Central government: give councils a fighting chance to innovate
In a recent podcast interview, former No. 10 adviser, Steve Hilton, lamented that David Cameron never delivered a speech laying out to the public the need for experimentation in policy, and to accept that some initiatives might fail. I agree with Hilton’s sentiment: we need precisely that conversation. Politics and policymaking cannot and must not […]
Business models, featured, government innovation, Local Government
Eight ideas for tackling peak demand in public services
The peak demand problem How can government and public sector organisations operate with fewer resources and at lower cost while maintaining the same level of service? Inspiration for one potential answer comes from the world of electricity production. One of the major challenges for power generation is that demand for electricity is not steady. Instead […]
behavioural insights, demand management, featured, nudge, Peak demand
How do organisations innovate?
On 5 July 2017 I gave the following informal talk to the UK energy regulator, Ofgem, on the subject “How to Innovate”. I used the session to share some of the thinking that Nesta applies when helping organisations to bring great ideas to life. The talk explores how organisations can approach making smarter use of […]
Business models, digital government, featured, government innovation
5 Lessons from piloting the London Office of Data Analytics
On 25 May 2017 I gave this keynote at the Strata Data Conference at London’s ExCel centre, to share lessons from the London Office of Data Analytics (LODA) pilot. The video above (and on YouTube) shows the first five minutes of the presentation. To view the full speech, you can sign up for a free […]
Big Data, City Data, Data Privacy, digital government, featured, Local Government, Smart Cities
What’s the future of personal data on the internet?
On 23 May 2017 I took part in this BBC Click Radio episode to talk about Nesta’s participation in a European Commission funded programme called Decode. The aim of Decode is to put individuals in control of whether they keep their personal data private or share it for the public good. The Project Coordinator Francesca […]
Connecting Data for Better Outcomes – GeoPlace Presentation
Below is a recording and the full written transcript of a presentation I gave at the GeoPlace Annual Conference in Leeds on 11 May 2017. In the talk I explain why it’s essential for local authorities and public sector bodies to be able to link together their datasets for both place-based and person records, in […]
City Data, featured, Local Government, open data, personal data
Interview: the rationale for a London Office of Data Analytics
During the Socitm Annual Conference in October 2016, I spoke to UKA to record this video about Nesta’s collaboration with the GLA and 14 London boroughs to pilot a London Office of Data Analytics. Interested in how cities can use data to improve services? I highly recommend The Responsive City by Stephen Goldsmith and Susan […]
Big Data, Cities, City Data, Data, Local Government, Smart Cities
Who’s responsible for building trust with personal data?
As the age-old saying goes, knowledge is power. The continued relevance of this morsel of wisdom seems to underpin at least part of the growing unease at the amount of data that corporate – and especially internet – giants hold about us, their users. It is healthy, many wonder, for so much personal data to […]
Data, Data Privacy, digital economy, featured, personal data
Why data is key to the success of city devolution
Imagine it’s the day after the mayoral election in a UK city region. The victorious candidate gathers together the local authorities, the LEPs, the public sector bodies and citizen groups for the first time. “Right everyone,” says the Mayor. “City devolution gives us an opportunity to make progress on three things across the region. We’re […]
Cities, City Data, Data, featured, Local Government, Smart Cities
9 Principles for reforming public services with data
Nesta’s Office of Data Analytics (ODA) programme aims to help cities and regions join up, analyse and act upon data sourced from multiple local authorities and public sector bodies to reform public services. Our hypothesis is that the scale of the financial challenges facing the public sector is such that it’s not sufficient for individual […]
City Data, Data, featured, Local Government, personal data, Smart Cities
London 1854: the world’s first smart city?
What’s the first name that comes to mind when you think about a smart city? Elon Musk? Jeff Bezos? Travis Kalanick? It’s natural that we should leap to the technologists. Smart cities are, after all, about technology: driverless cars, drone deliveries and Minority Report-style signs that change depending on who’s looking at them. But I’ll […]
The Rise and Rise of UK City Data Analytics
Supporting troubled families. Ensuring children are school-ready by the age of five. Tackling diabetes. Predicting and preventing fires. Identifying rogue landlords. Combating alcohol abuse. These are just a few of the things that UK cities are already tackling with data science. On 12 September, practitioners from Manchester, Bath, London, Essex, Sunderland, Birmingham, Sheffield and Cardiff […]
Big Data, Cities, City Data, Data, featured, Local Government
