A short list of some of the things I’ve worked on which I’ve particularly enjoyed

Part of planning for whatever comes next for me in my career involved reflecting on the things I've enjoyed doing. I'm pleased to say that there's a quite a lot. I thought I'd write some of them down to help me gather my thoughts around what I'd like to do more of in the future. … Continue reading A short list of some of the things I’ve worked on which I’ve particularly enjoyed →

The Saybox

I've been in a reflective mood over the past few weeks as I wrap up my time at the Open Data Institute. One of the little rituals I will miss is the "Saybox". I thought I'd briefly write it up and explain why I like it. I can't remember who originally introduced the idea. It's … Continue reading The Saybox →

A poem about standards

To help me wrap up my time at the ODI I asked the team for suggestions for things I could add to my list of handover documentation. Amongst the suggestions that came back was: "Maybe also a poem about why standards are the best thing on Earth?" So, with a nod to the meme and apologies to … Continue reading A poem about standards →

Brief review of revisions and corrections policies for official statistics

In my earlier post on the importance of tracking updates to datasets I noted that the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice includes a requirement that publishers of official statistics must publish a policy that describes their approach to revisions and corrections. See 3.9 in T3: Orderly Release, which states: "Scheduled revisions or unscheduled corrections to … Continue reading Brief review of revisions and corrections policies for official statistics →

The importance of tracking dataset retractions and updates

There are lots of recent examples of researchers collecting and releasing datasets which end up raising serious ethical and legal concerns. The IBM facial recognition dataset being just one example that springs to mind. I read an interesting post exploring how facial recognition datasets are being widely used despite being taken down due to ethical … Continue reading The importance of tracking dataset retractions and updates →

Consulting Spreadsheet Detective, Season 1

I was very pleased to announce my new TV series today, loosely based on real events. More details here in the official press release. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Coming to all major streaming services in 2021 will be the exciting new series: "Turning the Tables". Exploring the murky corporate world of poorly formatted spreadsheets and nefarious … Continue reading Consulting Spreadsheet Detective, Season 1 →

Tip for improving standards documentation

I love a good standard. I've written about them a lot here. As its #WorldStandardsDay I thought I'd write a quick post to share something that I've learned from leading and supporting some standards work. I've already shared this with a number of people who have asked for advice on standards work, and in some … Continue reading Tip for improving standards documentation →

A letter from the future about numbers

It's an odd now looking at early 21st century content in the Internet Archive. So little nuance. It feels a little like watching those old black and white movies. All that colour which was just right there. But now lost. Easy to imagine that life was just monochrome. Harder to imagine the richer colours. Or … Continue reading A letter from the future about numbers →

Garden Retro 2020

I've been growing vegetables in our garden for years now. I usually end up putting the garden "to bed" for the winter towards the end of September. Harvesting the last bits of produce, weeding out the vegetable patches and covering up the earth until the Spring. I thought I'd also do a bit of a … Continue reading Garden Retro 2020 →

Four types of innovation around data

Vaughn Tan's The Uncertainty Mindset is one of the most fascinating books I've read this year. It's an exploration of how to build R&D teams drawing on lessons learned in high-end kitchens around the world. I love cooking and I'm interested in creative R&D and what makes high-performing teams work well. I'd strongly recommend it … Continue reading Four types of innovation around data →