One of the most interesting and exciting things about the LGR digital Playbook project is the vision for it to be as community-led and informed as possible. The aim is to get as many people involved as we can, to…

📅 Daily Note: September 30, 2025

Ouch: Europe’s largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more: Elected representatives of Birmingham City Council’s audit committee vented their frustration this week after hearing that the rollout of the IMS – designed to replace the council’s…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Newspapers: Community, priorities and platforms Experiments in a new local economics (UK) |  REconomy Why mobile first might not be best for Universal Credit | Helen Milner Introducing the Intel® Galileo…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Social media record keeping for government – is it necessary? | Digital democracy, news, thinking, tips & tricks Google Reader Died Because No One Would Run It 10 Visual Steps To…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: The History of Programming Languages Nextdoor Brings Its Neighborhood-Focused Social Network To The iPhone With Debut Of Native iOS App | TechCrunch Fedora Project Announces Pidora Remix for Raspberry Pi Doctors…

Online PR – join in or be left behind

I admit it: I wasn’t always that interested in the internet and social media.

In all honesty I was a tad old-school – I’d started out as a newspaper journalist before the internet really took off, and before social media became mainstream.

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: The learning organization: an often-described, but seldom-observed phenomenon | Harold Jarche – "What should a true learning organisation look like?" Connecting and engaging inside your organisation – "Social networks are inherently…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Tales of the city: the rise of the local blog – "In its daily blogposts, Spitalfields Life aims to portray the full colour of life in London's East End. But…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Facebook’s ‘dark side’: study finds link to socially aggressive narcissism – "Psychology paper finds Facebook and other social media offer platform for obsessions with self-image and shallow friendships." The UK…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. We the People | The White House – E-petitions, White House style How to create sustainable open data projects with purpose – Nice article from MySociety's Tom Steinberg. One in…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Clay Shirky Says Good Collaboration is Structured Fighting – "Large collaborative projects aren't, in fact, large collaborative projects according to Shirky. They're small collaborative projects with tight groups, that integrate…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. What we talk about when we talk about RSS – A useful bit of background to the future of RSS debate. Media Trust explains how local news hubs will work…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Civility in service | Public Strategist – "Civil servants should understand the constraints they accept as part of the job. They – and everybody else – should understand the limitations…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Google’s Chromebook set to transform how we think about computers | Technology | The Observer – “On 15 June, Google will officially take the next step on its road to…

Localism needs bespoke, not scale

David Wilcox does his usual excellent summarising and commenting job on the latest snafu involving BIG Lottery funding and the internet. It’s all about a grant of £1.89 million to the Media Trust, to fund the establishment of “connected news…

Bookmarks for April 28th through May 18th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Local Government Graduate Gripes – "How would a networked, open, innovative, tech-enabled, social recruitment scheme for government work?" 10 things Alpha.gov.uk gets wrong (Part 1) | Helpful Technology – Nicely…

Communities and ‘hyperactivism’

Excellent analysis and writing from Tessy Britton in reaction to the recent disturbances in Bristol: This is the real landscape into which the Localism Bill will descend. There seems to have been some dramatic shift recently from ‘government knows best’…