Greater Manchester digital blueprint launch

10 Feb 2020 11:11 AM

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GCMA) outlines its five digital priorities in its refreshed Digital Blueprint.

Councillor Elise Wilson, Leader of Stockport Council and GMCA Digital Portfolio Leader recently (06 February 2020) launched a refreshed digital strategy and blueprint for Greater Manchester.  It sets out a three year approach to the regions digital priorities with a clear focus on delivering benefits that help the city region’s people lead healthier, happier lives with the aims:

The five digital priorities along with their main projects are:

1. Empowering People

GMCA are fully digitising early years’ developmental records right across the ten boroughs, helping to better track progress of youngest citizens and provide better quality support for parents. With the aim of 100% health visiting digitised across all of Greater Manchester, the first place in the UK to do so by March 2021.

2. Enabling Innovative Public Services

Applying exemplar digital ideas and practice to delivering public services in Greater Manchester, linking innovative business, academic and public sector thinking with the needs of Greater Manchester’s people. They will be undertaking a full Greater Manchester Local Data Review by December 2020 and address barriers to making more local data open and available with the aim of creating new commercialisation opportunities, stimulating open innovation and raising productivity.

3. Digitally enabling all businesses

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is supporting Made Smarter, a two -year pilot aimed at boosting the digital capabilities of small and medium -sized digital businesses in Greater Manchester and the wider North West region. With the aim of a £20m pilot to increase regional GVA by up to £115million, by increasing the adoption of industry 4.0 in the North West by 2021.

4. Creating & scaling digital businesses

To amplify and support transforming business through digital leadership. The aim is to have 100 jobs created with 45 businesses assisted.

5. Being a global digital influencer

Continue to showcase Greater Manchester across the world as a leader in digital innovation and worldclass capabilities in health innovation and creative media. Establish Greater Manchester as UK and European centre for cyber and digital ethics, trust and security.

To achieve its ambition, Greater Manchester will take an ecosystem approach. This means supporting and enable private, academic and not-for-profit sector work and identify where there are gaps and initiatives needed at a pan-GM level.

Commenting on the strategy, Georgina Maratheftis, techUK’s Head of Local Public Services recently said:

“Fantastic to see Greater Manchester pull together it’s digital ambitions and priorities together into this new blueprint. A strategy that puts its citizens and collaboration at the heart of it. Great news that techUK’s Digital Devolution: A Guide for Mayors' recommendation of an audit of the local data assets and creating an open data platform that stimulates local innovative solutions has been taken on board. Opening up data affords local business and start-ups the opportunity to interpret the problem and become suppliers of innovative local solutions. It is also a great way to add value to the city-region, connecting the community and allowing citizens to use data to crowdsource and solve their own issues.

“It is to be commended for focusing on an ecosystem approach for its delivery. techUK looks forward to working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in helping deliver its aims and mission.”