What we’re about
We are a socialising, networking, and skill-sharing community for anyone working with data in Brighton. The goal of the meetup is to bring locals together, share experiences and war stories, increase awareness of local opportunities and to give or receive support with data related challenges.
We meet bimonthly on the last Wednesday of the odd-numbered months. We offer a mix of presentations and informal chats. Our meetings are hybrid, meaning we meet in person and stream the events online for remote attendees.
A selection of recordings from previous meetings can be found on our Youtube channel and/or on Silicon Brighton's Youtube channel.
In addition to organising events, we manage a #slack workspace to continue the conversation. Whether you can attend our meetings or not, we encourage all group members and local data professionals to join us on #slack. Email Oskar to ask for an invite.
The Brighton Data Forum is proud to be sponsored by the Silicon Brighton tech community. Silicon Brighton is a community-led initiative to support digital growth in the region. They work hand-in-hand with the local tech community to provide individuals with free opportunities for networking, training, up-skilling and development; helping people to take their careers and businesses forward. Find out more here.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Silicon Brighton Marches with Pride 2025Hove Lawns, Hove
Join us at this year's Brighton Pride, with the theme Ravishing Rage, as we come together to honour and support the LGBTQ+ folks in our community.
We've booked a spot, and have a number of spaces for anyone who would like to march with us. If you would like to join us, please fill out this brief form so we can send you all the info & details you need:
🌈 https://forms.gle/cyGnD5h4JEafN6wJ9
The parade starts at 11am at Hove Lawns before weaving through the city and ending at Preston Park. Wear what you want and bring whatever you fancy - signs, flags, twirling ribbons and the like, etc!
Hope to see you there!
- Special event: Workshop on Lakehouses and MCP with DremioBarclays Eagle Labs Brighton, Brighton
Come learn how to set up a data Lakehouse with a Model-Context-Protocol using the Dremio data platform.
This special event is not for passive attendees, it is a workshop for active participants!
This hands-on workshop introduces participants to Dremio, a powerful data lakehouse platform, and its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration. You'll learn to set up and navigate Dremio's unified data architecture, execute SQL queries across multiple data sources, and leverage the MCP server to programmatically interact with your data catalog.
The session covers core Dremio concepts including data virtualization, query acceleration, and schema management, while demonstrating how the MCP server enables seamless integration between AI tools and the Dremio platform. Perfect for data engineers, analysts, and developers looking to modernize their data stack and build intelligent data applications.Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with SQL and data concepts is beneficial
Format: Interactive demonstrations with guided exercises
Instructor: Will Martin is a Technical Evangelist with experience as a data engineer, academic, technology consultant, and software developer. He has spent 15+ years collaborating with companies and organisations across EMEA and APAC, including roles at CERN, BMT, Deloitte, and Tamr. Beginning with a background of statistical analysis in particle physics, his professional journey has spanned multiple industries, including banking, shipping logistics, entertainment, healthcare, defence, and customer 360.Note:
- Being a workshop, this will be an in-person event only.
- Participants will need to bring a fully charged laptop to work through the exercises.
- The laptop will need to have Docker installed, optionally Docker Desktop
- The laptop will need to have Python installed, v3.11+
We will use docker to spin-up Dremio, minIO (for object storage), and a data catalog, and Python will be used to install and run the MCP server.
The Brighton data forum is sponsored by Rittman Analytics, and supported by Silicon Brighton.
