The Civic Data Cooperative (CDC) unveiled its first independent Economic Evaluation Report on Friday at the CDC Festival Conference Day, marking a major milestone in demonstrating the value of civic data for the Liverpool City Region. The report, produced by Oxford Insights with support from Lateral Economics, offered the most rigorous external assessment to date of the CDC’s work and confirmed that the programme has generated significant economic, social, and public health benefits since its inception.
According to the evaluation, the CDC delivered a return of between £3.96 and £8.87 for every £1 invested, even under intentionally conservative modelling. This strong performance reflected the CDC’s role in enabling major linked datasets including CIPHA, M‑RIC, and the CGULL cohort and its contribution to over £55 million in competitive research funding secured for the region. The report also highlighted the CDC’s wider civic contribution: building trusted data governance frameworks, advancing public and patient involvement, and laying the foundations for Liverpool’s emerging “learning health system.”
The impact story behind these findings is one of sustained, collaborative innovation across the Liverpool City Region. Through the CDC’s leadership and technical support, new tools and approaches have emerged that are already transforming local services from reducing emergency admissions through more targeted telehealth case‑finding, to improving fire‑safety outcomes with more precise risk identification, to enabling Liverpool’s pivotal role in the national Events Research Programme during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Together, these examples show how responsibly linked data can strengthen public services, improve people’s lives, and open the door to new opportunities for research, investment, and evidence‑driven decision‑making.
To reflect on the findings and explore their wider implications, Emma Hankins Law, Senior Consultant at Oxford Insights and one of the lead authors of the report, joined the conference day panel titled “How do we measure the value of civic data and AI?” at Festival of Data on Friday, 6th Feb 2026. Her contribution helped contextualise the evaluation within broader national and global conversations about the responsible measurement of data and AI value.
During the panel, Emma explained how the independent evaluation combined economic modelling with qualitative evidence from partners, highlighting not only the quantifiable benefits of CDC-enabled infrastructure but also the intangible value created through community-centred design and public trust. She emphasised that the CDC’s impact extended far beyond financial metrics: “The CDC has shown that when regions invest in responsible data stewardship with transparency, inclusion, and public interest at its core, they build systems that are capable of delivering both economic return and meaningful social progress.”
