Open Data Institute Podcasts

After the Grenfell tragedy the government hoped it would be able to address safety issues in other buildings within a year. Now more than four and a half years on, the cladding crisis has turned into a building safety crisis which now impacts hundreds of thousands of homes across the country. Martin Boyd and Sebastian O’Kelly from the charity Leasehold Knowledge Partnership will discuss: ‘Years of systemic failings in building standards are now exposed. People are unable to afford to remediate the homes they thought were safe, People are unable to move homes. People are unable to sell their homes and people are trapped in buildings they are told are potentially unsafe.’ The talk looks at the role that use of data may have played in the buildup to this crisis and how the continuing lack of data limited the solutions the government is able to consider. It also asks if some decisions are being made without any supporting data. About the speakers A talk by Martin Boyd and Sebastian O’Kelly of the charity the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.

In this talk, Dr John Burton – Data Consultant at the Open Data Institute (ODI) – will discuss some of the background of the data ethics work at the ODI and describe what organisations are considering to make their data ethics practices more mature. He will show the work of the ODI on the data maturity model, and share some of the early feedback from our user research in this space. Finally, he will discuss where the organisation is going in the short term and how that may develop the ODI’s offering in this space in the coming months. About the speaker Dr John Burton has had a varied career, but the main theme has always been investigating complex data sets to find real value for people. He started off with a PhD in Astronomy, and have worked at Queen’s University Belfast, the Universities of Toronto, Leicester and Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher and data scientist. He has been spending his recent career in the public and charity sectors at HMRC and AQA, with the latter being spent as the Head of Analytics and Data Science. In short, he loves data!

Increasingly, the better able you are to tell your performance story the better able you are to get the resources you need for your project. Francis Loughheed, Senior Policy Advisor at Canadian Forest Service, will present a methodology that brings data to results-based management to tell compelling performance stories. Based on 15 years experience working in performance measurement across the Government of Canada, this presentation will be of special interest for government and public sector agencies, with applicable lessons for the private sector. About the speaker Mr. Loughheed works with the seven programs of the CFS to support sector performance measurement reporting and the CFS Data Strategy. His work in data analytics includes: conception and development of an Executive Portfolio Dashboard, promoting the use of data visualization to inform policy and science decision-making and corporate reporting and, developing a methodology to estimate the economic value of data in the public sector. He is currently working on data pilots in the areas of cloud-based data lake systems, machine learning and augmented intelligence systems to contribute to data-driven impact and is leading a Departmental project on promoting data culture utilising the ODI data skills framework.

In 2020 -21, Open Data Manchester set out to discover whether a data cooperative model could be developed that would enable organisations and communities collect, pool, process and share data for the benefits of their members. This talk will discusses some of the findings of that work and the work of the Data Cooperative Working Group that formed from it. This work was supported by the ODI’s Data Stimulus Fund, and Open Data Manchester worked with Carbon Coop and others. About the speaker Julian Tait is co-founder and CEO of Open Data Manchester CIC, a not-for-profit organisation formed in 2010 that helps organisations and communities understand and use data. He is a passionate advocate for how data and digital technologies can help build more resilient communities through giving people insight and a stake in the processes of governance and decision making. Current work is focussing on the ongoing development of the Declaration for Responsible and Intelligent Data Practice and new forms of data custodianship through the development of data cooperative models.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The second roundtable took place on Monday 20 September and focuses on experimentation in data policy and practice around environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data and global supply chains. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with Delta 8.7 and the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA).

The National Data Strategy is part of a conversation about the way data is used in the UK. A new report from defenddigitalme describes why it matters that the words used in that conversation alienate young people. Jen Persson, Founder of defenddigitalme will discuss why common metaphors don’t work, what it means for the success or failure of delivering a sustainable data policy, and what needs to change. “Data is the new avocado” might describe the decaying shelf life of records, but not much more. “The new oil” cannot tell a child’s life story. Being framed as “the fuel of artificial intelligence” leaves people feeling used. These metaphors fail to describe the multi-faceted nature of personal data, and do not reflect its incompleteness, accuracy, or the authentic self. The language of commodities doesn’t work on their terms or engender the respect young people want to see for the person the data is about. And while the language on data doesn’t fit with young people’s expectations, it doesn’t fit well with our legal frameworks for data governance either. “The world in thirty years is going to be unrecognizably datamined and it’s going to be really fun to watch,” said Jose Ferreira, then CEO of the adaptive learning company Knewton, at the White House US Datapalooza in 2012. Nearly ten years on, young people don’t find it fun but they do feel exploited. defenddigitalme’s new report based on research together with Hattusia and the Warren Youth Project, proposes how to reconcile the focus, governance frameworks, and content of the UK national data strategy, to move the conversation forward in ways that work for the economy and research, and include our future generation. About the speaker Founder of defenddigitalme, Jen Persson campaigns for safe, fair, and transparent data in education, in England and beyond. Defenddigitalme has been advocating for the rights of the 23 million people in the National Pupil Database since 2015, most recently through regulatory action, building on the work of many others. In The State of Data 2020 report defenddigitalme published a mapping of the most common data flows for a child in England’s state education system, from the seven compulsory censuses a year and eight sets of statutory testing, through to some of the most popular local edTech tools used for administration, assessment, behavioural tracking, and for teaching and learning. The report calls for a new approach to digital rights in schools to build a rights’ respecting environment by 2030, and makes recommendations on how to achieve it. Jen was a Subject Matter Expert to the Council of Europe 2019-20 during the drafting of Guidelines for Children’s Data Protection in Educational Settings, adopted in November 2020 and she was a joint-recipient of the 2021 Michal-Serzycki-Award from the Polish Data Protection Authority.

In this podcast we hear three inspiring stories from the first cohort of the ODI Microsoft Peer Learning Network, an initiative which aims to give data collaborations working on significant societal challenges the opportunity to share and learn from each other. Host Elea Himmelsbach leads the conversation with Marisa Miodosky from the Caring Indicator System in Buenos Aires, Claire Ramden who’s developing reuse.id in the UK, and Dr Gao Feng who’s leading on the Fintech Innovation Data Collaboration in Shanghai.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

In the first episode of the second season of the Open Data Institute’s Inside Business podcast - the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director, Stuart Coleman, is joined by two self confessed data evangelists, both of whom use storytelling to create a ‘culture’ of data in organisations. One even says that business leaders who don’t understand the importance of data literacy might as well “pack their bags and leave their desks”. Stuart Coleman, the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director (host) Di Mayze, Global Head of Data and AI at WPP, a creative transformation business (guest) Paul French, former Director of Business Intelligence, Reporting and Visualisation at the Nationwide Building Society (guest). USEFUL LINKS The ODI website: https://theodi.org/ Podcast webpage on the ODI website: https://theodi.org/article/inside-business-podcast-why-everyone-in-a-business-needs-to-be-data-literate/ The ODI’s position on data literacy (blog): https://theodi.org/article/data-literacy-what-is-it-and-how-do-we-address-it-at-odi/ ODI’s data literacy resources: https://theodi.org/article/introducing-the-data-literacy-programme/

How can Fortune 500 companies make better use of the data they already have to build a picture of their audience, before conducting new research or data collection? Sharon Joseph, CEO of CREWASIS and Harvard Business School alumni, will share how to make better use of internal data sources, external data sources and open data using case studies developed in the top healthcare and CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies in the US. She’ll also share how free tools such as social media monitoring tools and google analytics can help to build a story. Sharon worked at Fortune 500 companies for 20 years before launching CREWASIS data science www.crewasis.com About the speaker Sharon will draw from examples of working in the consumer goods industry and healthcare, but people from all industries welcome as she works in all industries including financial, cannabis, retail and household goods.

Affective computing refers to the use of computers to analyse data about human behaviour, such as facial expressions, gestures, and language, for its emotional information. But can a machine really learn about and infer emotions from digitised behaviour, typically captured as text, images, audio and video? How does it compare with human performance? How well do we understand how emotions are expressed and why? In this talk, we will look at the theories and the algorithms, and the benefits and consequences of their application in real-world situations. About the speaker Sharon Richardson, PhD, is a senior scientist in geocomputation at the University of Zürich. Her research focuses on investigating and applying data-intensive methods to improve understanding of and assist in human, societal and environmental challenges.

Whilst we are the cusp of the pandemic, has anyone considered what will happen in the future when a new threat hits our shores? The government currently relies on letters and SMS messages through fragmented GP practices to mass communicate with us about our health. Other countries utilise a national ID card to centralise records. When we get our jabs, very little is computerised and we often wonder how our data is being managed, and how we’ll be communicated to. This talk asks: how do we balance freedoms with effective digital health? About the speaker Danny Bluestone is the CEO of Cyber-Duck, a leading full service digital agency. He founded Cyber-Duck in 2005, inspired by fusing creative, technical and marketing expertise into a superior user experience. Now the independent agency works internationally with prestigious brands, including the Bank of England, Cancer Research and Arsenal FC. Leading Cyber-Duck, Danny continues developing the agency’s ISO accredited user-centred design process, drawing on lean and Agile management methodologies. In 2015, he was awarded Wirehive 100’s first Digital Leader of the Year. He enjoys giving keynotes for enterprise, UX and technology communities, including the UKTI, UX London and UXPA. His digital insights have been featured in UX Magazine, Econsultancy, and Smashing Magazine.

This podcast, introduced by Jared Keller of the ODI, explores two questions: why is it important for organisations to empower people to play a more active role in deciding what happens to their data? And second, which system of decision making is best - individual, collective or delegated? Three guests, Julian Tait from Open Data Manchester, Anouk Ruhaak from Mozilla Foundation and Emmett Townsend from Inrupt talk about their own organisations and the challenges and benefits of each approach, before opening out a wider discussion around issues of personal consent, legislation and making such initiatives successful and sustainable. If you are interested in discussing the different types of data institutions and issues of consent around data institutions please get in touch with the team.

‘Why let a few tech executives and engineers control the algorithms that shape our lives? In an effort to democratize this technology, we have created an automated decision making program that learns from you. After a brief assessment, you can be a part of the system. You can be Fairly Intelligent™️.’ Artist A.M. Darke discusses the process of developing Fairly Intelligent™️, a speculative fiction about the world’s worst algorithm posing as the world’s best algorithm. **Please note, this talk starts at a later time of 4pm** About the speaker A.M. Darke is an artist and game maker designing radical tools for social intervention. Still in the class war. Now in the pandemic. He’s in the combination class war and pandemic. Assistant Professor of Digital Arts and New Media, and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, at UC Santa Cruz, Darke also directs The Other Lab, an interdisciplinary, intersectional feminist research space for experimental games and new media. Darke’s recent work includes ‘Ye or Nay?, a Kanye West-themed game about Black culture, and he is currently developing the Open Source Afro Hair Library, a 3D model database for Black hair styles and textures. Darke holds a B.A. in Design (’13) and an M.F.A. in Media Arts (’15), both from UCLA. Her work has been shown internationally and featured in a variety of publications, including Kill Screen, Vice, and NPR.

Effective use of data relies on good ethical foundations. While national data institutions have the power to issue papers, guidance, and create sound tools for evaluating ethical needs and setting standards, only the Government has the power to make legislation and issue binding policy requirements. This talk explores the Government’s practice in one specific area – making legislation relevant to data and digitalisation – though a forensic review of relevant statutes and regulations made in 2020. Dr Sue Chadwick will talk us through her year of statute-stalking, surveying both the content of the legislation made and the way it was made and applied. She will evaluate those practices against some established codes of digital ethics, including the ODI Data Ethics Canvas and the Government’s own Data Ethics Framework. About the speaker Sue is a Strategic Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons LLP with a keen – some might say obsessive – interest in data and the way it will transform the property industry and challenge many of its established foundations. As one of the ODI’s first ever research fellows she has spent the last year working with their Vice President Jeni Tennison, exploring digital ethics and their implications for planning decisions with a particular focus on human rights, equalities, discrimination, and established codes of practice. Her research is due to be published through the ODI in September.

howthey.watch/you exposes the tracking technology built into our everyday experience of internet browsing. Artist Nick Briz discusses his online work, which explores this technology and asks important questions about its uses beyond fingerprinting and, ultimately, tracking. By exposing the misuses of this technology Briz encourages viewers to take an active role in protecting their online privacy. This piece was commissioned by ODI Data as Culture for the Rules of Engagement online exhibition and produced as part of the ODI’s R&D programme exploring sustainable ethical practice around data, funded by Innovate UK. About the speaker Nick Briz is an internationally recognized new-media artist, educator and organizer. His work investigates the promises and perils of living in an increasingly digital and networked world. He is an active participant in various online communities and conversations including glitch art, net art, remix culture, digital literacy, hacktivism and digital rights. He’s co-founder of netizen.org a nonprofit focused on digital literacy and digital culture, he’s Associate Professor Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lecturer at the University of Chicago, and a freelance Creative Technologist.

This talk will shed a light on the open data development in China, focussing on key milestones where open data was studied, adopted and re-defined in China. Dr. Feng Gao, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Open Data China will talk us through what works and what does not about open data in China, and will illustrate the significant differences in open data development between China and western countries. He will also discuss how the ‘re-defined’ open data fits into China’s digital economy agenda and how ‘openness’ may still survive and be re-introduced into China’s data governance. Please note that the talk is pre-recorded, but the Q&A at the end will be live. About the speaker Dr. Feng Gao is the co-founder and managing director of Open Data China, the first civic group and social enterprise in China working on data transparency and digital rights. He led the team implementing Shanghai Open Data Apps (SODA), which is a competition-based open data program and unlocked more than 60 datasets from 30 government agencies and private companies, generated nearly 1000 prototypes and applications, and cultivated several startups with over 100 million CNY investments. Feng is a member of IVLP, and a World Fellow at Yale. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Southampton, and a BE in Computer Science from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

Data is the life blood of the healthcare system. It has the enormous potential to address societal and economic health challenges like early the early detection, screening and monitoring of non-communicable diseases, like Parkinson’s. To maximise the potential of AI in the treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), there’s an urgent need to transform the healthcare system by opening access to data collected during healthcare interventions. iKure is a primary healthcare provider with focus on addressing the issues of accessibility, availability, affordability and trust when it comes to connecting patients with healthcare services. Use of technology is an integral part of iKure’s business model and operations, and it has a proprietary medical collaboration platform called Wireless Health Incident Monitoring Systems (WHIMS) that presents unprecedented potential in diffusion of clinical, preventive and diagnostic insights. Utilising data analytics and artificial intelligence, iKure’s technology application is attuned for mapping diseases pattern and aligns clinical decision with actions to improve better health outcomes. Through this discussion, we want to bring attention and interest to the small-scale local health data source can serve as a high value open data repository with enormous potential to address non-communicable disease, like hypertension. While big data can provide dramatic advances in the treatment of NCDs, local data – despite its inherent challenges and limitations – in data collection stands as a potentially rich resource in treatment efficacy and health-based studies. We will focus on opportunities in data privacy through open data platforms, and challenges that persist in collecting high quality data to find insights of the locally derived relationship between culture, behaviour and clinical information, which may bring shift in care delivery model to better serve the stakeholders in the entire health ecosystem. About the speakers Tirumala Santra Mandal, PhD, is a Senior Research and Communication Analyst at iKure. She has authored and edited publications for various peer-reviewed journals. Anindita Dey is a data analyst and machine learning enthusiast at iKure.

People are increasingly buying online – accelerated by the growth of Covid-19. This year IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Results for January 2021 revealed that UK online sales grew 74% year-on-year in January 2021. But what does this mean for our local areas, and how can couriers, businesses, councils, local families and activists work together to ensure local deliveries are safe, clean and healthy? In this talk, Martin Howitt from The Data Place will explain how they are collecting environmental data from eCargo bikes to explore how data collaboration can help solve these challenges. About the speaker Martin Howitt is co-founder and technology lead for The Data Place, a Plymouth-based social enterprise made up of data scientists, designers, community builders and strategists who combine design tools with data methods to help people and places do better things with data.

In this fourth episode of the ODI Inside Business podcast, the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director, Stuart Coleman, is joined by high-profile expert, Robin Sutara, newly appointed Chief Data Officer at Microsoft UK, for a lively discussion on why culture change should power organisations’ data strategy plans. We explore what cultural and mindset shifts are needed to facilitate the implementation and execution of a viable data strategy. We also discuss how Microsoft has shifted their thinking, and that of their clients, to get where it is today and succeeded in helping their clients transition into a new digital thinking era. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Stuart Coleman, the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director (host) Robin Sutara, Chief Data Officer, Microsoft UK USEFUL LINKS The ODI website: https://theodi.org/ Podcast webpage on the ODI website: https://theodi.org/article/developing-post-pandemic-data-strategy-why-culture-change-should-power-your-plans-podcast/ The ODI’s position on data strategy (blog): https://theodi.org/article/data-strategy-how-an-ecosystem-approach-can-help-shape-your-vision/ The ODI’s checklist for leaders: https://theodi.org/article/odi-inside-business-a-checklist-for-leaders/ ODI Inside Business webinar (live on 31 March 2021, but also available on demand): https://theodi.org/event/how-to-develop-a-transformative-data-strategy-with-an-ecosystem-approach/

Does more data make for better politics? Are new sources of data, on everything from expenses to voting to Wikipedia changes, altering how we think about politics? What can the monitoring of parliament tell us about what impact, good or bad, this is having on democracy? We can now monitor the activities of our representatives in ways we couldn’t imagine a few decades ago, seeing at the push of a button how they vote, what they say and what they spend. Our new project looks at whether new platforms and sources, from TheyWorkToYou to IPSA’s expenses map, are changing the behaviour of those being watched and the attitudes of those watching. Our findings so far show how the new data are being used by a range of people, from activists and journalists to MPs themselves. All these new sources are, at least sometimes, making MPs and Peers more accountable, and subtly impacting upon how they represent us. Data has also helped shaped the expenses expense scandal, proxy voting and reform of the House of Lords. Together new data makes for a democracy we can shape ourselves and use to question, query, and crowds-source. It can also make those we elect more responsive and more responsible. However, in reporting on voting and expenses, the new data can sometimes reinforce old, unhappy stories we tell each other about politics and politicians. About the speakers Stefani Langehennig is a researcher in the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London and a Senior Data Scientist in Public Policy at ICF International. She received her PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder in American politics and political methodology in 2019. Her research focuses on legislatures, public policy, and computational social science. Ben Worthy is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Birkbeck College. His research focuses on transparency and openness, and he has written on FOI, open data and British Politics.

On 3 March 2021 the Open Data Institute (ODI) convened the ‘Inclusive data roundtable’ in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for Public Data, bringing together representatives from government, academia, funders, civil society and community organisations. The aim of the roundtable was to catalyse discussion and creative thinking as we prepare the ODI’s response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce consultation, so the meeting was structured around a series of provocations. These provocations are included below with the speakers’ permission, and we encourage you to explore them and consider some of the key questions that they prompted for us.

On 3 March 2021 the Open Data Institute (ODI) convened the ‘Inclusive data roundtable’ in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for Public Data, bringing together representatives from government, academia, funders, civil society and community organisations. The aim of the roundtable was to catalyse discussion and creative thinking as we prepare the ODI’s response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce consultation, so the meeting was structured around a series of provocations. These provocations are included below with the speakers’ permission, and we encourage you to explore them and consider some of the key questions that they prompted for us.

On 3 March 2021 the Open Data Institute (ODI) convened the ‘Inclusive data roundtable’ in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for Public Data, bringing together representatives from government, academia, funders, civil society and community organisations. The aim of the roundtable was to catalyse discussion and creative thinking as we prepare the ODI’s response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce consultation, so the meeting was structured around a series of provocations. These provocations are included below with the speakers’ permission, and we encourage you to explore them and consider some of the key questions that they prompted for us.

On 3 March 2021 the Open Data Institute (ODI) convened the ‘Inclusive data roundtable’ in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for Public Data, bringing together representatives from government, academia, funders, civil society and community organisations. The aim of the roundtable was to catalyse discussion and creative thinking as we prepare the ODI’s response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce consultation, so the meeting was structured around a series of provocations. These provocations are included below with the speakers’ permission, and we encourage you to explore them and consider some of the key questions that they prompted for us.

On 3 March 2021 the Open Data Institute (ODI) convened the ‘Inclusive data roundtable’ in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for Public Data, bringing together representatives from government, academia, funders, civil society and community organisations. The aim of the roundtable was to catalyse discussion and creative thinking as we prepare the ODI’s response to the ONS Inclusive Data Taskforce consultation, so the meeting was structured around a series of provocations. These provocations are included below with the speakers’ permission, and we encourage you to explore them and consider some of the key questions that they prompted for us.

Data about people’s health is no longer confined to medical records and clinical trials. It is gathered by wearable technologies and smartphone apps; it is inferred from shopping habits and online behaviour; it is used by insurers and advertisers for purposes besides healthcare or medical research. This is the datafication of health, and it has significant consequences for people and society. My colleagues and I at the Ada Lovelace Institute have been working to better understand the datafication of health: what it is, how it occurs, and its impacts on individual and social wellbeing. We’ve synthesised existing research and surfaced the societal and ethical challenges that occur when the boundaries of what is or isn’t health data become blurred. We’ve put forward evidence that the datafication of health has created an ‘Internet of Health’, in which everyone is made to perform as a patient, subject to continuous monitoring, diagnosis and prediction. In this talk, I’ll chart the mechanisms through which datafication occurs and explore how datafication challenges existing practical, legal and conceptual definitions of what counts as ‘health data’. About the speakers Aidan is a Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society. He leads on public engagement projects, convening a diverse range of voices to understand and address the societal impacts of technology across a range of sectors: from health and biometrics to data governance. Previously, Aidan worked at Wellcome on social and ethical issues of AI and data in health, including working with Understanding Patient Data and the Data for Science and Health priority area. His background is in humanities and social science with a focus on relationships between technology, culture and society.

In this third episode of the ODI Inside Business podcast, the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director, Stuart Coleman, is joined by four high-profile business leaders for a lively discussion on data strategy, and why it matters for businesses now more than ever. We explore what data strategy means to different types of organisations and how it should take into consideration the wider data ecosystem, outside business boundaries. We also discuss some of the challenges and barriers that organisations might face when looking to develop a robust data strategy, including behavioural change. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Stuart Coleman, the ODI’s Learning and Business Development Director (host) Justin Fitzpatrick, CEO, Duedil Caroline Gorski, Group Director, R2 Data Labs, Rolls-Royce Lubomila Jordanova, CEO and Co-Founder, Plan A Ming Tang, National Director Data and Analytics, NHS England and NHS Improvement USEFUL LINKS The ODI website: https://theodi.org/ Podcast webpage on the ODI website: https://theodi.org/article/data-strategy-why-it-matters-for-businesses-now-more-than-ever-podcast/ The ODI’s position on data strategy (blog): https://theodi.org/article/data-strategy-how-an-ecosystem-approach-can-help-shape-your-vision/ The ODI’s checklist for leaders: https://theodi.org/article/odi-inside-business-a-checklist-for-leaders/

When a 999 emergency call is made to the Coastguard in the UK, the relatively seamless, well-oiled nature of the process would lead most people to assume that only one organisation is behind the heroic rescue effort. In reality, a variety of organisations come together to perform a rescue operation and the data generated by this are equally as broad and diverse. Similarly, the fact that many organisations work harmoniously in this way would lead us to assume that all data generated from marine incidents are harnessed and pooled for maximum mutual benefit. Coupled with the UK Government’s drive towards transparent open data over the past decade, it is also a fair assumption that marine incident data would be publicly available, in a similar way to UK Police crime statistics. In reality, neither of these two assumptions are true. Apart from the RNLI who have only just entered the open data arena in 2020, marine incident data in the UK are mostly closed and not even shared freely among agencies that may benefit from their use. Marine incident data can only be made publicly available after they are shared internally between first responder agencies. The Open Marine Data project is about presenting a blue-print for how these issues may be solved. Chris Emberson from Southampton University shares the complexities surrounding the collection of data on a marine incident, including its ‘varying’ location, as well as how the emergence of automated approaches to data sharing in the emergency services sector can be used to make data sharing more instantaneous. We conclude by demonstrating how open data can be used to inform the ‘real-time’ picture of where people are located in a coastal setting, demonstrating the value of open marine incident data. About the speaker Chris Emberson is a specialist in geographical information with over 20 years’ experience in analysing and mapping the fluidity of human behaviour. Chris has worked with GeoData at the University of Southampton since 2017, where he has previously managed the development of a near-real-time marine data risk model, for the promotion of safety in inshore waters. Chris is a proponent of open source data and technologies, particularly those with a spatial bias that have allowed GIS to become a more mainstream discipline.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be one of the principal factors in how we now organize our daily existence. The pandemic has – rightly – become the focus of much of the planet and in the scramble to manage local outbreaks and protect national economies, new ways of collating information ‘to protect the public’ have been rolled out on masse. The pandemic, and our response to it, has brought to the fore many questions in relation to how and who collects, uses maps and understands data. However, this is nothing new. While the idea of data driving our lives is newly confronting to many, such technologies – and their failings – have long been used to shape the lives, and deaths, of millions around the world. In the digital age, mapping and data continue to be seen as a fix-all. More people than ever are subjected to having their lives dictated not by elected officials, but by black box algorithms, maps, and data visualisations. As our attempts to hold the pandemic at bay continue, we must look at lessons from other crises and push for a more just world. In this lunchtime lecture, Doug Specht (University of Westminster) and Monika Halkort (Lebanese American University), draw upon their research and recent publication, Mapping Crisis (2020, University of London Press) to examine the use of data in times of crisis and draw out ethical discussion and chart ways we can work better for the good of humanity. About the speakers Doug Specht is a Chartered Geographer (CGeog. FRGS), a Senior Lecturer (SFHEA) and the Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster. His research examines how knowledge is constructed and codified through digital and cartographic artefacts, focusing on development issues in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, where he has carried out extensive fieldwork. He speaks and writes on topics of data ethics, development, education and mapping practices, is the editor of Mapping Crisis (2020, University of London Press), and co-editor for forthcoming volumes on Geospatial technology and society (2021, Routledge), and Apocalyptic politics in the Anthropocene (2021, Routledge Environmental Humanities). Monika Halkort is an assistant professor of digital media and social communication at the Lebanese American University. Her research centres on the intersectional dynamics of digital materiality, race and dehumanisation in contemporary data regimes. Taking irregular migration in the Mediterranean as an example, her most recent work unpacks how conflicting horizons of death are negotiated and modelled in data, opening up new zones of non-being that have been characteristic of modern coloniality.

Data assets have more value when used collaboratively than on their own. For many organisations, however, this kind of collaboration is currently very difficult, whether because the data they handle is private or otherwise sensitive, or they lack the resources and know-how to embark on large-scale cooperative projects. The concept of ‘data federations’ offers a model which allows multiple parties to commit their digital assets to a shared project whilst retaining control over the extent to which their data is exposed, as well as reducing the need for standardisation. This is achieved through a flexible, purpose-oriented approach to collaboration building combined with the deployment of privacy-preserving technologies such as distributed data mining or federated learning, which allow insights or predictive models to be generated from data without requiring it to be gathered in a central location. In this talk, writer and researcher Richard Woodall will describe how, by offering an alternative path towards collaboration, a ‘data federation’ opens the benefits to a new range of people, allowing smaller and less digitally mature organisations the chance to develop shared value from their digital assets, cultivate cooperative relationships, and build their capacity for strategic coordination. About the speaker Richard Woodall is a writer and researcher with an interest in the culture and political economy of digital technologies. For the past year his work at Etic Lab has focussed on the theory and practice of building Data Federations

The second episode in our R&D podcast has landed! As part of the ODI’s Research and Development programme, we have been investigating the financial challenges faced by data institutions, and over the past few months we have started to create free tools to help data institutions understand the financial options available to them and how each will impact their existing business model. In this podcast, host Jo Kingston is joined by ODI team members Sonia Duarte, Ben Snaith and Joe Massey to discuss the tools and resources that are being developed to help data institutions become financially sustainable. Also taking part is Graham Faiz, Principal Consultant and Digital Innovation Lead at DNV GL, which aims to help the UK achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 using data sharing to support decarbonisation, and who has been testing our prototype decision making canvas. We are still looking for feedback and for people to test our tools, so if you are If you are part of a data institution, or are interested in creating or funding one, please get in touch with a member of the team via https://theodi.org/about-the-odi/contact-us. We would love to hear from you and help you overcome your challenges! Episode two features: Joe Massey, Ben Snaith and Sonia Duarte (researchers), Graham Faiz from DNV GL and Jo Kingston (podcast host and comms associate)

In this podcast, ODI’s Business Director Stuart Coleman is joined by Dame Wendy Hall DBE, FRS, FREng, Regius Professor of Computer Science, Associate Vice President (International Engagement) and Executive Director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, Helen Crooks, Chief Data Officer Ofgem and Ambassador for AI and Data Economy for Innovate UK, Christopher Argent, Founder and Managing Director, Generation CFO, and Abubakar Suleiman, CEO, Sterling Bank. Fields like accountancy, finance, medicine and law are all highly professionalised, and have formally recognised training, (e.g. Certified Public Accountant – CPA; CFA – Certified Financial Analyst, etc.) that adds a credibility stamp to their expertise. This increases their trustworthiness within their network. We tend to trust people in white-collar professions because they are certified by a credible and highly respected third party. They have well established ethical codes of conduct, like the Hippocratic Oath for medical professionals. Such a credibility stamp doesn’t exist in data. We have no way to tell if people in data have the same level of credibility. Not having data professionalised could be a threat to all of us, customers, clients, organisations and society as a whole. Low trust or a lack of it can compromise an organisation’s reputation and stifle innovation. Data needs to be professionalised in order for Chief Data Officers, Chief Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers to demonstrate and build trust with their internal and external audiences. What businesses need to do with data must be codified – there is a lack of clarity around what people should be doing – around skills, ethics and infrastructure. That gap might be indicative of the low professionalisation of the field. In this episode the panellists will explore whether a lack of formal AI and data literacy in the boardroom is a significant risk to an organisation’s reputation. This podcast was recorded remotely over Cleanfeed. This is one of an occasional series of webinars and podcasts.

In this podcast, ODI’s Business Director Stuart Coleman is joined by Richard Young (Industry and Regulatory Affairs – Global Data at Bloomberg LP), Alex Steer (Chief Data Officer, Wunderman Thompson) and Faisal Khan (Chairman, Zabardast and Chair, Institute of Directors, South) COVID-19 has shown that in all levels of society, we need a reliable data infrastructure. It’s the pipework that will keep supply chains functioning and businesses trading in normal times as well as during a crisis. Sound data infrastructure helps businesses make the critical decisions to guide them back to growth and help build resilience. Yet many leaders don’t fully understand their obligations where the data that their company holds and handles are concerned. These go beyond GDPR compliance to areas of corporate governance and fiduciary duty. Senior executives are ultimately responsible for their company’s data; how it is collected, handled and shared. In the past few years, the impact of data mishandling on companies’ reputations have been seen clearly in various high-profile data disasters including the Cambridge Analytica scandal. So this is a responsibility that all leaders should take seriously. At the ODI, we are exploring how they should consider their company’s data handling and data infrastructure as part of an overall approach to governance. In the first episode of our ODI Inside Business series, host Stuart Coleman, is joined by:At the ODI, we are exploring how they should consider their company's data handling and data infrastructure as part of an overall approach to governance. In the first episode of our ODI Inside Business series, host Stuart Coleman, is joined by : Richard Young, Industry and Regulatory Affairs - Global Data at Bloomberg LP Olivia Hawkins, Consulting Director, Wunderman Thompson Data Faisal Khan, Chairman, Zabardast and Chair, Institute of Directors, South In this essential listen for all business leaders, the panel considers whether senior executives are sufficiently aware of their data stewardship responsibilities and the consequences of overlooking them. And they debate whether business leaders have the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure their organisations are managing their data ethically and effectively. This podcast was recorded remotely over Cleanfeed. This is one of an occasional series of webinars and podcasts

The 1st episode in our new R&D podcast! Host Isabel Roberts is joined by ODI team members Diana Szasz, Ben Snaith and Sonia Duarte, who will be discussing research underway by the team on the financial sustainability of #datainstitutions This podcast was recorded remotely over Zoom

Sebastian Wilson, Director of Hankin Consulting, will talk about how technology is used in the finance sector and how customer data is used for insights, decision-making and improving online journeys About the speaker Sebastian Wilson is Director of Hankin Consulting which offers strategic direction for technology transformation programmes. Sebastian’s extensive experience has led him to lead successful Cloud projects for ICAP, UBS, SKY TV, core banking strategy projects at Ernst & Young and Icap. He also has extensive audit capabilities with PWC with Colt Communications and launching apps for Carphone Dixon, redefining the retail high street experience and Sky TV. Sebastian is also championing inclusion and diversity within the technology and banking sectors, across all levels.

Never before has data played such an integral and granular role in how we live. On a daily basis, we are asked to make decisions about personal data about us – consenting to it being collected and used for many purposes. But how do we feel and think about data? Do we understand what the different types of data about us are, do we care how it is used, can we even control how it is used? The ODI, alongside the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and Luminate have explored what people think and feel about data, data rights and data ownership. Join us for this ODI Fridays lunchtime lecture to hear more about that work, what people want to see happen next and learn the about the different types of data about us. About the speaker Renate Samson is Senior Policy Advisor at the ODI. Renate works across a wide range of subjects at the ODI from data rights to open cities, protected characteristics, trust, ethics and data institutions.

The government collects and publishes a lot of data as official statistics, but currently citizens, businesses and government itself are not taking full advantage of that. Darren and Bill from Swirrl will report on the Connected Open Government Statistics (COGS) project, seeking to make ambitious changes in the way that statistics are disseminated and used. The established approach to stats releases, of PDF commentary and accompanying spreadsheet tables is part of the picture, but not enough in this age of data, the web and automation. That means big changes to technology choices and more importantly to culture, data governance and mindset. About the speakers Bill Roberts is CEO of Swirrl, a company specialising in software for government organisations to publish their data in standards-based machine-readable ways. As well as providing the software platform for statistics.gov.scot, Swirrl works with the Office for National Statistics, Defra, MHCLG, the Scottish Government and others on ensuring open government data can have the maximum positive impact. Swirrl is a member of the W3C. Darren Barnes has worked in ONS for nearly 30 years and much of this time has been spent in transformational roles. Over the last 12 months his focus has been on what the Government Statistical Service landscape looks like and how we can improve the situation for both statistical producers and users alike.

Theo Blackwell MBE is London’s first ever Chief Digital Officer. A big role, indeed – but what’s it actually like to be dropped into a role which carries with it so many city-wide expectations? What challenges did he face, and why did London need him in the first place? Theo will talk about opportunities, challenges and where he came from. He’ll also have some handy advice for new CDO’s taking on big new responsibilities. About the speaker Appointed in 2017, Theo leads on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall.

In this podcast, the ODI's Data Institutions Lead, Jack Hardinges talks about our work with the INSIGHT Health Data Research Hub for eye health. When the podcast was recorded, the Hub was known as the Data Innovation Hub