Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic.

Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to three organisers of UKGovCamp – the unconference that has become known as the “Glastonbury of Government’ in the UK.

We were delighted to host three insightful organisers of this event for this special installment of One Zero One – Amanda Smith, David Durant and Sarah Baskerville.

Amanda Smith (@ayymanduh on Twitter) leads the User Centred Policy Design in MOJ Digital and throughout her career has worked at the intersection of people, policy, services, and systems. Amanda cares about building diverse, multi-disciplinary teams; coaching people to take people-centred approaches and supporting organisations to become more

open and outcomes focused by approach. Amanda attended her first GovCamp in 2011 and has been an organiser since 2017.

David Durant, a Senior Delivery Manager at HackIT (Hackney Council IT department) also joined us for this episode and can be found at @cholten99 on Twitter. David joined the public sector 10 years ago and couldn't imagine working anywhere else now as he is so passionate about providing excellent all-round services for the public, not just the digital components. David is also very interested in saving public money through reuse, collaboration, and community-building between government organisations. Having been on the GovCamp committee for five years, David looks after the event’s amazing volunteers, without whom the event wouldn't take place.

Our third guest Sarah Baskerville (otherwise known as @baskers on Twitter) also works in the Public Sector and has a keen interest in Digital, Open Data, Data Visualisations and Social Technology. Sarah helps organise UKGovCamp in addition to the UK Civil Service Stammering Network (@UK_CSSN on Twitter). Sarah has a self-admitted weakness for all

things shiny and tech, especially crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.

About UKGovCamp:

Govcamps are:

 free to attend.

 focused on attendee participation.

 relentlessly positive, constructive, and creative.

The most recent Unconference took place in January 2021 and our guests have very interesting themes and insights to share in this episode that were raised at the event’s sessions. However, the community runs all year around and (as the organisers will explain in this discussion) you can participate at any time and are encouraged to reach out. Check out ukgovcamp.com for more information.

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. 

Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Ed Garcez, Director of Transformation at Central Bedfordshire Council in this episode to discuss the Digital Transformation journey the Council has been on for the past 10 months due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that has forced organisations to become ‘digital-first’ remote-working environments overnight. In this insightful discussion, Ed explains how Central Bedfordshire Council has significantly changed due to the crisis in terms of remote-working, citizen impact, community support and interestingly, the significant rise in citizen participation in the democratic process now that council meetings are hosted digitally.

Having joined the Council in June of 2020 midway through its response to the pandemic, Ed’s role that was initially focused on supporting the council in their journey of moving from being a new council (under 12 years old) into the next stage of its evolution was immediately transformed into a role fully focused on the Council’s response to the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Central Bedfordshire Council delivers a very wide range of services to approx. 300,000 citizens including everything from critical social care to leisure and refuse collection. The challenge for Central Bedfordshire Council has been continuing to deliver those services to the same standard (or better) as people need many of them more than they usually would, but also how they would support their staff and most vulnerable citizens in such an unprecedented time of difficulty and financial constraints for many people. 

 

Don’t miss this great episode of the One Zero One podcast to get an insight into the how Central Bedfordshire Council transformed digitally and in the process overcame many challenges to continue to support the people who need its services the most during these unpredictable and truly unprecedented times. 

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. 

Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Eileen Jennings-Brown, Head of Technology at Wellcome Trust in this episode to discuss the Digital Transformation journey the Wellcome Trust was on before the global pandemic forced organisations to become ‘digital-first’ remote-working environments overnight, and how that journey still doesn’t have a ‘hard stop’.

 

Eileen explains in this episode that the Wellcome Trust had completed a significant amount of Digital Transformation prior to COVID-19 – however they still had a huge amount of work to undertake not only in terms of Digital Transformation, but in understanding and supporting a culture of remote-working for employees and managing the impact working from home has had on employees’ in terms of feeling isolated and under increased pressure working alongside partners, children, pets, etc. 

 

Eileen Jennings-Brown has worked in the IT industry for over 23 years holding senior leadership roles for the past 11 years. She started life as an IT support analyst in 1997 and has progressed her career working for businesses across the UK and Europe in a range of different IT roles. She set up her first IT Consultancy business in 2014 and her second in 2017.  She is currently the Head of Technology at Wellcome Trust based in London. In 2020 she was voted one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in UK Technology.

Tune into Eileen Jennings-Brown’s episode to receive valuable advice around being an effective IT leader, trusting employees to make decisions and how Digital Transformation should be a journey without a ‘hard stop’. This is a very lively discussion filled with unmissable insights, so don’t miss out! 

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. 

Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Fin Goulding, CTO at Flow Academy in this episode to discuss all things Agile, DevOps and Digital Transformation – particularly in the context of the ‘digital-first’ remote-working environment organisations are operating in currently due to COVID-19.

Year-on-year Fin Goulding has been listed as a Global Top 100 CIO/CTO and has extensive digital and agile expertise as a hands-on transformation practitioner. Today as the CTO at Flow Academy, Fin works with companies in any sector who need help either starting or repairing their transformation (be that business/digital or agile) and gets them back on track. 

A co-author of multiple books including “Flow: A Handbook for Change-Makers, Mavericks, Innovation Activists and Leaders – Simplifying Digital Transformation” and “12 Steps to Flow: The New Framework for Business Agility” – Fin is an active member of ‘The Agile Business Community’ and shares his deep level of expertise and insights with the One Zero One listeners throughout this episode.

Tune into Fin Goulding’s episode to learn more about where Agile is today (twenty years on from the Agile Manifesto), what organisations are adopting Agile for and how organisations are seeking help from Agile practices during the global pandemic with the sudden roll-out of remote working.

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast is back with a bang and a new host has joined us for a deep dive into what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Karl Hoods, Chief Digital & Information Officer at BEIS in this podcast to find out how it has been for Karl to steer digital change at a key government department during a global pandemic.

BEIS is a key ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for building a stronger, greener future by fighting coronavirus, tackling climate change, unleashing innovation, and making the UK a great place to work and do business.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a very timely (remote) discussion with Tim Panagos, CTO at Microshare.io and our host Peter Gothard.

Tim is a technology executive with 20 years of experience in Enterprise Software having held senior roles in several organisations as a Software Engineer, Chief Architect and CTO. Tim is the Co-Founder and CTO of Microshare, a data leverage platform for the IoT era, providing a solution to sharing, privacy, security, audit, confidentiality, data monetisation and cost savings. Driven by the new technology developments and the IoT wave, Microshare was founded to brings things to life; connecting buildings, assets, people and devices so that users can make smarter decisions.

As Tim explains in this insightful episode, Microshare solutions are in demand the world over as public and private sector officials are responsible for the health and safety of workers, tenants, customers and others who pass through their facilities. Its Universal Contact Tracing and Touchfree Feedback solutions were designed specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic. They are working to keep spaces safe for employees, tenants and residents from monitoring air quality indoor to delivering touchfree feedback where individuals may need to let management know that a restroom needs to be cleaned.

As CTO, Tim is in charge of the strategic product vision and implements these solutions into an architecture which can be deployed most effectively across Microshare’s customers’ businesses.

Download or stream this episode for an engaging conversation, or investigation in certain parts, as our host Peter gets the lowdown on the IoT industry today, the use cases for internet-connected ‘things’ and how it has become intertwined with 21st century living today, transparency and some concerns about the impact of connected devices on privacy – particularly in employee/employer relations. It’s certainly one to listen to for businesses and employers considering how to return employees safely to physical spaces and how to have the right conversations around trying new technology and devices to improve wellbeing in the business.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with an energetic and candid (pre-quarantine) discussion with Sara Stephens, CTO at Rest Less and our host Peter Gothard.

Sara Stephens is a technology leader with a 10-year history in software development and technology leadership, with multiple years spent working in the financial services industry in New York City before returning home to the UK. Upon her return to the UK, Sara changed direction from the corporate world and tapped into her entrepreneurial spirit, co-founding a pop-up cocktail service startup in Southampton, successfully expanding to Manchester, and becoming the #1 TripAdvisor nightlife experience in Southampton.

In 2018, Sara joined Rest Less, the UK’s fastest-growing site for the over 50s as the startup’s Chief Technology Officer. Rest Less is a digital service launched to inspire today’s generation of over 50s and 60s to get the most from life – focusing on work, financial wellbeing, learning, volunteering, lifestyle and more. The aim is to help people to get more from the retirement they’ve worked hard to earn, providing a unique opportunity to choose a new path and to keep doing what they want for as long as they can.

With a unique viewpoint of leading teams and projects in both the corporate world and the startup world, Sara brought great insights to the One Zero One podcast. From discussing the challenges associated with the ‘freedom’ and lack of corporate processes in a startup to demonstrating how critical the timing of hiring for your team can be in a small team compared to a corporate organisation, Sara offers candid advice to our listeners who may be considering a change in either direction in their next role.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a (pre-quarantine) discussion with Mark Ridley, Director at CTO Advisory Firm Ridley Industries and our host Peter Gothard.

Mark Ridley is an entrepreneur and technologist working with startups and corporates to ensure that technology is used creatively and effectively to support their strategy. Recognised as one of the top ten CIOs in the UK, he writes and speaks regularly about the use of technology, agile methodologies and digital working.

Mark was the technical co-founder of reed.co.uk, the largest job site in the UK, where he served as technology director during its growth from four people to over 350.

We often speak of SaaS on One Zero One, but interestingly on this episode, we spoke to Mark about TLaaS – Technology Leadership as a Service.

Working with startup founders, executive teams and established technology functions, Mark Ridley helps businesses align their strategy and structure with their business goals.

Download or stream this episode for a very insightful discussion around the pitfalls of innovation without constraints or objectives, why celebrating 'failure' in Agile isn't really something to celebrate and how senior technologists shouldn't necessarily be solely focused on the CTO role for career progression.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a (remote) discussion with Charles Ewen, Director of Technology & CIO at The Met Office. The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as The Met Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service, an organisation that has been supporting the British public since 1854. The Met Office makes meteorological predictions across all timescales from weather forecasts to climate change.

As CIO of the Met Office, Charles Ewen is accountable for all aspects of technology within the Met Office and manages a dedicated engineering team of 350+ people. In a remote interview with our host Peter Gothard, Charles shared with our listeners the relationship between what the Met Office does and the high-performance computing (HPC) estate running at the organisation. 

Kicking off with the relationship between the Met Office and the world’s first general-purpose Turing-complete computer ENIAC and moving on to the relationship between what the Met Office does today and the long complex chain of technology that the general public would simply view as a ‘weather forecast’, Charles excellently describes the scale and complexity of what they do today. 

From utilising the world’s top supercomputers, to leveraging the capabilities of the Public Cloud, The Met Office technology platform uses operational predictions and simulations to derive over 4 million discrete forecast products every day and distribute them to a wide range of expert users and systems as well as delivering the UK Public Weather Service. 

Download or stream this episode for an excellent deep dive on the technology of the Met Office and to gain advice and insights from Charles Ewen, a CIO with progressive beliefs around technology, innovation, diversity, people and processes.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a discussion on Machine Learning and AI solutions with Peter Bebbington, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Offer and Chief Digital Officer at Brainpool.ai.

Peter Bebbington joined One Zero One host Peter Gothard to discuss Brainpool, an artificial intelligence consultancy specialising in developing bespoke AI solutions.

Brainpool operates as a global network of over 400 artificial intelligence and machine learning experts brought together to help software companies enhance their products with Machine Learning and AI.  The Brainpool founders believe with this approach that they can service their clients with the AI resources they need to stay ahead of the curve. 

In addition to its consultancy work, Brainpool has also developed two products: Forstack, which predicts financial time series models and DAISY, the first fully automated construction design system powered by Artificial Intelligence. Peter discusses DAISY in detail in this episode, explaining how this product impacts construction professionals such as architects positively in terms of eliminating manual work and increasing output significantly.

Download or stream this episode to learn more about Brainpool.ai, the trends they are seeing in terms of client demand, and where they see the value in AI and Machine Learning solutions going forward.