Here are a few of the projects that I have been involved with.

Open Contracting Data Standard extensions

The Open Contracting Partnership provides a model for disclosure of information on contracting processes through its Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS).

Working as a consultant for Open Data Services Co-operative I analysed the OCDS alongside the requirements to publish of the European Union, United Nations and World Trade Organisation and then created documentation and technical extensions to the OCDS so that these three major publishers could use it to meet their own disclosure requirements.

I developed a method of working so that documentation was automatically generated from the core spreadsheet detailing the comparisons, gaps and proposed extensions. This met the needs of the organisation, who wanted a “single source of truth document” at the centre of the project.

Open Data Challenge

I was the series lead for the Open Data Institute’s inaugural Open Data Challenge focusing on Crime and Justice.

This work involved: convening experts from the criminal justice sector and defining a set of challenges to be addressed by open data projects; promotion of the open data challenge both online through blog posts and offline at events; supporting two hackathons to generate interest and participation; supporting participants; creation of an open data repository for crime and justice in the UK and working with Briony Phillips, Programme Manager for the Open Data Challenge Series, to ensure the success of the challenge.

Briony said “Simon was a real pleasure to work with on the Crime and Justice Open Data Challenge. His open, approachable manner and quick thinking/problem solving skills made him a great resource for participants during the challenge. With Crime and Justice being the first in a series of 7 challenges, Simon’s proactive approach and his eye for detail and creativity helped ensure the process moved smoothly and engaged a wide range of stakeholders from across the sector.”

Inside Outcomes

Inside Outcomes CIC supports businesses working in the public health, social care and third sectors. They “specialise in helping commissioners and providers of services to demonstrate their impact through evidence based outcomes.”

Working with their chief executive, I co-created a series of data dictionaries that analysed the relevant national outcome frameworks, programmes and clinical guidelines that related to a stage of life, as identified in the Marmot Review, “Fair Society, Healthy Lives”.

These were then combined to form a single document listing all of the measures relevant to each life stage. In doing so we created a framework whereby organisations could collect data once and publish them to the requirements of a range of providers.

Hello Culture

Hello Culture is an ongoing series of events exploring “how the arts and digital sector can find new ways to forge practices, collaborate with other sectors and contribute to creating new opportunities for experimentation, content and influence how the world sees itself and others.”

I have co-curated the Hello Culture conference, which included both the responsibility for technical delivery as well as hosting plenary and workshop sessions. I also co-designed and hosted the Arts Development Lab.

 

Share PSI 2.0 network

Share PSI 2.0 was a European Union project that was created to offer advice on implementation of the (Revised) PSI Directive. This thematic network included standards bodies, central and local government entities, academic institutions, commercial bodies and civic society.

I represented Birmingham at the workshops held in Samos, Greece and Lisbon, Portugal in 2014. In Lisbon I co-facilitated a workshop session with Amanda Smith from the Open Data institute as well as Emma Beer and Alberto Abella from the Open Knowledge Foundation entitled Events, hackathons and challenge series – stimulating open data reuse based on a paper that Amanda and I submitted.

As both a freelancer and a member of a small, co-operative business, I was able to add some additional insights to the workshops. It was not easy for Share PSI to elicit contributions from individuals or Small and Medium sized Enterprises and, as a representative of both, I provided additional context to the network.

 

Colombia Bilingue

The Colombia Bilingue program is run by the country’s Ministry of Education. It aims to improve the standard of English teaching and learning in public sector schools by funding native co-teachers to work in the classroom alongside Colombian teachers.

In 2016 I worked in the Institucion Educativa del Valle in Palmira, Valle del Cauca. I was one of the first cohort of native co-teachers in the city and helped introduce new methods of teaching.

In addition to my co-teaching role I also wrote blog posts for the program, was interviewed for El Gazette and appeared on Telepacífico to promote the program.

 

Greater Birmingham Digital Academy

I am a member of the Data Unlocked co-operative business. I worked with them and Cidaco on Digital Birmingham’s Greater Birmingham Digital Academy.

Our Realizing The Value Of Data workshops introduced small and medium sized enterprises to some practical applications of data in their businesses.

Feedback from our workshops included “Very helpful, friendly, engaging and informative.” and “Friendly and responsive training team. Very approachable and quick to build relationship with the group. Day packed with content and plenty of take aways for my business.”

Contact

You can contact me to discuss how I can help you on your project by any of the methods below. I am based in Birmingham, UK and am willing to work remotely.

email: [email protected]

Twitter: @siwhitehouse

Skype: siwhitehouseuk

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/siwhitehouse/