Data has the power to transform public services, commercial products and professional opportunities, as well as, ultimately and importantly, everybody’s lives.

  • For the public sector, it can make for more effective services, create efficiencies and reduce costs
  • For businesses, greater access can mean new and better products can be built more easily
  • For professionals, these skills can equip you to help make government and business better
  • For people and communities, as well as the potential to get better services, it can be used to make civic processes better, strengthening relationships

But, we believe, with these opportunities comes the responsibility to act in ethical and socially engaged ways.

Our services


For organisations interested in starting or continuing on an intelligent and responsible data journey, we offer consultancy services including:

Advice and advocacy – we work closely with local authorities and other organisations about how they’re using data, helping them and sharing our approach. We also offer consultancy via our free Open:Data:Surgery sessions.

Research and Development – we conduct and participate in a diverse variety of commissioned projects which include:

  • devising strategies and roads to sustainable open data release, such as open data consultations and strategy development for GMCA and City of Izmir, Turkey for the International Finance Corporation.
  • the development of open data standards, such as the Household Waste Recycling Centre standards project with Dsposal.
  • the development of data governance processes and policies, including the energy data cooperative with Carbon Coop.

Events and training – we run a regular programme of events and community engagement to raise awareness about data or data initiatives, as well as deliver bespoke training.

We endeavour to co-create projects with the right people, building in skills development, so that everyone can benefit from opportunities to understand data.

If you have a project that you’d like to talk to us about, get in touch

Current projects


We know data has the power to transform everybody’s lives and so we have a portfolio of projects built to make sure this happens in the way we all want.

Our projects have been developed over many years, shaped by the people who get involved, to tackle some of data’s biggest challenges:

  • a commitment to intelligent and responsible use among organisations, professionals and activists
  • building understanding and skills in the communities we serve
  • ensuring everyone can be involved in decisions being made using data about them

Data Cooperatives Working Group – since 2014 we’ve been exploring the century-old idea of a cooperative, rebooted for the 21st century, in the form of data cooperatives – and now we’re collaborating with India’s Aapti Institute to bring together others working in this space.

Data for Communities – ongoing development of a ‘spreadsheet-less’ training to help people and organisations understand data, about them and their communities, and take action.

Declaration for Responsible and Intelligent Data Practice – this has been co-designed by people and organisations that want to make the right decisions with data in Greater Manchester.

Deprivation, political control and representation – exploring the relationship between local political representation and control, and deprivation, alongside other political, social and cultural factors.

Packaging Data Project – working with waste-data experts Dsposal on an Innovate UK R&D project created to help tackle the UK’s multi-million-tonne packaging waste problems, through the creation of new data standards and a portal for accessing information about packaging.

Right to the Streets – working with GreaterSport and Trafford Council to help understand people’s experiences and perceptions of where they live in order to reduce violence against women and girls, and create inclusive and active streets.

The Lexicon of Experience developed from our Mapping Mobility work, the Lexicon of Experience addresses the inbuilt biases in technical systems that exclude the voices and experiences of marginalised people. This work looks at how we collectively experience urban spaces and aims to build a language for this so it can be used in urban planning.

ODM events programme – a year-round schedule that brings together and grows the Open Data Manchester community, including Open:Data:Nights and Pick N Mix.

Recent projects

Our Streets Chorlton – collection of air quality and traffic data through remote sensors and specially-trained community traffic surveyor, as well as a programme of data workshops and capacity building.

Interested in how Open Data Manchester might help you? Check our our services above, or get in touch for a friendly chat.

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