About this project

An experiment in civic intelligence

5 July 2026

The Civic Atlas is evolving into an experiment in civic intelligence.

Rather than helping people answer specific questions, I'm interested in whether connected public data and AI can help them discover relationships they didn't know existed, so they can ask better questions and make better civic decisions. 

I'm starting in Birmingham (because that’s where I am), but the challenge is a national one.

The challenge

Every day, charities, funders, commissioners and community organisations make important decisions about where to invest their limited time, money and effort.

Those decisions are informed by data – but the most valuable insights often lie in the relationships between many different sources of information, and those relationships are increasingly too numerous and too complex for any individual to discover consistently on their own.

The Civic Atlas, then, is an experiment in whether connected public data, local knowledge and responsible AI can help reveal those relationships – and in a way that could strengthen how we understand and develop civic society.

I started it simply because I wanted to see how Birmingham’s charities mapped against the new political landscape after the 2026 council elections, but that question has evolved:

Can it help us make better decisions by highlighting relationships we would otherwise never have seen?

How the Civic Atlas might help

For example, imagine being presented with insights for investigation around:

  • organisations that should work together but wouldn’t have stood out as obvious partners
  • existing community capacity and where it may be changing unnoticed
  • connections between policy, demographics, funding and community activity that would otherwise remain hidden
  • local strengths to design procurement around. 

I’ve been developing the initial prototype independently as a way of testing ideas quickly before seeking wider collaboration.

I'm now looking to connect with charities, funders, commissioners, researchers and civic technologists who are interested in exploring it.

Demonstration record added

6 July 2026

For demonstration purposes, I'm building up the Ladywood page to show the sort of information the Civic Atlas hopes to uncover eventually.

Early Preview

21 May 2026

The Civic Atlas is an active prototype. Some data is incomplete, some features are experimental, and there will be errors. I'm sharing it now to gather feedback and learn what would make it genuinely useful.

Please do 👀 Take a look and 💬 Give feedback!

What is this ‘Civic Atlas’?

21 May 2026

I wanted a better understanding of civil society here in Birmingham (UK), particularly in light of the 2026 council elections. I wanted to see how charitable activity overlapped with the political and demographic make-up of the city.

The project combines datasets from Birmingham's City Observatory with human insight. As well as showing information about council wards and civil society organisations, this first version lets you see where an organisation is active, and overlay that with the political power and IMD rating for that ward.

For now, I will concentrate on getting more and better data into it. But I really would welcome feedback as well as suggestions for how it might evolve.

Please do 👀 Take a look and 💬 Give feedback!