The People Photographer
The People Photographer
I shouldn’t rise to the Taxpayers’ Alliance. I really shouldn’t. Ok, perhaps just this once. We see outrage this week that a Council–a publicly-funded service commissioner and provider, mark you–has taken the desperate and profligate step of installing iPads into…
“Elderly war-hero imprisoned for six months for making a recording of an event.” Here’s the protest site. There’s enough in there to trigger outrage on so many levels! Where’s our respect for someone who fought for our freedoms? We thought…
For a long time, I’ve shied away from writing here about personal data. Or even thinking that deeply about it. The nature of identity, yes. The usefulnesss of data, yes. Personal data, no. Why? Not because it isn’t fascinating, or…
So, online petitions are back with us again. X-factor Whitehall is back for a new series. The power of the people is now only a few clicks away. Etc. etc. Amidst all the flurry of any new service settling into…
I’ve written before about something that would really set a rocket under the opening up of data: the vigorous pursuit of the useful stuff. When we’ve been given access to transport data, wonderful things have happened. When we get real-time…
In seeking an antidote to the selfish ravings of Somalia-bound Liz Jones (I’m not linking. You’ll work it out, but I don’t suggest you try too hard), a kind soul pointed me towards the wise words of Barry Schwartz on…
The Parliamentary Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has just published its report on the state of government IT. It’s not a pretty story. It’s a long, messy, complicated one. But in such stories we, the simple readers, look for things…
This is just a little thing. It’s not even a digital thing. It’s a real-life thing. You want your customer to send you something. Payment maybe? Or a returned product? Or a nice, complimentary letter about how customer-focused you are?…
I know many people have managed to get up and running with Google+ fairly easily. The usual snags have been reported, of course, as users get used to the idiosyncrasies of the network, and as new etiquette and conventions emerge.…
If you’ve been locked in a cupboard for the last five (or more) years, you’re excused from observing this thematic shift: In the longer term, data about people is more likely to be owned and controlled by them. Rather than…
Summary–this post describes: I spotted a question within the LocalGovCamp tweets at the weekend: Who are local directgov & what do they do does anyone know? There’s a pretty dry and factual explanation quickly visible at the top of a…
I saw a statistical tweet this morning: the sort that makes me pause and think. What is it really saying, and what is the story that could be told? The average local government public sector pension is £4200 a year.…