What I’ve been doing
We’ve been finalising a few bits as a team recently. Our end of project grant report has been submitted for an 18 month programme of work and two others are planned. We’ve had an unexpected interim report requested and a colleague is getting that finished and we’ve had a couple of bids submitted too. We’ve also found ourselves following up on recent discussions and new relationships that may result in some contract work so concept notes abound.
In early December we’re holding a Design Lab, collaborating with DSIT, on public participation in and around the National Data Library and we’re in early stage pending for another Design Lab in early 2025.
I did some reading / listening on the train and covered:
- Jeni speaking on the AI Interrogator podcast (get people involved in decisions about creating and using AI)
- An FT article on how AI isn’t working for d/Deaf people (reminder that diversity in decisions and understanding is vital, these kind of stories remind me of Tim Harford writing in his book ‘Messy’ about what thinking you miss without diversity)
- The executive summary of Ada Lovelace Institute’s recent report on ‘Buying AI’ (an exploration of procurement structures in local authorities)
- A KCL blog by Dr Marcus Weldon about what intelligence is, and what AI is
- Tim’s weeknotes from March 2023 (from before I joined but long one my TBR list, covering ‘doodling data communities’ and other bits)
And some bits on organisational development and operations:
- A blog from Kuba Bartwicki (shared on Bluesky) about why working in the open is “good for you and your teams” (I’m experiencing open working in this Connected by Data team in a way I hadn’t imagined people could work)
- Catching up on the August edition of HMRC’s Employer Bulletin
- A ‘work life’ blog by Kat Boogaard about decision fatigue
- Home Office content guide of ‘Designing for individuals with limited English’ (interesting, useful, but also some notable suggestions to engage with intended audiences and if using Google Translate do so consciously)
What I need to take care of
I’m on two weeks off starting today so hopefully the answer to this is nothing … thinks … nope, I think I’ve done everything I could think of, got ahead of anything that can be done in advance and left a handover / reference document for the team in case queries come up.
I’ve got a couple of busy days this weekend for my role as Trustee of Consortium. It’ll be lovely to be in person with the team and members.
What I’ve been inspired or challenged or moved by
I’m getting married in just over a week. I’m getting very excited and squishy inside as we’re finalising details and it is all feeling very real.
What I’ve been reading
I got a new library book stack ready for my couple of weeks leave. The first one I’ve picked to read is “Runner’s High” by Jenni Falconer. It’s giving me motivation to run more again - which is ideal as we get a bit nippy of weather (I’m a bit of a fair weather runner these days).