Why I care about..‪.‬ Swirrl

In this episode, Sarah talks to Robin Gower about why he cares about identifiers: what they are, why he thinks they’re useful; where you can find them and how you can get into using them yourself. From his early frustrations which encouraged him to work with identifiers, to his more recent work with publishing data with government organisations, Robin shares his insights, experiences and hopes for the future. 




Robin Gower works as a Data Designer at Swirrl, where he helps publishers to express their datasets with linked-data and he has 15 years experience consulting as an economist and statistician for the UK public and social sectors. He was a founding member of Open Data Manchester and has written, and continues to maintain, several open source software libraries.



Links
Robin on twitter @robsteranium
Swirrl on twitter @swirrl
csvw.org
schema.org
swirrl.com
Ordnance survey ontologies


Ordnance Survey coordinates transformation tool 

Wikidata

W3C Standards


Gov.uk guidance on publishing reference data 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Sam Roberts about why he cares about engaging people with government data. From the early days of open data, to the current more mainstream landscape, Sam shares his insights, experiences and hopes for the future. He talks about his approach in sharing the benefits of open data; the impact of data around the pandemic and how the rapid development of technology might influence the future, as well as concerns over disinformation. 




Sam is the Head of Open Data and Open Government Policy in the Central Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office. He also heads up the UK’s engagement with the Open Government Partnership and sits on the bureau of the Open Government Working Party for the OECD.

Links
Sam on twitter @SammyR21
Swirrl on twitter @swirrl
Central Digital and Data Office
Swirrl Website
Open Government Partnership
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2021-2023

In this episode, Sarah talks to Sam Hall about why she cares about Welsh 
local authorities data. With twenty years of experience in working with data, 
including previous roles at the Office for National Statistics, and Birmingham 
Council during the pandemic, Sam speaks passionately about the impact of data for citizens and gives a real insight into the work her team are currently doing, as well as plans for the future. 


Sam is the Local Government Chief Digital Officer for Wales, working across all twenty two welsh local authorities. 



Links
Sam on twitter @SamHallWales
Swirrl on twitter @swirrl
Welsh Local Government Digital Website
Email addresses to contact the Welsh Local Government Digital Team:
digitalteam@wlga.gov.uk  and timdigidol@wlga.gov.uk
Swirrl website

In this episode, Sarah talks to Giuseppe Sollazzo about why he cares about data quality. From one of his earliest roles, which involved working with healthcare data in Italy, to his current role at NHSX and much in between, Giuseppe shares his insights, experience and hopes for data quality. 

 

Giuseppe is Deputy Director & Head of AI Skunkworks at NHSX; one of the organisers of Open Data Camp and author of the weekly newsletter Quantum of Sollazzo.

Links
Giuseppe on Twitter @puntofisso
NHSX on twitter @NHSX
Swirrl on twitter @swirrl
NHSX website
Swirrl website
AI Skunkworks with links to all blogs, case studies, etc
CogX recording
Quantum of Sollazzo newsletter
DAMA
Open Data Camp
John Burn-Murdoch on Twitter @jburnmurdoch 

In this episode, Sarah talks to Charles Baird about why he cares about the API community. From engaging with API users and producers right now, to making APIs discoverable in the future, Charles shares his insights, experiences and plans. He has a genuine enthusiasm for the API community as a place where people can really listen to each other’s needs, barriers and ideas as well as being a collective which can enable and develop good practice, and he’s keen to get people involved across sectors.




Charles is a Data Architect at the Data Standards Authority, which is a part of the Central Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office.

Links
Charles on Twitter @charlesbaird
api.gov.uk
Data Standards Authority
NHS Digital API Catalogue
Central Digital and Data Office

In this episode, Sarah talks to Anna Scott and Katherine Duerden, about why they care about opening up government data. They chat about the 360Giving standard, which has been adopted by the UK government, as well as their own experiences, insights and hopes when it comes to opening up government data.




Anna Scott is Communications Manager and Katherine Duerden is Support and Engagement manager at 360Giving - a charity which helps organisations openly publish grants data.

Links
360Giving on twitter @360Giving 

360Giving website

Anna on twitter @Anna_D_Scott



Anna’s website 

Swirrl on twitter @swirrl


Swirrl Website

360 Data Standard


360Giving Covid-19 Grants Tracker