training following positive experiences on the Panel.
Drawing on the knowledge of experts in the digital, technology and construction fields, we worked with industry partners to develop a Digital Infrastructure Guide offering practical guidance on how to best deploy digital infrastructure in new developments, ensuring that future infrastructure projects are sustainable, future-proofed and equitable. We can’t wait to share more about our plans for the Guide, including its role in the local plan refresh for Manchester, in early 2025.
To achieve our ambition of becoming a zero carbon city by 2038, we began work with Open Data Manchester CIC & Manchester Climate Change Agency to advance sustainability projects that could reduce our carbon emissions & mitigate the impact of the climate crisis.
After this year, we’ll never see bin lorries in the same way! We partnered with Inakalum to map mobile capacity in the city centre using sensors attached to bin lorries, visualising the location, ownership, assets, and speeds of telecommunication operations throughout the city. The project's second phase kicks off in the New Year & aims to help Manchester City Council understand which areas have the best connectivity & which are in greater need of support.
We were blown away by the support for our first ever conference event, AI for All! With keynote speakers from We and AI, Nexer Digital & Microsoft, it was a privilege to hold space for conversations on how we can develop approaches to AI that prioritise human ideals, needs & participation.
We supported our incredible #LetsGetDigital team with device deliveries, inclusion events & more - helping everyone in Manchester to benefit from the opportunities of the digital world.
A huge thanks to all the incredible colleagues, businesses, organisations and communities that we’ve worked with over the last year. Together, we can make sure that advances in digital technology make a meaningful, tangible and positive difference to the lives of people in Manchester.
We can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store!
