The world of open data seems elusive. It appears to be beyond my reach at times. I scrabble and scramble yet progress remains painfully slow. It is like a Kafka novel with obstacles at every turn. It’s not that we don’t have the ideas or the people to implement them. It’s that we are stuck … Continue reading Opening open data
Dynamites 16
This year is the third time that we have run the Dynamo North East annual awards event – Dynamites 16. As a board member of Dynamo, the organisation that is working to grow the IT industry across the North East, I have been very keen to see the event go from strength to strength. Why? … Continue reading Dynamites 16
Breaking history
One of the things I find is that it is very hard for us to leave our baggage behind when we are thinking. Like the old joke ‘I wouldn’t start from here’ it is taxing to imagine a future that is not a projection from where we are now. I’ve covered this before when describing … Continue reading Breaking history
Durham Student Life
Our student app has gone live. It was a few weeks in the making and a few months in the waiting. After all there was little point in launching something until the students were around to appreciate it. They’ll be starting soon. It has been a small step for apps and a giant leap for … Continue reading Durham Student Life
Social Care
I had a great morning in the One Point Service at Bishop Auckland. The weather was awful and it didn’t help that I had put the wrong postcode into my satnav but other than that it was time very well spent. The One Point Service brings council staff together with the NHS and provides a … Continue reading Social Care
Smart cities
I know smart cities have been around for a long time. They may be considered a bit passé even yet things are different up here in Durham. Yes, Durham is a city but a very small one in comparison. The population accounts for less than ten per cent of the people who live in the … Continue reading Smart cities
Beta testing
How can we help local budding software firms with the new products they are trying to get off the ground? This is one of those questions along the lines of how can I use the resources within the service that I look after to help the local economy? In a legal way that is. We … Continue reading Beta testing
The brain trainer
I needed to speak to my brother about getting together for a night out. We live some way apart and so such things take a bit of arranging. He asked me not to ring him until after nine as he was watching Only Connect. It’s not a game show that I have ever got into … Continue reading The brain trainer
A summer sermon
I’m not a religious man though I am at peace with myself. When I am out and about, however and visiting towns and villages I do like to pop into the local church. There are a couple of reasons why. The first is that there is always a lot of history that you can find … Continue reading A summer sermon
The social office
When Steve and I were down in Leeds the other day, you may remember we made the trip to Data Mill North, we had the pleasure in visiting a company called Hebe Works. It is difficult to describe exactly what work they do, as it covers a wide range of items mainly in the graphics, … Continue reading The social office
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 