Power of Data 2019
We’re hosting Power of Data 2019, a one day conference on Thursday 10th October in central London. The day is about how data can provide evidence, support decisions and improve effectiveness for government organisations. Here’s a bit about our brilliant speakers and panelists who’ll be there to share their thoughts and experiences. Find the agenda here.
Heather Savory
Heather Savory is Co-Chair of the UN Global Working Group on Big Data. Prior to this she was Deputy National Statistician and Director General, Data Capability at the Office for National Statistics.
Heather has a strong commercial track-record and extensive board and senior management experience in entrepreneurial and high technology businesses, consulting and central government. She has previously worked at 3Dlabs as Vice President of Engineering and Operations and eComData as Managing Director. More recently, Heather worked at the centre of UK Government, spending two years in HM Treasury and three in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills at the Better Regulation Executive (BRE).
Jeni Tennison
Jeni Tennison is the CEO of the Open Data Institute. She gained a PhD in AI, then worked as an independent consultant, specialising in open data publishing and consumption. She was the technical architect and lead developer for legislation.gov.uk before joining the ODI as Technical Director in 2012 and becoming CEO in 2016.
Jeni sits on the UK’s Health Tech Advisory Board; the Advisory Board for the Open Contracting Partnership; and the Board of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.
David Kane
David is product lead at 360Giving, where he leads on designing and managing projects that use 360Giving data, and developing 360Giving tools such as 360Insights and Find that Charity. . He is a researcher and data scientist specialising in data for, by and about charities and wider civil society. He has over ten years experience working with charity data, having worked for NCVO, CAST and with many other organisations.
Paul Maltby
Paul Maltby is the Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry for Communities and Local Government where he is focussed on improving the Department’s digital services, working with local government to develop their digital capacity, and improving access to data to support innovation in the housing, land and planning sectors.
He previously led the government’s new data agenda as Director of Data in the Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Service, with responsibility for open data, data science in government, data infrastructure and data legislation.
He has a background in public service innovation and reform in government with spells in Leicestershire County Council, the Home Office and the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.
Bill Roberts
Bill Roberts is our CEO at Swirrl. Swirrl specialises in software for government organisations to publish their data in standards-based machine-readable ways. Swirrl works with many parts of the UK public sector on ensuring open government data can have the maximum positive impact and is a member of the W3C. Bill is currently leading an activity in the W3C/OGC Spatial Data on the Web Interest Group to establish and document for Statistical Data on the Web Best Practices.
Panelists
Some of our speakers will be speaking on panels too, so there’ll be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussions. We’re also fortunate to welcome the following people to our panels for the day:
Gaia Marcus
Gaia Marcus is Head of Data Strategy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the UK Government, responsible for delivering a National Data Strategy that will unlock the power of data in the UK economy and government, while building public confidence in its use.
Gaia has spent the majority of her career in the charity sector, specialising in Tech for Good, communities and data strategy.
Liam Cavin
Liam Cavin is a statistician working for the Scottish Government, specialising in open data publication. His focus is on giving people access to information in a form that is easy to find, free to use, and that can be compared and re-used alongside other sources of information. He manages a website, called statistics.gov.scot, which is a rich source of information on Scotland and its communities.
Gavin Freeguard
Gavin Freeguard is Programme director at the Institute for Government, where he leads the organisation’s work on data and transparency, including the Whitehall Monitor project. He has also worked on government contracting, preparing politicians for government and digital government.
Gavin was previously political adviser on culture, media and sport to Harriet Harman MP and, before that, deputy director of the Orwell Prize and senior researcher at the Media Standards Trust. He is a trustee of the Orwell Youth Prize, a member of the UK Open Government Network steering group, and a member of the research commissioning board of the ESRC’s Administrative Data Research (ADR-UK) project.
Rosalie Marshall
Rosalie Marshall is lead technology advisor at the Government Digital Service, working on API standards and interoperability across government.
Previously Rosalie created the government’s technical writer community to help standardise documentation across product teams, aiding technology reuse and take-up. Rosalie has spent the last 15 years working in the technology sector, focussed on public sector transformation. In her time at GDS, she has worked across GOV.UK, Government as a Platform and Service Design & Assurance.
Sian Thomas
Sian is Chief Data Officer, at the Department for International Trade. Beginning her career in the private sector, Sian moved to the Food Standards Agency working in various roles including Social Research, Governance and Ethics and leading the Data, Information Governance and Security team. She led on projects such as predicting norovirus from Twitter data and piloting a blockchain tool to make better use of data about cows at slaughter.
Siân joined DIT in February 2019. Here she is focussed on building services and products to help DIT staff better understand and meet business and customer needs in the challenging trading environment. She has also developed a departmental Data Strategy and is leading a data infrastructure project to help the department get more value from its data assets.
