Liverpool City Region Residents' Assembly on Data and AI Innovation
Every day more and more data is collected about what we do and where we live. At the same time we hear a lot about ‘AI’, chatbots, and digital tech. These technologies are built using information and data about us. Data can be used to make better decisions and build beneficial technology for our local area. It can also get things wrong.
How can we better match how data and AI is used to what residents want to see happen in their area? We want to ask Liverpool City Region residents that question.
Last updated: January 8th, 2025
The Plan
In March 2025, the LCR Civic Data Cooperative is inviting 60 residents to debate the direction of data and AI innovation in the region.
The CDC’s mission is to make data about the region work for the people who live here. That covers exploring data innovation, imagining better data-informed services, and engaging residents on data topics. We work with communities to give them a say on the impact of data, build skills and co-design new solutions.
For our next project, we are building a set of principles, deliberated by residents, on what trustworthy and beneficial data innovation looks like, that could be used to help inform future local projects that use data with an impact on peoples lives.
We will use their recommendations to ratify a Liverpool City Region Data and Innovation Charter, one of the first of its kind in the world. This will give innovators and researchers in the region an actionable social license for data and AI innovation.
Our question for residents
What does trustworthy and beneficial data and AI innovation look like for the Liverpool City Region?
Watch the recording from our online launch meeting
Frequently asked questions
The assembly will include up to 60 residents deliberately chosen to represent both the six local authorities and the diversity of the LCR. We will ensure an equal spread of men and women, as well as representation across age, race, sexual identity, disability, socioeconomic status, and digital and data literacy.
The assembly will be held in person across 4 sessions in March 2025. There will also be an induction session the week prior to the assembly between February 24 and 28 which can be conducted either online or over the phone. There will also be a debrief session held the week of March 24 to 28. You need to attend all the sessions.
The results of the Assembly will be used to develop the Liverpool City Region Data and AI Innovation Charter. The Charter will be used by the organisations in the region to plan and evaluate potential projects. The results will also be published in reports, communications, and in academic research papers developed by the Assembly team. These reports and papers will be publicly available, and the team will provide a web link to the Assembly participants where these can be found.
The Liverpool City Region Civic Data Cooperative is running the assembly. The LCR Civic Data Cooperative’s mission is to make data about the region work for the people who live here. We engage communities across the patch to give them a say on the form and impact of data and data technologies. The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Data into Action programme, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and the University of Liverpool’s Civic Health Innovation Labs are jointly convening this Assembly. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority funds this work through the Civic Data Cooperative.
We will be sending 21,000 letters out to residents in the City Region in early 2025. If you receive a letter and sign up, you will be able to take part.
If you’d like to take part in another way, but haven’t received a letter, express your interest in one of our other events here: https://forms.office.com/e/nQg3Cke7CN
A charter is a set of principles outlining the values and expectations for an organisation or topic. A charter will help organisations more easily align their data and innovation projects to public expectations. It creates a mandate for future work that will help facilitate innovation.
We want everyone to be able to take part. To help that happen we are offering the following:
1.Payment and travel cover – All participants will be paid £25 per hour for their participation. We will offer travel vouchers to cover parking and transit.
2.Postal recruitment – Participants will receive letters in the post. They can register online or via the phone.
3.Letters of support – We will offer participants letters of support for employers to encourage flexibility in working hours.
4.Day-of support including childcare and interpretation – We will assess the accessibility needs of each participant at the venue. This will include childcare, translation services, interpretation, and physical access as needed. There will be quiet space for participants and a multi-faith prayer room.
5.Additional evening sessions – We recognise that not all participants have the ability to take part in a weekday event. We will be running evening sessions that cover the same topics in an abbreviated format to ensure all voices have the opportunity to be heard as much as possible.
About data, AI, and public participation
Data is information collected in different forms for many purposes. It includes numbers, text, images, sound, and objects.
Artificial Intelligence is the use of computers to create technology that thinks like humans. That can mean creating tech that can understand, explain, and create things using data.
Here are a few resources and projects from other organisations where you can learn more.
Connected by Data’s People’s Panel on AI
Learn more about our work
The Big AI Debate: Who Gets to Decide?
Cheshire and Merseyside Resident Perspectives on The Use of Administrative Health Data for Research
Round ‘Ere: Understanding Widnes resident perspectives on wellbeing data
Liverpool Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Citizens’ Jury
What’s Your Problem: Exploring public sector challenges with data
