Author Archives: markbraggins

About markbraggins

I’m interested in lots of things, in no particular order: society, politics, public services, open data, technology (and what you can do with it), wildlife, photography, the countryside, and long distance walking.

Demonstrating the value of open data – GP Pressure Map

Posted on April 8, 2015 by markbraggins

I was really pleased to see GP Pressure Map featured on the BBC’s South Today programme on 31st March. GP Pressure Map – part of the Open City Data Platform – was one of the “highs” I mentioned in my final … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Data Visualisation, Hampshire Hub, Open Data, Transparency and Decision Making | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Leaving on a high

Posted on April 8, 2015 by markbraggins

This post was originally published on the Hampshire Hub on 30th March 2015. Deep breath I’m leaving Hampshire County Council, and am stepping down as lead for the Hampshire Hub. There, I’ve said it. Looking back I wrote my first … Continue reading →

Posted in Hampshire, Hampshire Hub, Local Information System, Open Data, Protohub, Transparency and Decision Making | Tagged | 4 Comments

If you open stuff up, good stuff happens

Posted on February 1, 2015 by markbraggins

This is a slightly edited version of a post originally published on DATA.GOV.UK I rather like the phrase: “Engineering Serendipity” which – as I choose to interpret it – means something like ‘creating conditions which maximise the chances of good … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, BluelightCamp, Open Data | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Hampshire Hub taking shape

Posted on August 19, 2014 by markbraggins

We’ve been working hard for the last few months to get the new Hampshire Hub data platform into shape. There are three main strands of work at present: adding new features to Swirrl’s PublishMyData platform preparing an initial collection of … Continue reading →

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The Business Case for Open Data

Posted on June 19, 2014 by markbraggins

Martin Tisné, UK Policy Director for Omidyar Network, and Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics have published a new report Open for Business: How Open Data Can Help Achieve the G20 Growth Target The report considers the potential for open data, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Data, Economy, Open Data, Report, Research, Socio-Economic, Transparency and Decision Making | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Data sharing between public bodies

Posted on June 5, 2014 by markbraggins

In autumn of last year, the Law Commission launched its Consultation into data sharing between public bodies. If you haven’t read it before, you can preview and download the document at the end of this post. Scoping exercise Unlike other … Continue reading →

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Ghost writing, hubs, and autoawesome

Posted on May 26, 2014 by markbraggins

I’ve been blogging off-and-on for a few years. My first post, in December 2011, was on WordPress.com. I then briefly tried Tumblr, before settling on this self-hosted WordPress site. It gave me the flexibility I wanted, and tied in quite … Continue reading →

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Hampshire publishes Aerial Photography as open data (finally!)

Posted on May 8, 2014 by markbraggins

In my previous post about aerial photography, I explained that our aerial photography provider, Blom Aerofilm, flew the whole of Hampshire over the Summer of 2013 and captured high resolution imagery and data. Last time, I said that the Hampshire … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Environment, Flood, Maps, Open Data, Rivers | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Next steps for the Hampshire Hub

Posted on May 5, 2014 by markbraggins

The story so far In my previous post I explained that the Hampshire Hub has been through a few changes, starting life as a ‘thinking aloud’ web site, then regenerating as a ‘prototype’, and most recently what we’ve been calling … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Hampshire Hub, Local Information System, Open Data, Partnership Working, Transparency and Decision Making | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Drones – opportunity or threat?

Posted on April 22, 2014 by markbraggins

Once the purview of the military and spies, ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ (‘Drones’), are increasingly common. Just hot air? A few months ago the giant online retailer Amazon announced its intention to deliver packages within 30 minutes of customers placing an … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, BluelightCamp, Technology, Unconference | Tagged , , | 19 Comments