Data Bites | Beyond mechanistic thinking

Ed Humpherson, head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, challenged our assumptions about data. The main barrier to innovation, he explained, is the incurious belief that data are fixed objects produced by predictable, mechanistic systems.

Through three stories – past (the Scottish Census), present (road traffic injury data), and future (moving beyond a single milestone in the government’s health mission - wait times – to a much broader understanding of health inequalities) Ed showed how moving beyond a mechanistic mindset unlocks richer, more meaningful insights.

Data gets powerful when we connect it across siloes and dare to ask better questions. You can read more about it here.

Ed Humpherson showing a line graph representing health inequalities in the UK

Chris Pointon delivering his data bites presentation

Scheme scheming

Chris Pointon talked about smart data schemes, which offer citizens and businesses the ability to share their data securely and under their control. If designed well, as he argues, this can benefit the public.

Alex Blandford introduces his presentation in front of a screen that reads "warning: this work is anthropological in nature"

You can’t API your way out of politics

Alex Blandford shows his qualitative research into civic technologists, painting them as “radicalised nerds” trying to fix broken systems.

Tom Smith delivers his data bites presentation

Local AI, done right

Tom Smith makes the case that while AI is not magic. It requires thoughtful implementation, trusted infrastructure, and yes, good data – but also policy, procurement power, and plenty of collaboration.

Laura Gilbert delivers her data bites presentation

Data and AI in the public sector

Laura Gilbert talked about setting up the government’s Incubator for AI (i.AI), and how tools like Caddy can actually make government and other organisations more human and bring them closer to people.