One Zero One

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to three organisers of UKGovCamp – the unconference that has become known as the “Glastonbury of Government’ in the UK. We were delighted to host three insightful organisers of this event for this special installment of One Zero One – Amanda Smith, David Durant and Sarah Baskerville. Amanda Smith (@ayymanduh on Twitter) leads the User Centred Policy Design in MOJ Digital and throughout her career has worked at the intersection of people, policy, services, and systems. Amanda cares about building diverse, multi-disciplinary teams; coaching people to take people-centred approaches and supporting organisations to become more open and outcomes focused by approach. Amanda attended her

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic.  Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Ed Garcez, Director of Transformation at Central Bedfordshire Council in this episode to discuss the Digital Transformation journey the Council has been on for the past 10 months due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that has forced organisations to become ‘digital-first’ remote-working environments overnight. In this insightful discussion, Ed explains how Central Bedfordshire Council has significantly changed due to the crisis in terms of remote-working, citizen impact, community support and interestingly, the significant rise in citizen participation in the democratic process now that council meetings are hosted digitally. Having joined the Council in June of 2020 midway throu

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic.  Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Eileen Jennings-Brown, Head of Technology at Wellcome Trust in this episode to discuss the Digital Transformation journey the Wellcome Trust was on before the global pandemic forced organisations to become ‘digital-first’ remote-working environments overnight, and how that journey still doesn’t have a ‘hard stop’.   Eileen explains in this episode that the Wellcome Trust had completed a significant amount of Digital Transformation prior to COVID-19 – however they still had a huge amount of work to undertake not only in terms of Digital Transformation, but in understanding and supporting a culture of remote-working for employees and managing the impact working from home has had o

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast continues our journey of exploring what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic.  Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Fin Goulding, CTO at Flow Academy in this episode to discuss all things Agile, DevOps and Digital Transformation – particularly in the context of the ‘digital-first’ remote-working environment organisations are operating in currently due to COVID-19. Year-on-year Fin Goulding has been listed as a Global Top 100 CIO/CTO and has extensive digital and agile expertise as a hands-on transformation practitioner. Today as the CTO at Flow Academy, Fin works with companies in any sector who need help either starting or repairing their transformation (be that business/digital or agile) and gets them back on track.  A co-author of multiple books including “Flow: A Handbook for Change-Ma

Series 3 of the One Zero One podcast is back with a bang and a new host has joined us for a deep dive into what tech leaders around the UK have been doing to manage and drive digital change and positive progress throughout a global pandemic. Sooraj Shah, a technology-focused journalist (the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, Business Insider & more) speaks to Karl Hoods, Chief Digital & Information Officer at BEIS in this podcast to find out how it has been for Karl to steer digital change at a key government department during a global pandemic. About BEIS BEIS is a key ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for building a stronger, greener future by fighting coronavirus, tackling climate change, unleashing innovation, and making the UK a great place to work and do business. They are responsible for: business industrial strategy science, research and innovation energy and clean growth climate change From 2019 to 2020, the department’s priorities are to: deliver an

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a very timely (remote) discussion with Tim Panagos, CTO at Microshare.io and our host Peter Gothard. Tim is a technology executive with 20 years of experience in Enterprise Software having held senior roles in several organisations as a Software Engineer, Chief Architect and CTO. Tim is the Co-Founder and CTO of Microshare, a data leverage platform for the IoT era, providing a solution to sharing, privacy, security, audit, confidentiality, data monetisation and cost savings. Driven by the new technology developments and the IoT wave, Microshare was founded to brings things to life; connecting buildings, assets, people and devices so that users can make smarter decisions. As Tim explains in this insightful episode, Microshare solutions are in demand the world over as public and private sector officials are responsible for the health and safety of workers, tenants, customers and others who pass through their facilities. Its Universal Contact Tracing and

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with an energetic and candid (pre-quarantine) discussion with Sara Stephens, CTO at Rest Less and our host Peter Gothard. Sara Stephens is a technology leader with a 10-year history in software development and technology leadership, with multiple years spent working in the financial services industry in New York City before returning home to the UK. Upon her return to the UK, Sara changed direction from the corporate world and tapped into her entrepreneurial spirit, co-founding a pop-up cocktail service startup in Southampton, successfully expanding to Manchester, and becoming the #1 TripAdvisor nightlife experience in Southampton. In 2018, Sara joined Rest Less, the UK’s fastest-growing site for the over 50s as the startup’s Chief Technology Officer. Rest Less is a digital service launched to inspire today’s generation of over 50s and 60s to get the most from life – focusing on work, financial wellbeing, learning, volunteering, lifestyle and more. The aim

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a (pre-quarantine) discussion with Mark Ridley, Director at CTO Advisory Firm Ridley Industries and our host Peter Gothard. Mark Ridley is an entrepreneur and technologist working with startups and corporates to ensure that technology is used creatively and effectively to support their strategy. Recognised as one of the top ten CIOs in the UK, he writes and speaks regularly about the use of technology, agile methodologies and digital working. Mark was the technical co-founder of reed.co.uk, the largest job site in the UK, where he served as technology director during its growth from four people to over 350. We often speak of SaaS on One Zero One, but interestingly on this episode, we spoke to Mark about TLaaS – Technology Leadership as a Service. Working with startup founders, executive teams and established technology functions, Mark Ridley helps businesses align their strategy and structure with their business goals. Download or stream this

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a (remote) discussion with Charles Ewen, Director of Technology & CIO at The Met Office. The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as The Met Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service, an organisation that has been supporting the British public since 1854. The Met Office makes meteorological predictions across all timescales from weather forecasts to climate change. As CIO of the Met Office, Charles Ewen is accountable for all aspects of technology within the Met Office and manages a dedicated engineering team of 350+ people. In a remote interview with our host Peter Gothard, Charles shared with our listeners the relationship between what the Met Office does and the high-performance computing (HPC) estate running at the organisation.  Kicking off with the relationship between the Met Office and the world’s first general-purpose Turing-complete computer ENIAC and moving on to the relationship between what the Met Office does today and the

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a discussion on Machine Learning and AI solutions with Peter Bebbington, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Offer and Chief Digital Officer at Brainpool.ai. Peter Bebbington joined One Zero One host Peter Gothard to discuss Brainpool, an artificial intelligence consultancy specialising in developing bespoke AI solutions. Brainpool operates as a global network of over 400 artificial intelligence and machine learning experts brought together to help software companies enhance their products with Machine Learning and AI.  The Brainpool founders believe with this approach that they can service their clients with the AI resources they need to stay ahead of the curve.  In addition to its consultancy work, Brainpool has also developed two products: Forstack, which predicts financial time series models and DAISY, the first fully automated construction design system powered by Artificial Intelligence. Peter discusses DAISY in detail in this episode, explaining how

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast continues with a very interesting discussion with Nico Macdonald, Educator, Facilitator and Consultant on Innovation and Creativity.  Macdonald, Tutor at CIEE London Global Institute and Tutor/Visiting Fellow at London Southbank University, joined One Zero One host Peter Gothard to discuss the ‘Next 50 Years of the Internet’ project.  2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Internet and the 30th anniversary of the Web, and Nico Macdonald believes that this presents a wonderful opportunity to raise the level of understanding and interest in the Internet (and the Web and digital technologies), to reflect on our achievements (and the associated challenges), and to imagine where we might go next.  Download or stream this episode to learn more about ‘The Next 50 Years of the Internet Project’ and how you could get involved.

Series 2 of the One Zero One podcast kicks off with a fantastic deep dive into the Matrix.org Foundation, a not-for-profit open source project, defining new pragmatic open standards and reference implementations to create a new, open, decentralised IP messaging and VoIP ecosystem for the internet. Matthew Hodgson and Amandine Le Pape, Co-Founders at Matrix.org joined One Zero One's host Peter Gothard to tell our listeners about the purpose, mission and real-world applications of the Matrix project. Matthew describes Matrix as "a fascinating microcosm of the wider open internet”, and that the 11M+ addressable users “span the full spectrum of humanity." Matrix’s initial goal is to fix the problem of fragmented IP communications: letting users message and call each other without having to care what app the other user is on - making it as easy as sending an email. Interestingly of these millions of users, government bodies across the world are now considering the decentralised approach to communications,

For Episode #8 of the One Zero One podcast, Version 1, in association with the Analytics Institute, brought together perspectives from academia, media and industry to discuss the challenges of responsible data science in the age of the algorithm. This podcast was recorded live during the interactive event with live polling and Q&A technology.   This bonus episode includes the part of the event you didn’t hear yet, where our hosts answer the questions submitted by the audience throughout the recording. If you missed the first part of this session – stream or download the first part of the discussion here.  The role of Data Science in today’s technology driven world impacts a range of industries from the health sector to financial services, to developing smart cities and transportation. Although the benefits of Data Science have become seemingly clear and its impact noted across said environments, the dangers of data science without ethical considerations is equally apparent — whether it be the protecti

Episode #10, Kevin Cooney, Global CIO of Xilinx  Cloud Adoption, Innovation, and the Demise of the Datacentre For Episode #10 of the One Zero One podcast, Ken MacMahon, Head of Technology and Innovation from Version 1 spoke to Kevin Cooney, the Global Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice-President of multinational technology corporation Xilinx.  In this episode of One Zero One, Kevin Cooney shares valuable insights and advice based on his highly successful career as the CIO of a rapidly paced innovative technology company. Xilinx is the global leader in All Programmable semiconductor technologies, employing 4,000 people worldwide. The company’s All Programmable products and related software are enabling smart, connected, and differentiated applications driven by 5G Wireless, Embedded Vision, Industrial IoT, and Cloud Computing.  With the level of inventiveness and innovation required to lead the heavily engineering and product development-focused IT of a global technology company of this sc

For Episode #9 of the One Zero One podcast, Róisín Healy from Version 1 spoke to Laura Nolan about the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Formed in October 2012, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is a growing coalition 129 international, regional, and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 60 countries that is working to ban fully autonomous weapons.   The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots wishes to inform the public around the globe that fully autonomous weapons, without human intervention, crosses a moral threshold. In order to make an impact on the legislation and regulation around autonomous weapons, the campaign is lobbying at a UN level to ensure we retain meaningful human control over the use of force globally. Laura Nolan has been speaking out on this topic in interviews with The Guardian, Business Insider, The New York Times and other global publications in order to raise awareness of the campaign. In 2018 Laura also founded TechWontBuildIt Dublin, an organisation for technology workers who

For Episode #8 of the One Zero One podcast, Version 1, in association with the Analytics Institute, brought together perspectives from academia, media and industry to discuss the challenges of responsible data science in the age of the algorithm. This podcast was recorded live during the interactive event with live polling and Q&A technology. The role of Data Science in today’s technology driven world impacts a range of industries from the health sector to financial services, to developing smart cities and transportation. Although the benefits of Data Science have become seemingly clear and its impact noted across said environments, the dangers of data science without ethical considerations is equally apparent — whether it be the protection of personal data, bias in automated decision-making, the apparent elimination of free choice in psychographics or the social impacts of automation. Ronan Laffan, Head of Advisory Services, Version 1 hosted this episode, the expert panel for the discussion feature

For Episode #7 of the One Zero One podcast, Paul Slade from Version 1 met with Scott Carey, Group Editor - B2B at IDG UK to discuss the disruption of the Financial Services industry by Fintech businesses, innovation and the relevance of ‘buzzwords’ such as Machine Learning in the IT space right now. Technology is constantly evolving, with each change bringing a need for clarity. IDG UK is responsible for influencing the most powerful tech buyers in the world — from business technologists to enthusiasts and everyone in between through titles such as Computerworld UK, CIO UK, CSO UK and Techworld. With a background in Journalism and having previously held writing and editorial roles in ComputerWorld and Techworld, Scott Carey is now the Group Editor of the IDG UK B2B editorial team. Responsible for all content across the organisation’s four B2B titles: Computerworld UK, CIO UK, CSO UK and Techworld, Scott writes for and edits these sites day-to-day, manages a growing team of writers and supports events an

For Episode #6 of the One Zero One podcast, Róisín Healy from Version 1 met with William Conaghan and Lizzy Hayashida, the founders of growing startup Change Donations. Change Donations is a micro-donations platform with the mission of connecting everyday philanthropists with good causes.  Lizzy Hayashida is from Silicon Valley where she spent 8 years working on new product innovation at early stage start-ups and large tech companies before moving to Dublin to complete her MBA at Trinity College Dublin. She was an early employee of Milo.com (acquired by eBay) and went on to launch the first same-day delivery programme for eBay.  After graduating from Georgetown University, William worked as a Financial Analyst and Business Controller for Nasdaq where he managed over 100 Million in assets, integrated six companies through acquisition, and managed the financials for the dark pool trading and facial recognition projects. William then moved to Dublin to complete his MBA at Trinity College. In this podcast, Willia

For Episode #5 of the One Zero One podcast, Ken MacMahon, Head of Technology and Innovation at Version 1 explored the increasingly pertinent topic of Ethical AI and human-centric design with Dr. Joan Cahill, Principal Investigator/Research Fellow at the Centre for Innovative Human Systems (CIHS), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.    Joan has worked as a Senior Researcher and Principal Investigator with the Centre for Innovative Human Systems at Trinity College Dublin since 2005. During this time, Joan has worked on many high-profile academic projects in addition to several industry/academia collaborations. Before joining TCD, Joan worked for seven years in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information Design, with a range of software companies and HCI consultancies.  In this podcast, Joan gives our listeners a view into Human Factors, an interdisciplinary area of psychology, providing us with an understanding of Ethical AI considerations. Joan illustrates how technology makers have the power

For Episode #4 of the One Zero One podcast, Jamie Linford from Version 1 took a deep-dive into the rising popularity of Serverless, discussing why it is being embraced by businesses worldwide with James Hall, 'AWS Hero' and the Founder/Director of the Digital agency Parallax. James Hall has been working in the digital sector for over a decade. He is the author of the popular js PDF library, and is a founder/Director of Parallax, a digital agency in the UK. James has contributed to and promotes the Serverless Framework which allows you to build web applications on top of Lambda and related services. Notably, James built an online recording studio for David Guetta and UEFA using Serverless technology shortly after API Gateway was released, which won him the title of an 'AWS Hero' from Amazon Web Services themselves. As he discusses with Jamie in this episode - he didn't receive a cape for this accolade, but he was happy with the news all the same! Listen or download this episode to hear more from James