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WELCOME TO

MCR
TECH
FESTIVAL

23.09.25 to 03.10.25

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Manchester's Indie tech festival

designed by the community for the community

Taking place in October, Manchester Tech Festival is a collection of conferences, meetups and fringe events carefully curated to meet the needs of Manchester’s growing tech community. We pride ourselves on bringing the community together, with last years festival welcoming over 2000 techies including CTO’s, Founders, Software Engineers and Tech Graduates! 

It doesn’t stop there, MTF works throughout the year to support and bring the community together through monthly meetups and one-off specialised conferences including Women in Tech [Unfiltered].

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Orlando
Machado

Former Chief Data Officer
LEGO Group & Empiriq board member

Ron
Thompson

Former Government Executive
& Chief Data Officer, NASA & Empiriq board member

INTRODUCING OUR HEADLINE SPEAKERS

We are over the moon to announce our headline speakers for MTF 2025! Ron Thompson Ex CDO NASA will be flying over from Washington D.C for a live Q&A! Plus Orlando Machado the former CDO of The LEGO Group will be joining us for his own live Q&A before joining Ron Thompson on a panel to discuss their experience of adapting to change and the future of AI. 

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Manchester tech festival

24th september - 3rd october 25

Preparations are underway for Manchester Tech Festival 2025 but we still have some exciting ways you can get involved! Discover our lineup to date, apply to speak or volunteer or event grab one of our last remaining sponsor places! Oh and did we mention you can also join our ticket waiting list so you can get ahead of the game and grab your tickets first!

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Women in Tech [Unfiltered]

Women in Tech [Unfiltered] took place in March, bringing back the most Raw, Authentic and Brutally Honest talks about topics that affect women working in tech.

Check out our last Women in Tech [Unfiltered] and be sure to sign up to our waiting list to hear when our next event goes on sale! 

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Our SPonsors & Partners

Thank you to our amazing sponsors & partners

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JOIN OR SPONSOR COMMUNITY

From an exhibition stand at our core conference to sponsorship of one of our mid-year events, MTF offers businesses of all sizes an opportunity to join together and engage with the Manchester Tech Ecosystem. 

From boosting brand awareness to securing your next big hire, our sponsorship packages offer a year of benefits designed to hit your business goals, regardless of your priorities!

Enquiry today or explore the different opportunities for MTF 2025

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OrlandoMachado_MTF

Orlando Machado

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ABOUT

Former CDO, LEGO Group & Board Member Empiriq

Orlando Machado is a leading data scientist and AI expert, who has worked at the forefront of digital transformation for major global businesses. Starting his career in academia, he has spent 30 years helping organisations get value out of their data…long before ‘data scientist’ was crowned the ‘sexiest job of the 21st century’.

He was the first Chief Data Officer at the LEGO Group, enabling colleagues at the world’s most reputable brand to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies, whilst protecting the privacy of its most important consumers: children.

He previously led the UK data science and analytics teams for dunnhumby, best known as the data science arm of Tesco, and pioneers in the use of data to understand customers better. He has been Chief Data Scientist at online business MoneySuperMarket, and at insurance company Aviva.

Orlando is a Non-Executive Director at the University of Cambridge, and an advisor to Electrify Video Partners, a startup company that buys and grows YouTube channels. He was previously a Non-Executive Director of Neos, a security technology company acquired by Sky in 2021. Passionate about the advantages of a diverse workforce, Orlando has been a member of the Gender Equality Leadership Team at Business in the Community, and a Mentor for the 30% Club.

Orlando was named a ‘World AI Top 50 innovator’ in 2022, and in 2023 received the DataIQ Professor Derek Holder lifetime achievement award for long-standing contributions to the data industry. He holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Warwick.
RonThompson

Ron
Thompson

Linkedin

ABOUT

Former Government Executive & Chief Data Officer, NASA

Ron Thompson is a distinguished technology leader with over 30 years of experience in the U.S. Federal Government. He has served in pivotal roles, including Chief Data Officer at NASA and Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

His contributions have earned widespread recognition: in 2023, he received the Technology Lifetime Achievement Award from the Government Business Executive Forum. He was also named one of the Top 100 Worldwide Data Activators in 2022 and featured on the Leading Data Executives list in 2021.