Why I care about...

In this episode, Sarah talks to Robin Gower about why he cares about identifiers: what they are, why he thinks they’re useful; where you can find them and how you can get into using them yourself. From his early frustrations which encouraged him to work with identifiers, to his more recent work with publishing data with government organisations, Robin shares his insights, experiences and hopes for the future. 

Robin Gower works as a Data Designer at Swirrl, where he helps publishers to express their datasets with linked-data and he has 15 years experience consulting as an economist and statistician for the UK public and social sectors. He was a founding member of Open Data Manchester and has written, and continues to maintain, several open source software libraries.

Links

Robin on twitter @robsteranium

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

csvw.org

schema.org

swirrl.com

Ordnance survey ontologies

Ordnance Survey coordinates transformation tool 

Wikidata

W3C Standards

Gov.uk guidance on publishing reference data 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Sam Roberts about why he cares about engaging people with government data. From the early days of open data, to the current more mainstream landscape, Sam shares his insights, experiences and hopes for the future. He talks about his approach in sharing the benefits of open data; the impact of data around the pandemic and how the rapid development of technology might influence the future, as well as concerns over disinformation. 

Sam is the Head of Open Data and Open Government Policy in the Central Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office. He also heads up the UK’s engagement with the Open Government Partnership and sits on the bureau of the Open Government Working Party for the OECD.

Links

Sam on twitter @SammyR21

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Central Digital and Data Office

Swirrl Website

Open Government Partnership

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2021-2023

In this episode, Sarah talks to Sam Hall about why she cares about Welsh 

local authorities data. With twenty years of experience in working with data, 

including previous roles at the Office for National Statistics, and Birmingham 

Council during the pandemic, Sam speaks passionately about the impact of data for citizens and gives a real insight into the work her team are currently doing, as well as plans for the future. 

Sam is the Local Government Chief Digital Officer for Wales, working across all twenty two welsh local authorities. 

Links

Sam on twitter @SamHallWales

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Welsh Local Government Digital Website

Email addresses to contact the Welsh Local Government Digital Team:

[email protected]  and [email protected]

Swirrl website

In this episode, Sarah talks to Giuseppe Sollazzo about why he cares about data quality. From one of his earliest roles, which involved working with healthcare data in Italy, to his current role at NHSX and much in between, Giuseppe shares his insights, experience and hopes for data quality. 

 

Giuseppe is Deputy Director & Head of AI Skunkworks at NHSX; one of the organisers of Open Data Camp and author of the weekly newsletter Quantum of Sollazzo.

Links

Giuseppe on Twitter @puntofisso

NHSX on twitter @NHSX

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

NHSX website

Swirrl website

AI Skunkworks with links to all blogs, case studies, etc

CogX recording

Quantum of Sollazzo newsletter

DAMA

Open Data Camp

John Burn-Murdoch on Twitter @jburnmurdoch 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Charles Baird about why he cares about the API community. From engaging with API users and producers right now, to making APIs discoverable in the future, Charles shares his insights, experiences and plans. He has a genuine enthusiasm for the API community as a place where people can really listen to each other’s needs, barriers and ideas as well as being a collective which can enable and develop good practice, and he’s keen to get people involved across sectors.

Charles is a Data Architect at the Data Standards Authority, which is a part of the Central Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office.

Links

Charles on Twitter @charlesbaird

api.gov.uk

Data Standards Authority

NHS Digital API Catalogue

Central Digital and Data Office

In this episode, Sarah talks to Anna Scott and Katherine Duerden, about why they care about opening up government data. They chat about the 360Giving standard, which has been adopted by the UK government, as well as their own experiences, insights and hopes when it comes to opening up government data.

Anna Scott is Communications Manager and Katherine Duerden is Support and Engagement manager at 360Giving - a charity which helps organisations openly publish grants data.

Links

360Giving on twitter @360Giving 

360Giving website

Anna on twitter @Anna_D_Scott

Anna’s website 

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Swirrl Website

360 Data Standard

360Giving Covid-19 Grants Tracker 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Alasdair Rae, about why he cares about geospatial data. From basketball to Human Geography; election analysis to Right Move,  Alasdair shares his experiences and insights into geospatial data, and his hopes for how it can help people understand things better. 

Alasdair is currently CEO of Automatic Knowledge Ltd, a data geospatial insights company, and was previously a professor in the department of Urban Studies and Planning at Sheffield University.

Links

Alasdair on Twitter @undertheraedar

Automatic Knowledge Ltd

Stats, Maps N Pix blog

Swirrl on Twitter @swirrl

Swirrl's website 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Gavin Freeguard, about why he cares about better government data. From his first Whitehall Monitor pdf, to analysis on the current communication of Covid data and thoughts on the National Data Strategy, Gavin shares his insights, experiences and hopes for how data can improve the effectiveness of government.

Gavin is currently Programme Director for Data and Digital Government at the Institute for Government. From January 2021 he'll be freelance but will remain an associate of the Institute.

Links

Gavin on twitter @gavinfreeguard

Gavin's website

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Institute for Government on twitter @instituteforgov

Institute for Government Website

Whitehall Monitor Analysis

Swirrl Website

Further links of organisations and visualisations mentioned

Full Fact

360 Giving

Open Data Institute

Royal Statistical Society

Ada Lovelace Institute

Centre for Public Data 

Deprivation Data Visualisation Blog Post

In this episode, Sarah talks to Sophie Walker and Tom Passmore, of Dsposal, about why they care about rubbish data.

 

Both Dsposal, and its sister offering Your Dsposal, aim to combat waste crime through effective use of data, and are built on linked data from the Environment Agency. From early work talking to residents about food recycling, to a data epiphany on holiday in the Prairies, Tom and Sophie share their experiences and vision for both the environment and environmental data. Because, as Sophie says, we all create waste - but knowing where it should go (and what to do with it), isn't always straightforward.

Links

Dsposal on twitter @YourDsposal

Sophie Walker on twitter @Sophie_COO

Tom Passmore on twitter @Eldo36

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Dsposal website

ODI project article 

Dsposal Waste Thesaurus

Swirrl website 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Jamie Whyte about why he cares about telling stories with data. From his early days at Trafford council, to his work at Open Data Manchester, Jamie shares his insights, experiences, frustrations and hopes for sharing data in a way that makes it relevant and useful to communities.

Links

Jamie on twitter @northernjamie

Open Data Manchester on twitter @opendatamcr

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl

Open Data Manchester website

Propolis - the open data factory website

Swirrl website