Does the UK need a cohesive smart city strategy?
This article was written for, and first appeared in, Public Sector Executive. For years the UK has had a slightly dysfunctional relationship with the term ‘smart city’. Much has been promised about how new technologies will positively transform our urban spaces. Becoming ‘smarter’ seems like an inherently good thing for cities to aspire to. But […]
What’s the ideal model for an Office of Data Analytics?
For the past several years, I’ve argued that the UK’s cities and regions should establish offices of data analytics (ODAs). Inspired by US cities like New York and New Orleans, the idea was to set up dedicated teams of data scientists who could help cities source, analyse and act upon data from multiple local government […]
Harnessing Data for Public Sector Innovation
On Friday 1 September 2017, I gave a speech on harnessing data for public sector innovation at the 177th meeting of the Bureau of the European Committee of the Regions, in Tallinn, Estonia. In this talk, I use the case study of the London Office of Data Analytics pilot to explain some of the lessons […]
Big Data, Cities, City Data, Data, featured, Local Government, Smart Cities
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
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
London Office of Data Analytics pilot – now for the hard part
For the past few months, Nesta has been working with the GLA, more than a dozen London boroughs, and data science specialists the ASI to develop an algorithm that predicts which of London’s many thousands of properties are unlicensed HMOs – “Houses in Multiple Occupation”. I outlined the rationale for the project in this interview […]
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
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 […]
Government as a Platform – technology, data or business model?
What exactly is Government as a Platform (GaaP) and does it have a future? This was the topic I was asked to address during a speech at the Oxford Internet Institute’s Platform Society conference on 22 September 2016. In my talk, which you can listen to via SoundCloud, I argue that the term might be […]
Cities, City Data, digital government, featured, GDS, Sharing Economy
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
