Overview

Greater Manchester is an ambitious digital city region, well-advanced in planning and implementing the digital infrastructure and policies that will eventually underpin transport, healthcare, education, citizen welfare and well-being, policing, and security. GM offers a unique opportunity to identify, study and help deal with the TIPS challenges of becoming an innovative, responsible, inclusive, digital city region.

This project will explore these holistically by leveraging the combined expertise and convening power of the SPRITE+ network, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the GM Cyber Advisory Group (50+ organisations from public, private and third sectors), and the GM Responsible Tech Collective (a bridge to community groups). The project represents an opportunity for the GM ecosystem to showcase its pre-eminence as an enlightened digital city region and to become a beacon for good practice.

Activities include workshops, community and industry consultations, fact-finding research, policy round tables, white papers, and show case events, all supported by a research associate. Our findings will inform local, regional, and national policymaking and provide a platform to engage internationally with similarly ambitious cities and city regions.

Aim: To define a set of standards and/or a charter for trustworthy connected places.

Objective: To develop using GM (as a live test case) those standards/that charter by addressing the core questions: What are the defining features of a trustworthy connected place? To what extent are these universal vs place-specific?

To date: 1st July 2025 the following activities have taken place:

1. Scoping workshop in November 2024

2. Employed a researcher commencing June 2025

Get involved:

1. Community of Interest. Please join here.

2. Workshops across the next 12 months. Read about the first workshops here.