Tim O'Reilly coined the concept of Government as a Platform in this presentation and documented in this book section. He describes how traditional IT for government should become more like Facebook, Twitter and the other Internet pioneers who have been harnessing the evolution of the Cloud to become ‘platforms’, doing so for government would enable…

The Data Services & Analytics has data on 650 million people and has been accused of creating a “super database”

This report comes at a pivotal moment for our nation’s race debate. We need to place that debate on objective and democratic foundations – ones that include people of goodwill, of all races and ethnicities. The purpose of this report is to lay the ground for a country built on the full participation and trust of all communities. We envisage a country more at ease with itself because it can recognise where progress has been made. One that is confident that, where unequal access to opportunity persists, whether among inner city ethnic minorities or the left-behind from the ethnic majority, it is being addressed.

The report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, 3 months overdue and 9 months after the Commission’s inception, is a script that has been written for 10 Downing Street. The people involved in this Commission had no interest in genuinely discussing racism, but even this Government does not go as far as to say that we are post racial. The least the Commission could have done is acknowledge the very real suffering of Black and minority ethnic communities here in the UK.

In the face of adversity, allies come together. It's clear this Commission wants to set race relations back by 20 years - we're not going to let that happen. Stay mobilised, stay engaged, stay positive. In case you missed our event, catch it here.

What the Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparity said about why ethnic minority people are more likely to die from covid-19 (left).What the ONS report they cite to support this claim actually says (right). pic.twitter.com/TjhLIJPUze— Jonathan Portes (@jdportes) March 31, 2021

Jonathan Portes @jdportes - I & others have pointed to errors/misrepresentations in the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Diversities. To be fair, there is plenty of good or uncontentious stuff. But leaving aside the specific empirical analysis, a short thread on the conceptual framework.

How we write about ethnicity, including our definition of ethnic minorities, words and phrases we use and avoid, and why we don’t use BAME or BME

Call for more transparency on how such tools are used in public services as 20 councils stop using computer algorithms. The Home Office recently stopped using an algorithm to help decide visa applications after allegations that it contained “entrenched racism”.

After a legal challenge to the automatic algorithm, the UK will "redesign" its visa process. The Home Office has agreed to stop using a computer algorithm to help decide visa applications after allegations that it contained "entrenched racism".

Government considers shelving service again as figures suggest evidence of growing inequality. “The excuse is likely to be that businesses are badly hit right now but actually, it is employees, especially women and minorities, who have been badly hit.”

It’s time we started using it properly.

Many of the public and private services we use are now digital. The move to digital is likely to increase as technology becomes more embedded in our lives. But what does this mean for how essential public services understand who is using, or indeed not using, them and why? § Data about the protected characteristics of people using these services isn’t currently collected andstatistics aren’t published in a consistent or collective way. This means it is harder tofind out who is excluded from using these services and why.

Many of the public and private services we use are now digital. The move to digital is likely to increase as technology becomes more embedded in our lives. But what does this mean for how essential public services understand who is using, or indeed not using, them and why? § Data about the protected characteristics of people using these services isn’t currently collected andstatistics aren’t published in a consistent or collective way. This means it is harder tofind out who is excluded from using these services and why.