John Duncan is the Connected Places Lead for Greater Manchester, which encompasses the largest metropolitan area in Northern England.

Recently, at Connected Britain in London, Duncan appeared on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities podcast, to discuss Greater Manchester's cutting-edge work to better connect the area's nearly 3 million residents.

Leading strategic policy initiatives for Greater Manchester, Duncan said he works extensively with fiber and mobile providers to make sure network investments are filling inclusion gaps.

The digital infrastructure in Greater Manchester has also laid the foundation for economic growth, Duncan said.

As such, Duncan said Greater Manchester's new strategy to become a "growth zone" for AI has become a big focus of his lately.