News, opportunities and data

Putting useful stuff into the world

Our online events programme TICTeC Labs is starting to produce tangible outputs that make the world a better place. The series has been a pipeline: every Lab begins with discussion and ends with practical outputs.

During each session, the speakers identified problems within a specific area; a working group then went on to commission a project that will go towards addressing those issues — and now those outputs are starting to emerge.

A solution for civic tech organisations working with public authorities

First out the gate is a set of case studies from People Powered, showing inspiring examples of when civic tech organisations collaborated with public authorities, where those partnerships went exceptionally well. Discover more here.

A solution that makes civic tech more accessible to all

Civic tech in hostile environments:

How can we thrive in challenging contexts?

And as we see the first outputs, the final discussion event wraps up. What a great one to end on, with insightful commentary from those who really know what 'hostile environment' means. If you missed it, you can watch the video or read the summary here.

Calling curious journalists

If you had the ability to scrutinise the climate credentials of local authority contracts, what sort of news stories could you discover? That's what we're hoping to find out, and you can help by trying out our work-in-progress tool around local authority contracts.

We're keen to get feedback from journalists of all kinds, and can offer £20/hr for your time if necessary. Interested? Please complete this Doodle and we'll confirm a date by email.

Local authority and constituency deprivation datasets

Our recent work has resulted in a new dataset that shows the relative deprivation of UK councils and Westminster constituencies. Alex explains more here.

Come and talk data

If you'd like to talk in more depth about any of our data and climate, in the same post there are details of our online drop-in sessions.

What we're reading

• Via our partners at Tower Blocks UK, co-founder Sam Webb's obituary speaks of a life well-lived.
• The Democracy Network is launching its first ever awards, and they're open for submissions. Nominate yourself, or one of the many worthy organisations in our sector. Or hey, nominate us if you feel so inclined!
• What are frictionless data standards and why do they matter? This new paper examines both questions, and nods to our own work in the area.
• There's no shortcut to 20 years' experience, but mySociety's Zarino generously shares design resources for the newbie.
• Enjoy some of the more unusual political parties to have registered in Italy's recent elections.

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