The Caledonian Club, London
Dear Delegate,
Thank you for attending the PSI in Action:
Transforming the Information Landscape
conference today. In this Delegate Pack you
will find profiles of the speakers, as well as
details of delegates attending this
conference.
Public sector information is a key resource.
We have seen this substantiated over the
past few years as this agenda gains
momentum and increasing support by the
public, private organisations, Ministers and
international audiences. When the European Directive on the Re-use of PSI
and the PSI Regulations were implemented the focus was on the value and
benefits of PSI to a thriving economy. This focus has grown to include the
benefits to communities and Government’s improved engagement with the
public in facilitating new and flexible ways of delivering services.
Initiatives over the past year have progressed our work in this field and set the
scene for the future of PSI, transforming the information landscape. The UK
Report on the Re-use of PSI 2009 highlights how committed both the public
and private sectors are in unlocking their information assets and collaborating
to innovate in this space. The PSI Timeline in the Report summarises the
reports, initiatives and work that have helped develop this landscape. There
are copies of the UK Report on the Re-use of PSI 2009 available, please feel
free to take a copy.
Throughout the day, you will hear about some of these initiatives from the
public sector but also the private sector and interested groups. I hope you
enjoy the conference.
Carol Tullo
Director, Office of Public Sector Information
The National Archives
3
About the Organisers
The Office of Public Sector Information
The National Archives
The National Archives is at the
heart of information policy in the
UK, setting standards, delivering
access and encouraging the re-use
of public sector information (PSI).
Operating from within The
National Archives, the Office of
Public Sector Information (OPSI)
has
responsibility
for
the
management of much of the UK government’s intellectual property and is the
regulator of public sector information holders for their information trading activities.
Through our work, the challenge for the public sector is on maximising the value
from official information providers that trade in their information. It is important that
conditions and processes are in place that enable re-users to access the richness of
the public sector’s output across diverse areas of operation. This brings with it
substantial responsibilities to create the right conditions for unlocking the potential
of PSI. These priorities are embedded in our objectives:
• to deliver the policy lead on the re-use of PSI across the UK
• as a regulator to promote high standards of information trading
across the public sector under the Information Fair Trader Scheme
(IFTS) and investigate complaints under the Re-use of Public Sector
Information Regulations
• to license, advise and manage the re-use of Crown copyright
material
• to develop innovative technological solutions and models that
support emerging information policy
• to put solutions and new initiatives into practice that facilitate PSI
re-use.
4
Civil Service World
Civil Service World is the fortnightly
newspaper dedicated to the Senior
Civil Service (SCS). We exist to help
improve communications between
senior civil servants in all government
departments and agencies, and to
provide tailored news and features on
the issues facing managers and leaders
across the civil service.
Developed as the only publication
that
facilitates
cross-departmental
communication
within
central
government, it meets the need for a nationwide newspaper for senior civil servants to
disseminate policies and share best
practice and innovation.
As a publication, the newspaper has two
great strengths: the trust and engagement
of the senior civil service, a group which
tends to avoid media coverage in the
mainstream press; and the broad span of
our readership – both across the
professions, and across the many
departments and agencies that comprise
the UK’s government.
“I’d like to see more civil
servants from a wide range
of policy areas featuring in
Civil Service World, raising
awareness of their work and
discussing the opportunities
and challenges we all face.”
Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet
Secretary and Head of the
Home Civil Service
Using its unusual access to the machinery of government, Civil Service World aims
to provide objective, realistic coverage of the issues and challenges facing the senior
civil service; to provide a communications hub that serves and represents the SCS;
and to explore how civil service leaders are working in new ways to meet the
changing challenges of governance in the 21st century.
5
Conference Agenda
Regrettably, Michael Wills MP, Minister for Information in the Ministry of Justice, is now
unable to attend the conference, due to parliamentary engagements. He sends his apologies
and continues to support this important and challenging agenda, that is vital to improving
how the government interacts with the public, and for the potential rewards for the UK.
Michael wishes the conference every success.
Time
Session
09:00
Coffee and Registration
09:45
Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
Professor David Rhind CBE, Chair, Advisory Panel on Public Sector
Information
10:00
Transforming the Information Landscape
Carol Tullo, Director, Office of Public Sector Information,
The National Archives
10:15
Public Sector Information – Towards a more felicitous economy
Dr Nicholas Gruen, Chair, Government 2.0 Taskforce
(Australia’s POI Taskforce)
10:35
PSI - Lifeblood of Communities
William Perrin, founder of Talk About Local, a project to give people in their
communities a powerful online voice
10:55
Public Service Delivery: How can we raise the bar?
Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive, Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Martin Ferguson, Head of Policy, SOCITM
11:25
6
Refreshment Break
11:55
Beyond PSI - Extending Digital Engagement across Government
Andrew Stott, Head of Digital Engagement, Cabinet Office
12:30
PSI in Action – Making it work (a panel discussion)
Brian Fitzgerald, Professor of Intellectual Property & Innovation, Queensland
University of Technology
Catherine Grout, e-Content Programme Director, Joint Information Systems
Committee
Charlie Villar, Director, Shareholder Executive
Christian Lister, Operations Director, X-Press Legal Services
13:00
Lunch Break
14:00
Public Information Delivery - Opening up Government Data
Nigel Shadbolt, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of
Southampton & Cabinet Office adviser on Public Information Delivery
14:30
Knowledge Sharing Sessions
Attendance at these sessions provides delegates with the opportunity to
share information and gain an improved understanding of a range of issues
around the re-use of public sector information. Delegates can attend two of
these four knowledge sessions. Each knowledge session will consist of a
short presentation by an expert in the topic, followed by a facilitated
discussion to ensure the sharing of ideas and experience.
1
The Price of Information – How do we put a value on it?
Presented & facilitated by: Patricia Seex & Prabhat Vaze of APPSI
Recent reports have begun to place an economic value on public sector
information, with the Commercial Use of Public Information estimating that
the UK economy could be doubled if more public sector information was
available for re-use. How do we measure that value? What criteria do we
use? Does information only have an economic value or is there a social
value too?
7
Location: Johnie Walker Room (main room)
2
The Search for Information – what are the best enabling mechanisms for
finding information & making it available?
Presented & facilitated by John Sheridan, Co-chair e-gov group, W3C
Until recently, governments have used the web to publish large volumes of
information but little data. Initiatives like data.gov and data.gov.uk are
changing that. How can we develop strategies that help us discover what
information can be re-used. In a complex environment of multiple
departments, contractors and websites, how can government best make
information available? How can web standards help, and what role is W3C,
as the web standards body, taking in this process?
Location: Smoking Room
3
Opening up access to information – free up or lose control?
Presented & facilitated by: Jim Wretham, Head of Information Policy, OPSI
Licensing re-use is a key component in facilitating re-use. A number of
models exist across government ranging from very simple enabling licences
to complex and lengthy contractual documents. Beyond government there
is often a paucity of licence solutions. Operating within a copyright
framework how can we develop effective licensing solutions that strike the
right balance between protecting the integrity of information while at the
same time providing mechanisms that encourage and facilitate re-use? And
what are the factors that we need to take into account in taking licensing to
the next level?
Location: Library
4
Competition and Discrimination – Hindrance or help?
Presented & facilitated by: Chris Jenkins, Head of Advocacy Team, Office of
Fair Trading
An effective information market thrives on healthy and fair competition and
the concept of the level playing field is central to the process. How can
competition issues best be managed and how can areas of discrimination in
conditions of re-use be identified and eradicated? Can fairness be achieved
in the current climate or is competition being stifled?
Location: Selkirk Room
8
15:15
Knowledge Sharing Sessions (repeated)
16:00
Refreshment Break
16:20
LIGHTNING TALK: Outlook Gloomy? Access to Weather data across
Europe
Jennifer Campbell, Managing Director, MeteoGroup
16:35
LIGHTNING TALK: Datasets that should be free
Zach Beauvais, Platform Evangelist, Talis
16:50
Chair’s Concluding Remarks & conference close
Professor David Rhind CBE, Chair, Advisory Panel on Public Sector
Information
17:00
Close of Conference
Please note: copies of powerpoint presentations used by speakers in support of
their presentations will be emailed to delegates after the conference.
9
Delegate List
Zach Beauvais
Simon Bell
Matthew Berry
Malcolm Brown
Barbara Buckley Owen
Julie Burcham
Chris Butt
Chris Cameron
Jennifer Campbell
Stefan Carlyle
Researcher
Head of Strategic Partnerships
and Licensing
Lawyer
Head of UK Business
Development
PhD Researcher
Head of Information and
Knowledge Mgt Consulting
Head of Business Development
Chris Corbin
Publishing Manager
Managing Director
UK Location Programme
Director
Advisor
Jill Coyne
Rachel Craven
Joe Dearden
Tony Dent
Elaine Dick
Carole Edwards
Senior Knowledge Adviser
Contracts Manager
Head of Customer Service
IP Policy Manager
Publications Manager
Information Policy Manager
Sarah Fahmy
Martin Ferguson
Simon Field
Manager
Head of Policy
Chief Technology Officier
Brian Fitzgerald
Professor of Intellectual
Property & Innovation
Intellectual Property Manager
Curator Official Publications
e-content Programme Director
Senior Service
Improvement Officer
Michelle Gibsone
Jennie Grimshaw
Catherine Grout
Sheila Harris
Joan Holland
Chris Jenkins
Shernet Johnson
Elaine Johnston
10
Head of Advocacy Team
Customer Interface Manager
Team Leader,
Information Services
Talis Info Ltd
British Library
Treasury Solicitors
British Geological Survey
Loughborough University
AMTEC Consulting plc
Office for National
Statistics
Department for Transport
MeteoGroup
DEFRA
European Public Sector
Information Platform
Acas
TSO
Coal Authority
UK Hydrographic Office
Forestry Commission
Foreign &
Commonwealth Office
JISC
SOCITM
Office for National
Statistics
Queensland University
of Technology
OGC
British Library
JISC
Mid Sussex
District Council
Office for National
Statistics
Office of Fair Trading
QCDA
British Geological Survey
Stephen Keightley
Head of Data Licensing & IPR
Guy Ker
Steve Keyworth
Christian Lister
Paul Lyons
Director, Publishing
Director
Operations Director
Customer Service Manager
Susan MacInnes
Chris MacLeod
Senior Manager
Head of Information
Systems Workstream
Conceptual Design Manager
Internal Audit Assurance
Manager
Member
Tim Manning
Mark Murphy
Hilary Newiss
Michael Nicholson
Andrew Nutting
Shane O'Neill
CEO
Corporate Information
Governance manager
Member
Isabel Parsons
Special Council
William Perrin
Nicole Perry
Steve Peters
Founder
Head of Public Affairs
Assistant Deputy Director
Bill Pope
David Pullinger
Lizzie Rattee
David Rhind
Head of Learning Materials
Head of Digital Policy
Lawyer
Chair
Neil Richardson
Head of Publishing
Alison Sarioglu
Production Manager
Patricia Seex
Contributing Member
Nigel Shadbolt
Professor of Artificial
Intelligence
Southampton
John Sheridan
Frances Sibbet
Co-chair, e-gov Group
Head of Web Team
Jessica Skilbeck
Assistant Director
Centre for Ecology
& Hydrology
Directgov
Environment Systems
X-Press Legal Services
Office for National
Statistics
Registers of Scotland
Home Office
DEFRA
DEFRA
Advisory Panel on Public
Sector Information
Intelligent Addressing Ltd
Leeds City Council
Advisory Panel on Public
Sector Information
Victorian Government
Solicitor's Office
Talk About Local
Ordnance Survey
Communities and Local
Government
Driving Standards Agency
COI
Treasury Solicitors
Advisory Panel on Public
Sector Information
Communities and Local
Government
Office for National
Statistics
Advisory Panel on Public
Sector Information
University of
W3C
Department for
International Development
Department for Business,
Innovation & Skills
11
Ellie Smith
Licensing Manager
Andrew Stott
Martin Stringfellow
Director of Digital Engagement
Legal Services Officer
Andy Teague
Head of Administrative Sources
Brian Thornton
John Totman
Ian Trenholm
Records Manager
Account Director
Chief Executive
Carol Tullo
Director
Charlie Villar
Prabhat Vize
Director
Member
Jim Wretham
Head of Information Policy
Office for National
Statistics
Cabinet Office
Office for National
Statistics
Office for National
Statistics
The Coal Authority
AMTEC Consulting plc
Royal Borough of
Windsor & Maidenhead
Office of Public Sector
information
Shareholder Executive
Advisory Panel on Public
Sector Information
Office of Public Sector
information
Correct at time of publication. Does not include details of late registrations.
12
Speaker Biographical Details
Conference Chairman
Professor David Rhind CBE
Chair, Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
Professor David Rhind (Chairman) is a Non-Executive
Director of the Bank of England and of the UK Statistical
Authority; he is also Chairman of the Socio-Economic
Committee of the Nuclear Decommissiong Authority and
a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation. He was Chairman of
the Statistics Commission until March 2008. Until July
2007, he was Vice-Chancellor of the City University,
London and before that he was Director General of
Ordnance Survey Great Britain. Awarded the CBE in 2001
for services to social and geographical sciences, he is a
Fellow of the Royal Society and an Honorary Fellow of
the British Academy. He is the author of various books and
numerous academic papers.
Conference Speakers
Carol Tullo
Director, Office of Public Sector Information
Director of the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI)
which operates as the principal focal point for public
sector information in the UK. OPSI merged with The
National Archives in October 2006 to drive forward a
coordinated information management strategy for the UK
Government and the wider public sector. As a Director of
The National Archives, Carol heads up the Information
and Policy Directorate, which provides strong, coherent
leadership in information policy areas across government
and the wider public sector. It spans a strategic focus and
operational roles across a broad portfolio of information
standards, services, guidance and advice.
Carol retains under Letters Patent the titles of Controller for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
(HMSO) and Queen’s Printer of Acts of Parliament (1997); Government Printer for Northern
Ireland (1997); Queen’s Printer for Scotland (1999). HMSO with its core activities of
management of Crown copyright and database rights, publication of legislation and
provision of official publishing guidance operates from within OPSI.
13
Following a law degree and call to the Bar by Inner Temple in July 1977, Carol practised in
London. She joined Sweet & Maxwell Ltd., Law Publishers and as Publishing Director was
responsible for publishing operations in England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland and setting
up the Hong Kong subsidiary. She advised the wider international Thomson Information
Group on contractual and intellectual property matters relating to digital media before
joining HMSO and the Cabinet Office in 1997. Carol is a Visiting Professor in Information
Science at City University, London and an Executive Committee member of the International
Government Printing and Publishing Association. She represents official publishing interests
across a range of professional bodies and lectures widely to the information management
community.
Dr Nicholas Gruen
Chair, Government 2.0 Taskforce (Australia’s 2.0 Taskforce)
Nicholas Gruen is trained in History, Statistics, Law and
Economics and has written on various economic policy
issues including intellectual property, fiscal policy
architecture, industry policy, economic liberalisation,
information policy and innovation in government.
He served as advisor to Australia’s Industry Minister
Senator John Button and Treasurer John Dawkins. He was
appointed to the Productivity Commission in 1994 and
left in 1997 to run the Business Council of Australia’s New
Directions program. In 2000, he founded and remains
CEO of Lateral Economics and Peaches, a discount
finance broker.
He is chairman of www.onlineopinion.com.au, a popular
internet site of political and cultural opinion and is a board
member of the Government Authority Sustainability
Victoria.
He has been a regular columnist for the Australian Financial Review and is a substantial
contributor to Australia’s thriving policy blog scene at www.clubtroppo.com.au.
Dr Gruen was a member of the Panel reviewing Australia’s Innovation System chaired by
Terry Cutler. Lateral Economics has been involved with the Commonwealth, and most state
governments in the areas of innovation in government and continuous improvement in
regulation. He is a member of a steering committee guiding innovation in the Victoria Public
Service.
Dr Gruen has recently been appointed to chair the Federal Government’s Government 2.0
Taskforce and is also involved in the Federal Government’s Management Advisory
Committee’s inquiry into public sector innovation.
14
William Perrin
Founder, Talk About Local
William Perrin is the Founder of Talk About Local a
community empowerment project that gives local people
skills to create a community website that they own and
run. Talk About Local is based on William's experience
with www.kingscrossenvironment.com in London's Kings
Cross and is funded by Channel4, Screen West Midlands
and Advantage West Midlands. Organisations wanting to
help communties set up their own sites in areas needing
a boost to empowerment should contact William via
http://talkaboutlocal.org.
William also offers consultancy support to public sector
bodies trying to handle web2.0 challenges. Previously,
William was a senior civil servant, Secretary to the Power
of Information Taskforce in the Cabinet Office, an author
of Transformational Government and Policy Advisor and
Private Secretary to Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Ian Trenholm
Chief Executive, Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
A Geology graduate of the University of London, Ian
started his career as an Inspector with the Royal Hong
Kong Police and then moved to Surrey Police before
working in the private sector. Ian holds an MBA from
Durham University Business School.
Ian first worked with local government as a project
manager for a Business Process Outsourcing company,
before joining Buckinghamshire County Council as
Strategic Director of Resources in 2003. Ian Trenholm was
appointed Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of
Windsor and Maidenhead at the beginning of May 2008.
15
Martin Ferguson
Head of Policy, SOCITM
Martin is Head of Policy for the Society of IT Management
(Socitm) - the professional association for people working
in information and technology management in the public
and third sectors and suppliers to those sectors in the UK.
Here, he leads the development and promotion of
Socitm’s policies and responses to major issues such as
the collection and management of personal data and the
efficient deployment of resources through shared services,
partnerships, outsourcing, self service and flexible
working. Previously he was programme manager for the
Improvement and Development Agency’s local egovernment strategic support team. He is a past president
of Socitm. His local government career spans planning,
housing, leisure and recreation, IT and information
services.
As Senior Fellow at the Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham,
Martin has led the Information Management module on the Public Service MBA for senior
managers from local government, police, housing, health, voluntary sector and Hong Kong
civil service. He has also contributed to the British Council’s e-governance programmes in
Brazil and central Asia and is an external examiner at Henley Management College.
His interest in the application of IT to public services developed through degree studies and
research in geography, urban and regional planning, and business management at the
University of Wales, University of Waterloo (Canada), University College London and
University of Birmingham.
Andrew Stott
Head of Digital Engagement, Cabinet Office
Andrew Stott is Director for Digital Engagement for the UK
Government, based in the Cabinet Office. He is
responsible for increasing the Government's capability to
use new media to communicate and collaborate with the
public, for increasing the availability of public data for reuse and for knowledge management and collaboration
within the Civil Service. He chairs the UK Government's
Knowledge Council.
Andrew took up his current position in June
2009. Between 2004 and 2009 he was UK Government
Deputy Chief Information Officer and Chair of the Chief
Technology Officers Council. Andrew has previously
worked in a variety of public sector bodies including the
Department for Transport, the Department for Work and
Pensions, HM Prison Service, The Post Office and The
Cabinet Office.
16
Brian Fitzgerald
Professor of Intellectual Property & Innovation, Queensland University of Technology
Brian Fitzgerald is an internationally recognised scholar
specialising in Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw. He
holds postgraduate degrees in law from Oxford University
and Harvard University and his recent publications
include Cyberlaw: Cases and Materials on the Internet,
Digital Intellectual Property and E Commerce (2002);
Jurisdiction and the Internet (2004); Intellectual Property in
Principle (2004), Internet and Ecommerce Law (2007) and
Copyright Law, Digital Content and the Internet in the Asia
Pacific (2008).
Over the past ten years Brian has delivered seminars on
Information Technology, Internet and Intellectual Property
law in Australia, Canada, China, Brazil, New Zealand,
USA, Nepal, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Norway,
Croatia, France, Thailand, Slovakia, Jordan, UK, UAE,
Finland and the Netherlands. Brian is a Chief Investigator
and Program Leader for Law in the ARC Centre of
Excellence on Creative Industries and Innovation and
Project Leader for the Australian Government funded
Open Access to Knowledge Law Project (OAK Law) and
the Australian Government funded Legal Framework for
e-Research.
He is also a Program Leader for the CRC Spatial Information. His current projects include
work on intellectual property issues across the areas of Copyright, Digital Content and the
Internet, Copyright and the Creative Industries in China, Open Content Licensing and the
Creative Commons, Free and Open Source Software, Research Use of Patents, Patent
Transparency, Science Commons, e-Research, Licensing of Digital Entertainment and AntiCircumvention Law. From 1998-2002 Brian was Head of the School of Law and Justice at
Southern Cross University in New South Wales, Australia and from January 2002 – January
2007 was Head of the School of Law at QUT in Brisbane.
He is currently a specialist Research Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation at
QUT. He is also a Barrister of the High Court of Australia.
17
Catherine Grout
E-content Programme Director, Joint Information Systems Committee
Catherine Grout is responsible for directing JISC
programmes and projects in the e-content area. This
portfolio of activities includes: The JISC Digitisation
Programmes, and the Strategic Content Alliance, an
alliance of content rich organisations across the UK public
sector that stimulates joint policy development and the
use and re-use of public sector content. She manages the
work of the JISC e-content team who are delivering a coordinated e-content strategy for the JISC Community in
higher education and research, including working closely
with JISC Collections and other JISC Services and partners
both within and outside the UK. She has worked for fifteen
years in ICT within education and has a background in
digital archiving, multimedia and digital humanities.
Charlie Villar
Director, Shareholder Executive
Charlie joined Shareholder Executive in September 2003.
Prior to that, he spent over ten years as a consultant at
Andersen. During that time he predominantly worked in
the Telecommunications & Media sector.
In the Shareholder Executive, Charlie leads on
• Bradford and Bingley
• Channel 4
• Northern Rock
• Ordnance Survey
• Royal Mint
Christian Lister
Operations Director, X-Press Legal Services
Christian co-founded X-Press Legal Services in 1998 and
co-founded X-Press Legal Services Franchising in 2005,
recognised as the fastest growing white collar franchise in
2006, Coutts Bank Regional Family Business of the Year
Finalists 2007 and BFA Franchisor of the Year Finalists
2009.
Christian is an Expert Panel Member for ePSI Europe
(Helsinki, Copenhagen, Berlin and Brussels), Chairman of
The Association of Independent Personal Search Agents
and a Company Director of The Genesis Initiative.
Christian is a Genesis Senate Representative at the Bank of England and the youngest
member of the HRH Prince Michael of Kent Genesis Patrons Senate.
18
Nigel Shadbolt
Cabinet office adviser on Public Information Delivery & Professor of Artificial Intelligence,
University of Southampton
Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and Deputy Head (Research) of the School of Electronics
and Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
He is a Founding Director of the Web Science Research
Initiative, a joint endeavour between the University of
Southampton and MIT.
He has recently been given a special role by the Prime
Minister to help transform public access to Government
information. He will be working closely with Sir Tim
Berners-Lee to form a panel of technical and delivery
experts to oversee the implementation of key
recommendations, including overseeing the creation of a
single online point of access for public UK datasets.
In its 50th Anniversary year 2006-07, Nigel was President
of the British Computer Society. He is a Fellow of both
the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British
Computer Society.
Between 2000-07, he was the Director of the £7.5m EPSRC Interdisciplinary Research
Collaboration in Advanced Knowledge Technologies (AKT). AKT was particularly influential
in establishing the viability and value of web-based semantic technologies. He has recently
been awarded a further £2.3m by the EPSRC to build on this work.
He has been involved in a wide range of entrepreneurial activities. In 2006 he was one of
three founding Directors and Chief Technology Officer of Garlik Ltd, a company specialising
in consumer products and services to put people and their families in control of their own
digital information. In 2008 Garlik was awarded Technology Pioneer status by the Davos
World Economic Forum and won the prestigious UK national BT Flagship IT Award.
He is the co-author of “The Spy in the Coffee Machine” and has an interest in issues to do
with privacy and trust in the Digital age.
19
Patricia Seex
Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
Patricia is an economist with the World Bank in
Washington DC in the Africa Vice Presidency. Previously
she has worked as an economist with Institute for Public
Policy Research in London, for the Mayor of London with
GLA Economics where she had responsibility to work with
the London Development Agency to promote the use of
economic evidence and analysis in executive decision
making and policy development, and prior to that with
economic consultants PACEC.
Patricia specialises in public sector economics and
particularly in government intervention to address market
failure. In 2007 she served as an expert witness to the All
Party Group on Urban Development. Patricia has an MPA
from Columbia University in New York, an MSc. from the
London School of Economics, and a BA from the
University of Sheffield
Prabhat Vaze
Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
Prabhat Vaze is a government economist at the Ministry of
Defence. He is responsible for analytical services,
providing statistics on defence and economic and
statistical advice. He has also worked at the Department
for Transport, looking at the evidence needed to make
transport planning decisions at local and national levels,
often drawing on public sector information. Until 2005,
Prabhat was the Chief Economist at the Office for National
Statistics. Amongst his responsibilities were improving
secure access to public sector microdata for research
purposes and looking at how information and
communication technology improved productivity. Prior
to joining government, Prabhat taught and researched
economics in the UK and abroad. He holds a doctorate
in development economics.
20
John Sheridan
Co-chair, e-gov group, W3C
John Sheridan is Head of e-Services at the Office of Public
Sector Information, part of The National Archives. John is
also co-chair of the e-gov group of the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C).
With a background in Information Technology,
specialising in the web, John has led a number of projects
to enable government data, in particular using cutting
edge Semantic Web technology. John is part of the team
supporting the Power of Information Taskforce. He is also
the UK government’s expert representative on semic.eu,
the Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe and chairs the
World Wide Web Consortium e-Government Interest
Group
Jim Wretham
Head of Information Policy, OPSI
Jim Wretham has been involved in copyright and
information issues for the best part of twenty years.
Initially, he led a team that managed the licensing of
Crown and Parliamentary copyright in Her Majesty's
Stationery Office. Following the privatisation of the
trading functions of HMSO in 1996, Jim transferred to the
Cabinet Office as the Head of Licensing. Since then his
role has taken on a much wider information remit
becoming Head of Information Policy in 2001. In that
role, Jim was one of the lead officials for the UK in the
negotiation of the European Directive on the Re-use of
Public Sector Information. He also played a leading role
in the drafting of the UK Regulations that implemented the
Directive. As a member of the Office of Public Sector
Information he joined The National Archives in 2006.
Jim lives in a village on the outskirts of Norwich. Outside of work, Jim's main interests are
reading (he is a great admirer of Anthony Trollope), supporting Norwich City FC, rock music,
the countryside and the cinema. He also spends a lot of time at the gym but that comes from
necessity and not interest.
21
Chris Jenkins
Office of Fair Trading
Chris Jenkins is Head of the Advocacy team at the Office of Fair Trading. His role includes
raising awareness of competition issues within government, and advising on the effects of
wider government policies on competition. He was a member of the steering group for the
Government’s Trading Funds Assessment, which focused particularly on the treatment of
public sector information. He has previously led OFT inquiries into supermarkets and
business banking, and worked in the central Strategy team. Prior to joining the OFT, Chris
worked as an economic consultant at Oxera, and as a policy adviser at HM Treasury.
Lightning Talk Presenters
Jennifer Campbell
Managing Director, MeteoGroup
Title: Outlook gloomy? – Access to weather data across Europe
Precis: Weather knows no borders and independent weather businesses in the UK need to
forecast the weather for all of Europe and beyond. However, getting access to meteorological
data across Europe remains a significant obstacle to growth in this sector. Using examples
from MeteoGroup’s experiences as a pan-european weather business, I will illustrate how
the ineffective enforcement of the Directive in some member states, and the loophole in
the Directive allowing National Met Services to charge “a reasonable return on investment”
continues to stifle growth and innovation in the European weather market
Zach Beauvais
Platform Evangelist, Talis
Title: Datasets that should be open: Plugging the gaps in open data
Precis: The importance of opening up data—something discussed at length by Sir Tim
Berners-Lee, and hinted at by the Prime Minister in recent appearances—lies in the principle
that it will allow for innovation and encourage fresh views on all the vast amounts of data
being produced. More minds can work on currently-isolated problems following a trajectory
seen by the likes of IBM in open-sourcing their operating system endeavours.
I'd like to use this talk to highlight some datasets which could be of such immense public
benefit, if only the data were accessible—"plugging the gaps" in what is currently available
for mashing up, re-use, and innovation.
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Notes