Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data, on everything from policy to public services, from data sharing to visualisation, and from infrastructure to ethics.

But those projects often don’t get the attention they deserve. ‘Data’ means many different things across government and is fragmented across (and within) different organisations, professions, and functions. Those not working directly with data may not understand the benefits better information can bring.

Our Data Bites event series aims to change this. A monthly meet-up consisting of four quickfire presentations, Data Bites aims to:

- showcase interesting government data projects
- bring together those in and around government with in an interest in data
- demonstrate how better data can lead to more effective government.

Each presenter has just eight minutes against the clock, followed by eight minutes of questions.

Data Bites

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this month's event, the 17th in our series, the speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each speaker has eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

Our speakers were:

Laura Sandys CBE, Chair of the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, on how digitalisation should reshape energy
Samantha Riley, Deputy Director of Intensive Support, NHS England and NHS Improvement, on Making data count
Or Lenchner, CEO of Luminati Networks, with a commercial perspective on the ethics of data collection
Ian Grimstead and Li Chen, Senior Data Scientists at the Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics on estimating vehicle and pedestrian activity from town and city traffic cameras.

The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government.

Data Bites #17: Getting things done with data in government

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this event, the third in our series, four organisations presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

We heard from:

William Priest, Chief Executive of the Geospatial Commission, on the work of the Commission
Andy Dudfield, Chief Publishing Officer at the Office for National Statistics, on data and the web
David Fry, Chief Statistician, and Luke Perera, Head of Data Science at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on how data science has allowed the department to tackle old problems in new ways
Yvonne Gallagher, Director of Value for Money, Digital at the National Audit Office, on the challenges in using data in government.
This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.

Data Bites #3: Getting things done with data in government

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this event, the fourth in our Data Bites series, four organisations presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers has eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

We will hear from:

Catherine Bromley, Office for Statistics Regulation, on their expectations of statistics producers to fulfil the potential of data to serve the public good
Dr Jane Kennedy, Head of Research and Data Hub at the London Borough of Newham, on Newham’s Data Warehouse
Ganesh Senthi, Senior Product Manager, GOV.UK, on using machine learning to help users find content
Michael Birtwistle, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, on their AI Barometer
This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank the Office for Statistics Regulation for supporting this event.

Data Bites #4: Getting things done with data in government

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this event, the fifth in our series, four organisations presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

We heard from:

Oli Vogel, Head of Recovery Performance at Indesser, on using data to identify vulnerable service users and treat them more fairly
Emma Gordon, Director, Strategic Hub at Administrative Data Research UK, on how government can make better use of administrative data for research
Graeme Thomson, Programme Director Counter Fraud (Data Analytics, Capability Development, and Pilots), Cabinet Office, on transforming capability in data and analytics to deal with public sector fraud
Sam Tazzyman, Head of Data Engineering and Analytical Platform, Ministry of Justice, on the future of data in the MoJ
This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank Equifax for supporting this event.

Data Bites #5: Getting things done with data in government

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this event, the sixth in our series, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

We heard from:

John Sheridan, Digital Director at The National Archives, on legislation as data - meeting the challenge of Brexit
Dr Natalie Byrom, Director of Research and Learning at The Legal Education Foundation, on Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice
Adam Locker, Data Architect at the Food Standards Agency, on fix the plumbing: a user’s guide
Ben Coleman, Data Analytics Lead at the National Audit Office, on the NAO’s Data Service – a local solution to the problems caused by inconsistent government data releases
This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank The Legal Education Foundation for supporting this event.

Data Bites #6: Getting things done with data in government

Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve.

At this event, the seventh in our series, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.

In November, we heard from:

Miranda Sharp, innovation director at Ordnance Survey, on Geospatial’s role in better citizen outcomes
Nic Granger, director of corporate at the Oil and Gas Authority, on Digital Excellence – using data as a catalyst for creating economic value
David Kane, product lead at 360 Giving, on the potential of charity data
Miranda Marcus, research & development programme lead at the Open Data Institute, on using open and shared data to improve local public services
This event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, programme director and head of data and transparency at the Institute for Government.

We would like to thank the Ordnance Survey for supporting this event.

Data Bites #7: Getting things done with data in government

The leading think tank working to make UK government more effective. 

Stay up to date with all of our commentary, analysis and events by visiting our website and subscribing to our newsletter.