The Civic Data Cooperative hosted its first Community Data Hackathon on 6th December 2024, bringing together data enthusiasts from across the Liverpool City Region. Participants collaborated on innovative ways to make datasets more accessible and impactful, focusing on themes like community support, data integration, and local strengths. The event fostered creativity, networking, and problem-solving, with teams developing real-world solutions to enhance public services. Insights from this successful hackathon will shape the next event, scheduled for Spring/Summer 2025.
Exploring how data can drive better decisions, stronger communities, and improved public services.
On 6 December 2024, we hosted our first ever Community Data Hackathon at the Municipal Hotel in Liverpool City Centre.
This was more than just a data event — it was a day of collaboration, creativity, and conversation. We brought together people from across the Liverpool City Region, including students, researchers, developers, and local professionals, to explore how data could be used to make life better for communities.
A Theme of Possibility: Community Through Data
The hackathon invited participants to think differently about the role of data. Working with real datasets — covering topics such as unemployment, population change, and active travel — teams set out to find new ways of turning information into action.
The day began with a conversation inspired by the Round ‘Ere project in Widnes. Hearing directly from community researchers, participants were encouraged to consider how lived experience and local knowledge could shape meaningful data tools.
Ideas in Action
Each team presented their ideas at the end of the day, offering unique perspectives on how data could support wellbeing, accessibility, and public service design. From a web-based platform that visualised data around job opportunities and green space, to insights on how walking and cycling trends intersect with deprivation, the ideas reflected the energy and care of the people behind them.
Inspired by Round ‘Ere, one group explored how data could improve access to services in neighbourhoods like Widnes — making public systems easier to understand and navigate.
Looking Ahead
This hackathon was the first step in an ongoing journey. It marked a key milestone in our Greater Data Programme, launched in 2024, and laid the groundwork for new approaches to community-led innovation.
We’re using what we learned — the feedback, the ideas, the connections — to shape our next Community Data Hackathon, coming Spring/Summer 2025.
At the Civic Data Cooperative, we believe better data starts with better conversations. This event showed us what’s possible when people come together with a shared purpose: to use data not just for analysis, but for action.
At the CDC, we will build on the success of this first hackathon and run a second hackathon in Spring/Summer 2025. This event will be inspired by the outcomes of the Great Data Programme and learnings from our wider portfolio of innovation projects.