About CoCoDisMan

One of the aims of the UK Government is to support increased investment into industrial digital technologies and associated digital skills to boost productivity, economic growth and improve resilience. To accelerate this, it has created the Made Smarter Initiative and has made research funding available through this initiative via the InterAct Network.​

​

This research project aims to examine what communities would like access to and perhaps already has access to, in terms of digital skills and manufacturing within their community. We wish to engage with a range of stakeholders and interested parties to understand the needs of communities, for example, councils, businesses, enterprise partnerships, educators, young people, older people, disadvantaged groups, differently abled groups etc. The longer-term aim would be to create a network of digitally enabled community-based hubs, where community needs for products, training, skills, and job opportunities were met locally. This study is the scoping exercise for the initial phase of the project, which is to understand local needs first, which will then lead to the development of a digital platform linking local needs with local solutions. Our intent is that by better understanding what communities are looking for in terms of digital skills and manufacturing, we can facilitate the creation of hubs to support these needs. Thus, to summarise, the aim of this project is to develop a blueprint for a co-created, distributed, community-based manufacturing platform in the UK with a business model to support its financial viability and scalability.