MANCHESTER DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

We are part of Manchester City Council located within the Regeneration Division of the Chief Executive’s Department, and work with partners from the whole of Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Manchester City Council acts as the lead authority for this work on behalf of all ten of the Greater Manchester districts, which are members of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA). Digital Strategy It is our responsibility to develop and implement the Digital Strategy for the Manchester city-region. The latest version of the Strategy was approved by Manchester City Council’s Executive Committee on 12 March 2008.

The Strategy aims to create a ‘digital masterplan’ for the city. This plan will be used to guide future investment and bring together industry, research bodies and community representatives to develop new ideas for services that will benefit residents, local business and the wider community. One of the key aims for the Strategy is to put in place super-fast broadband across Manchester.

We aim to do this by creating a new ‘open access’ network, putting in place fibre to the premises connections, advanced wireless and a new internet ‘Hub’ exchange. By creating this next generation connectivity, we aim to link key employment sites across the Manchester city region to accelerate job growth, enhance the digital skill base and provide new opportunities for home access, flexible working and telecare services.