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David Durant

@bowsy.co.uk
992 followers 379 following 3.1K posts

I've been in the gov tech and transformation communitiy since 2009. I've worked for mySociety, the GLA, HackIT and GDS. I'm on the committees for GovCamp, Policy Camp, TransformGov Talks, the National Strategy Project and the UK Polyamory Association.

PostsRepliesMedia
David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 29/09/2026
Hey @jamestplunkett.bsky.social was the "digital era devolution" work you and @richardpope.org did referenced in this published somewhere? Thanks. medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com
Could the NHS leapfrog the rest on public sector digital work?
Start small, think big
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We can all argue about Burnham's speech but it meant girl twin asking me what the triple lock was and boy twin asking me what my preferred form of PR is. So it's done its work.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 29/09/2026
Jesus Christ there's a reason why comments are turned off on this. #FutureVisionXPRIZE www.youtube.com/watch?v=yivX...
youtube.com
The Gifted. #FutureVisionXPRIZE
YouTube video by Jeff Synthesized
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 29/09/2026
My dad worked nearly 50 years for the CEGB. He'd be over the moon to see the electric grid being renationalised.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 28/09/2026
In the very unlikely event you're short of something to including in the next @enfielddispatch.bsky.social - @jollyjourno.bsky.social . This from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social is great. I can already think of at last one prime example. medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com
Communities Against Delinquent Ownership
Putting Britain’s empty and neglected buildings on the map
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 28/09/2026
Just caught myself saying "I'm spending too many tokens" out loud and now must commit ritual seppuku. Seriously though, I really have no idea what to think of myself right about now.
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A bear @asinglebear.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It is time for leaves. I am a bear.
Bear comic, 4 panels.

1: bear at Sun, “thank you, Sun”
2: bear by tree “it has been nice to be too warm”
3: bear at tree, dead leaves “but it is time for leaves”
4: bear at Sun, Sun is leaves “I am a bear.”
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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
After a long day at the aquarium, the otters help tidy their toys away. Payment is made promptly and entirely in ice cubes.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 27/09/2026
Brief reminder that I mostly post about gov tech and comms over at @ukgovcomms.bsky.social and that one of my bots RTs the Prime Ministers TikToks and Instagrams here on Bluesky at @unofficialandy.bsky.social .
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 27/09/2026
Although at obviously a very different scale this is why I pay for local journalism like @enfielddispatch.bsky.social .
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 27/09/2026
The second long-read from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social today is his latest one. medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com
Meet the menders
Our social fabric is frayed, so who’s fixing it?
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 27/09/2026
Finally managing to find some time to start to go through the giant backlog of @jamestplunkett.bsky.social essays that I've been putting aside. Each one makes me think so much I feel I need a serious chunk of time to approach it properly and this one is no exception. medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com
Can a new style of political leadership unlock the energy at the edges?
As Andy Burnham rises to the Premiership, this essay explores the value of a more enabling style of political leadership. What is enabling…
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 26/09/2026
Nice to see @derekalton.bsky.social - formerly of this parish - in @civilserviceworld.bsky.social . www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/art...
civilserviceworld.com
Transformation in times of war: Kyiv digital chief Victoria Itskovych's story
After hearing the sounds of war, Kyiv’s CIO Victoria Itskovych headed straight to the city’s datacentre. Derek Alton shares her story and what it t...
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"A woman leaving the facility 'dropped to her knees. She did the sign of the cross in extreme relief. As if coming out of a nightmare,' he said... “May we never become so accustomed to suffering that we stop seeing the humanity of those experiencing it.” www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
miamiherald.com
Amid whistleblower claims, advocates ask lawmakers to visit ICE office in Miramar
Community leaders demand Florida lawmakers investigate Miramar ICE facility amid whistleblower allegations of severe overcrowding and filthy facilities
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 26/09/2026
We're going to have to wait until the budget to find out whether this is actual new money from government or just moving around and renaming existing things. Still, @andyburnham.bsky.social has in spades that key thing we've been missing for ages. Not just a good PM but good at playing one on TV.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 24/09/2026
I don't know what this really is (and I'm 100% sure they've announced it without knowing themselves) but it sure sounds like nationalising @fullfact.org . www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
New UK agency to fight ‘information warfare’ from likes of Russia, Burnham tells UN
PM aims to ‘stem poisonous tide’ of disinformation and deepfakes with National Centre for Information Defence
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State of the Future @sotf.org.uk · 24/09/2026
We're delighted to announce that DATA BITES IS BACK! We're thrilled to be working with @thinkdigitalptns.bsky.social on three events to the end of the year (NEW START TIME OF 5.30PM): - Weds 21 October thinkdigitalpartner.zohobackstage.eu/DataBitesOct... - Weds 11 November - Weds 2 December
A new Data Bites logo!

DATA
BITES
8 MINUTE TALKS

To the right of 'DATA BITES' is a black circle above a rounded rectangle, with a digital clock display of 08:00 (it looks both like a person, and a digital clock)
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UK Gov Comms (NON GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT) @ukgovcomms.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
MHCLG is the absolute poster-child of excellent public comms these days. Whatever's in the water there please share it around! mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2026/09/24/w...
mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk
What good delivery means to us
The digital delivery community in MHCLG is thriving. Across different teams, professions and directorates, we found ourselves returning to many of the same conversations about what good delivery looks...
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 24/09/2026
My usual two years behind everyone else I've just encountered the Joseph Browning quote "The underlying purpose of AI is to allow wealth to access skill while removing from the skilled the ability to access wealth" and it's really stopped me in my tracks.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 24/09/2026
I'm increasingly of the opinion that we need a group of anthropologists looking into the specific incentives of why senior government decisions makers (politicians and civil servants) make decisions on, for example, AI decision making in order to be properly able to engage them about their choices.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 24/09/2026
Are you counting down to the AI apocalypse @gavinfreeguard.com ?
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 23/09/2026
Thanks to @enfielddispatch.bsky.social we can see the high-class level of debate currently taking place in Enfield Council. enfielddispatch.co.uk/new-four-yea...
enfielddispatch.co.uk
New four-year council plan approved after heated civic centre debate
Insults were hurled across the council chamber towards the end of a lengthy debate over the council's priorities between now and 2030
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 23/09/2026
This cross-org sharing is great - but it's criminal that there's no way to run one version of these kinds of things centrally on GDS's infrastructure rather than every org having to have their own tech people spin up their own version. mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2026/09/23/b...
mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk
Build once, benefit many: driving business case transformation across government, one (agile) step at a time
Business cases help government make decisions about spending public money and delivering public benefit. MHCLG’s Digital Process Improvement team is applying user-centred design to make the business c...
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Coalition to End Gambling Ads @endgamblingads.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If you're at this year's Labour Conference, join our event on Monday at 4pm. Chaired by @jranoyes.bsky.social, with Gambling Minister @vickyfoxcroftmp.bsky.social, @dawnbutlerbrent.bsky.social, @alexballingermp.bsky.social, Charley Buckley @moreincommonuk.bsky.social and @willprochaska.bsky.social
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Lindsay Ellis @lindsayellis.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Tomorrow I'm uploading to YouTube the project I've been working on almost nonstop for six months, and finally everyone can watch the video that nobody asked for.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
As I have written many times the demise of the centre-right is the most important global political trend of our times.
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Sarah Z @sarahz.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Sometimes I feel almost facile saying any of this,I think because I assume my audience already agrees, but it has not become any less true that ICE ought to be abolished, Palestine ought to be free, trans people ought to be fully recognized as their gender, and also that’s not a complete list either
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This is a fun time to work in AI if you are on multiple people's list of "emergency women to invite to an event when you remember that not everyone in the world is a man under 40"
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 20/09/2026
My thoughts and feelings around this kind of thing are a lot more nuanced and conflicted about than they were 20 years ago.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 20/09/2026
Listening to the latest @privateeyenews.bsky.social podcast joking about AI donating to political parties to influence AI legislation without anyone knowing. I give it at least 50/50 odds that'll happen in the next 5 years. Especially if crypto is mainstreamed for political donations in the US.
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Terence Eden @edent.tel · 19/09/2026
Don't listen to the Doomers. The UK's investment in green energy is making a huge difference. grid.iamkate.com
Fossil fuels
	3.28
	13.7
	Gas
	3.28
	13.7
	Renewables
	20.91
	87.2
	Solar
	0.18
	0.8
	Wind
	20.36
	84.9
	Hydro
	0.37
	1.5
	Other sources
	4.18
	17.4
	Nuclear
	3.33
	13.9
	Biomass
	0.85
	3.5
	Interconnectors
	−4.09
	−17.1
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 18/09/2026
Looks like @openrightsgroup.org will need to update the page on their wiki for Tom Watson 😔. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq Khan
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The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is the most masculine video on the internet right now
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 18/09/2026
This is so impressive. Such hard work by such a dedicated team over a long period of time.
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SDinGov @sdingov.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
SDinGov is proud to host speakers from different backgrounds, specialities, and seniority levels. This year we have 72 speakers, 4 keynotes, 15 case studies, 12 talks, 11 workshops, 2 discussions, and 1 round of lightning talks. Grab one of the final tickets for next week: tinyurl.com/457t9war
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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Job – Head of Data & Digital (fixed term) at the National Biodiversity Network Trust, apparently home-based nbn.org.uk/news/nbn-tru... NBN Atlas nbnatlas.org #biodiversity #opendata -adjacent
● Lead the NBN Trust's data and digital function, providing strategic and functional leadership across the NBN Atlas, related digital products and services, and the Trust's wider data and digital portfolio.
● Line manages the Trust’s data and technical team managers, ensuring clear priorities, strong performance, proportionate governance, and effective delivery across business as usual, funded projects, and strategic development.
● Ensure the Trust's data and digital work is led in a way that is inclusive, accessible, and supportive of a diverse range of staff, partners, and users.
● Deliver the Trust's 2-year organisational sustainability project, "Building a Sustainable Future for the UK's Biodiversity Data Heritage" (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund), including the development and testing of value-added data and digital services, web-hosted products, and support offers that strengthen financial resilience without compromising the Trust's public good role.
● Support the strategic direction, stewardship, and future sustainability of the NBN Atlas, related digital products and services, and the Trust's wider technical delivery, ensuring that risks, opportunities, and investment choices are well managed.
● Play an active role in the NBN Trust's Executive Team, contributing to organisational planning, funding development, cross Trust collaboration, and external engagement where this supports delivery and the Trust's wider strategic objectives.
● The role provides strategic and functional leadership across the Trust's data and digital work, working closely with the Principal Software Engineer as the Trust's senior software engineering lead.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 17/09/2026
It's amazing how much I remember about TV shows that I later find out only ran for a tiny number of episodes. I must surely have seen this as a rerun as I was *five* in 1977.
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Martin Jordan @martinjordan.com · 16/09/2026
Like the US government, the Singapore government, and the European Commission, German government websites have a slim banner now to reassure users they are official. But teams implement it differently. So our engineer Anne built a bookmarklet for us to check whether it’s done right. So helpful!
Partial screenshot of the website of the Service Standard with an overlay with a green frame around the top banner and windows that says: Official KERN header bar detected with a button that says: ‘Hide alignment line’, a hatched red area is seen to the left of the top banner containing the German flag
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 17/09/2026
Why isn't this the lead on the news?
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Republic @republiccampaign.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The Sovereign Grant is going up by £50 million. That's another £50 million in royal funding, on top of the half a billion we already give them. It's time to scrap the grant, plain and simple. #AbolishTheMonarchy
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 16/09/2026
There can never be enough credit to the people quietly doing this kind of important work in the background year after year.
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 16/09/2026
The first of 3 random news stories. This is excellent news. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
European Union invites Canada to become first ever ‘associate member’
Commission president says EU must ‘urgently reimagine our partnerships’ as she makes unprecedented offer
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 16/09/2026
I regret only that I am 22 minutes late to say this first.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/09/2026
About 1,500 Britons a day quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers
theguardian.com
About 1,500 Britons a day quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers
More than a million people have left work to look after loved ones in the past two years, Carers UK says About 1,500 Britons a day are quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers, as they try to balance their vulnerable relatives’ growing care needs with declining access to state-funded social care services. Research estimates that more than a million people have left the workplace to look after ageing, ill and disabled loved ones in the past two years, highlighting the social challenges caused by UK’s rapidly changing demographic profile. Continue reading...
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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
100% this, a rubicon has been crossed The Israeli govt has killed tens of thousands of people, including 20,000 children, over the course of just a few years - and have showed no accountability, no genuine remorse, and came under little meaningful intl pressure to end the killing
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 15/09/2026
Hey @harryharrold.bsky.social @ukcharitycamp.bsky.social are you excellent folks still looking for volunteers for November? 🙋
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 14/09/2026
Is there anyone out there with a subscription to the FT that could do me a quick favour please?
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Martin Jordan @martinjordan.com · 14/09/2026
As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do. Last week, I joined a #leadership offsite discussing strategic priorities for the coming months. I also met with colleagues at the German pension provider, the state supplier for digital identity, and GDS colleagues remotely.
verwaltungsgestaltung.de
Week #228 at the Digital Service: Notes for 7–11 September
Martin spent the first 2 days of his week 228 at a leadership offsite discussing strategic priorities for the coming months. He also met with colleagues at the German pension provider, the state suppl...
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David Durant @bowsy.co.uk · 14/09/2026
Today's discussion of slowing down AI development from the heads of these companies has strong vibes of this, for those of us old enough to remember it, and how much impact it had (none at all). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the...
en.wikipedia.org
Why the Future Doesn't Need Us - Wikipedia
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Canada has a total ban on company/corporate donations. Only individuals who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents can make contributions and it's capped at $1,750 a year. They still have functioning parties and the sky hasn't fallen in. Quite the opposite... www.elections.ca/content.aspx...
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