A photograph of a pile of different open-data stickers

Welcoming Clara and Maura to the Open Data Manchester team

You may have seen that ODM has been on the hunt for new team members to support the development of a new data standard and public information portal for plastic packaging – discussed in our project launch here – and we’re glad to say we’ve found them!

Clara Parada is leading on the ‘people part’ of the project, where as our user researcher she’ll be working with stakeholders from across the plastic-packaging value chain to understand what the project needs to do.

She’s already well known in the ‘tech for good’ world and as a user-centred practitioner has worked collaboratively with everyone from children to older people to design the best digital products and services.

She said: “The Plastic Packaging Portal is exactly the type of project that I was craving next. I’m so excited about the opportunity of contributing to solving a big environmental problem. Projects like this make me so glad to be in the ‘tech for good’ space, working with like-minded people to solve some of society’s biggest challenges”

Maura Hunt is currently studying for her PhD in the Decision and Cognitive Science Research Centre at the University of Manchester.

She’s joining ODM as our new data architect, where she’ll be taking the findings from users and our wider research to develop open-data standards for recycling locations and plastic packaging.

She added: “We know that models derived from data can identify factors that lead to automatic recycling habits from distribution to the consumer, however, these models are only as good as the data fed into them. So, by standardising recycling processes, we can enrich our understanding of ‘what,’ ‘where,’ and ‘how much’ for every ‘thing’ within this vast system.

“More importantly, we can set and measure goals to truly make a difference in the plastic industry and for our environment.”

Find out more about them, and the rest of the ODM team, here.

P.S. Maura rhymes with Clara F.Y.I.