iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Such a beautiful obsession - collaborating with chance and wife Meg, deeply personal but needing a community to view it. Complex, messy algorithms, fragmented, growing and decaying - reminds me of when computers were more recognisably human #CreativeTech - So cool www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is8N...

youtube.com

He Won’t Stop Building a Map to an Imaginary Place

YouTube video by People Make Games

040

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

I was brought into this group last year by @patcon.bsky.social who I met in Newspeak House atending Pol.is related gatherings - a chain of events which speaks to the grassroots movement of the Voxit Community and the value of these convening places. www.linkedin.com/posts/policy...

linkedin.com

#policyinnovation #collectiveintelligence #innovationinpractice #publicsectorinnovation | Policy Lab UK

Collective Intelligence methods are evolving – and Policy Lab’s practice is evolving with them. We recently joined partners from across Europe in Helsinki to test new approaches to large-scale digit...

071

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Looking to head up in the new year, last year's was 🔥🔥🔥 - hope to see you there!

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Studio manager role at Policy Lab! 🎉🎉🎉 - run our team-wide operations in a really amazing policy innovation team in central gov - Apply before 12th August www.linkedin.com/posts/policy...

civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk

Quick Check Needed

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Policy Lab are looking for an entry-level film ethnographer to join our team - www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...

civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk

Quick Check Needed

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Running the online debate on the Future of Civil Service Skills with Policy Lab, come join - civil servants only! 👀 If you aren't a civil servant but know a few, please do let them know! - www.linkedin.com/posts/policy...

linkedin.com

#civilservice | Policy Lab UK

Policy Lab and Government Skills (Cabinet Office) are calling on UK civil servants to join a groundbreaking online ‘collective intelligence’ debate, using our innovative Pol.is system, to revolutionis...

021

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

🧵 1/3 - Beyond the landscape, recent #Iceland 🇮🇸 trip highlights included a micro-residency at hafnar.haus, talks, discussions, brilliant socially conscious creatives in the former Ministry of Welfare. Lunchtime food parades and possibly the best office view ever ..

Brendan giving a talk in the cateen at Hafnar Haus, people watching

Door showing the original Icelandic Ministry of Welfare decals alongside Hafnar Haus branding

Perspective of someone carrying a big bowl of salad entering a large room full of people

A modern office desk looking out of a bay window over a view of mountains and harbour

130

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Taken by how Icelanders seem to know my hometown of #Grimsby better than people in the UK do. Isolated Icelandic villages often had better ties to coastal towns around the world than Reykjavik. Got quite reflective, took a trip out to the Westfjords - came across a wrecked Grimsby trawler on the way

Rusty scrap remains of the Grimsby trawler wrecked on a black sand beach with a glacier behind it

Morning view out of a window of a small fishing harbour with lights on with a Fjord bluff behind it

Hand holding a bottle of Lysi cod-liver oil

An array of dried fish heads on display on a white tiled wall

070

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Took some time out from my trip to 🇮🇸 to chat with Josie Maltinsky Gaitens from East of Moon about being a Creative Technologist in Policy Lab ... #EastOfMoonTransmissions #CreativeTechnology -

eastofmoon.com

A Creative Technologist with the UK government | East of Moon

Laboratories for community centred innovation.

040

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Love the idea that writing blogs is writing letters to AI

030

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

🧵 1/4 - In our fortnightly blue-sky session #ImaginationStation we took a closer look at the electronics around us as part of an art exploration. Part of this was logging off of Teams, shutting down the Macbook and removing the back cover to see what was inside ...

Filming of the cover removal of the Macbook on a conference table

Removing the cover of the Macbook with a screwdrivers

150

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

1/3 🧵 - Cross government software engineering conference today at GDS Whitechapel, presenting talk on Creative Technology in Government …

Presenter next to screen with abstract image of face on it

1121

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Such a buzzy vibe at #ukgc25 with really some really thoughtful discussions. Policy Lab represent with @prateekbuch.bsky.social and Lara Kinneir - Moawr pls!

Selfie of Brendan, Prateek and Lara in the audience at UK GovCamp 2025 at MoJ Building, Petit France, London

1130

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

When our #Ethnography researchers showcased this to the team it was amazing to see how the discussion in-game was different to that in the participant's home - two completely different complementary bits of insight, both so rich 💡 openpolicy.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/11/w...

openpolicy.blog.gov.uk

Why we are experimenting with ethnography in the metaverse

Over the past decade Policy Lab has established a foundational practice in film ethnography. Throughout this time, we have continued to push the boundaries of how this method can support policymakers ...

080

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

🧵 1/4 - I've been tracking the prediction in this 2001 BT Exact whitepaper for well over 20 years now (brendan.sdf-eu.org/downloads/the_fu…) lots of interesting predictions but perhaps the most interesting thing is how much it said about the time it was written ...

140

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Policy mini games? WarioWare for workshops? A Policy Lab #ImaginationStation session building and publishing experimental games in Downpour (thanks to @v21.bsky.social for the amazing toolkit)

190

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Really thoughtful and well presented futures work from Natural England 🍃 'Ecology Re-Wired' at Horizon House, Bristol. #GenerativeAI imagery, natural artefacts and especially love the quiet office pod converted into a listening booth 🎧

030

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

🧵 1/3 - 'Café Les Négociants' sits on the corner of a busy intersection in Marrakech - people (mostly guys) come here to make deals and people watch. When I arrived I really didn't like the negotiations when buying stuff here, no prices on anything, but after a week I started to get into it ...

110

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Bristol Urban Forum manifesto event, culmination of a years worth of experiments in Bristol on #CitizenAssembly

Perspective of talk from seat showing the Bristol Urban Forum manifesto on lap

Participants discussing themes identified by the citizen assembly process

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 29/10/2024

Huge privilege to write about and continue the work here by Amy Ramdehal, Christie van-Tinteren and Stephen Bennett openpolicy.blog.gov.uk/2024/10/29/a... - "how can Natural England better work with early-stage creatives on protected sites across the country?"

openpolicy.blog.gov.uk

A role for the creative sector in protecting environmental sites

Policy Lab has a 10-year history of convening diverse voices to contribute to policymaking, including those of creative practitioners. Our ongoing collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research C...

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

At the Vision for #CreativeTech in #Bristol panel talk - very interesting discussion of how we can form a narrative for Bristol in the UK and abroad

Sign saying 'PANEL: Setting the Future Vision for Creative Tech in the South West'

Panel of five people under purple lights on the stage at Motion

Motion capture setup under purple lights

Screen showing tech demo with a big inflatable robot in background

020

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 04/10/2024

Policy Lab is recruiting for a policy designer - come work with us in a really interesting policy team in UK Government! www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk

Policy Lab Designer - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UKGOV.UK

Search and apply for jobs in the UK Civil Service

014

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 27/09/2024

TEPIA (先端技術館) institute #Tokyo, really for kids, has a hackspace which has a bunch of rapid prototyping tool plus samples (thread for reference) ...

120

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 26/09/2024

#CanIHasSwitches? #Akihabra still got it, including a dedicated switch shop in Akihabra Radio Hall (秋葉原電波会館) Switches are one of the most tricky things to buy through mail order - massively tactile ...

020

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 26/09/2024

#Tokyo friend telling me about 'Chanko' (ちゃんこ鍋) - a stew that you eat and then have a nap and it gradually turns you into a sumo wrestler ... ... also sumo training dojos are called 'stables' japan.recipetineats.com/chanko-nabe-...

japan.recipetineats.com

Chanko Nabe (Sumo Wrestler's Hot Pot)

Chanko Nabe is a hot pot dish consumed by sumo wrestlers. Chicken based broth with lots of different ingredients, Sumo Wrestler's Hot Pot is so delicious.

000

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

One Person Democracy by Yoshiaki Kaihatsu at Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo - got to send a year in future postcard, do an analogue Pol.is discussion, dot voting and massive wall of sticky notes ... might as well be at work

110

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 23/09/2024

Turns out you can render Japanese character sets on DOS - so great to meet hackers from the other side of the planet #Tokyo #Hackspace

Selfie of Brendan in-front of Tokyo Hackspace banner

An 1990's NEC laptop showing Japanese characters in a DOS window

Intergalactic Travellers Passport in-front of the official website

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

Missed the London one last month but managed to make it to the Tokyo one last week 😂 @gaemz.bsky.social #Tokyo meet-up no. 32. No pics of the event bc policy but some brilliant ideas and people - thanks to @thenomi.bsky.social for organised and @eigotaku.bsky.social for hosting xxx

132

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

SDF meetup at #Tokyo #MakerFaire - 20 years(?!!) since last met up…

Original SDF meetup in 2004(?) … Brendan, karamoon, (??), sgrant (poff took the photo)

Brendan and karamoon plus family and friend at Maker Faire Tokyo

People looking at exhibits at Maker Faire Tokyo

100

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 13/09/2024

Capsule hotel #Tokyo #Japan experience - something eerie about having a mandated routine, dressing in a given uniform, then being monitored for health overnight with infrared camera. Report is in the post apparently …

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

Interesting piece on modern Wargaming (Serious Games) in government - would be interesting to see the civic applications in more detail youtu.be/lYaDXZ2MI-k?...

youtu.be

The Games Behind Your Government's Next War

YouTube video by People Make Games

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2024

Experimented with The Quiet Year (buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year) a few times now as a basis for policy work - I've never been able to get the discussion mechanic to work well - is there something I'm missing here?

buriedwithoutceremony.com

The Quiet Year - Buried Without Ceremony

010

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

Would love to experiment with this kind of tech + Policy Lab evidence cards … www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7J...

youtube.com

Hypercard in the World, May 2016

YouTube video by Dynamicland

000

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

Housemate managed to set fire to the insulation lining on his car yesterday, smoke coming from a place couldn’t easily reach until I lent him my watering can to put it out - his car is a classic Volkswagen Beetle #MissedImageOfTheDay

000

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 28/08/2024

If they offer two of what you want at discount, ask for four with more discount - only works late in the day at the bagel shop in Brick Lane - and if you want four bagels #LPT #Hustling247

000

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 28/08/2024

American grandad(?) on tube today showed his grandson how to fold Evening Standard so you can throw it fro your bike - had to try when I got home … #Zx80 #PaperBoy

021

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 27/08/2024

@danabra.mov talks #BlueSky protocol - v cool but never realised just how public my posts were as well as my likes, comments etc … #UberOpen

Dan Abramov giving a presentation at Newspeak House

000

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 19/08/2024

Running and storing weighted AI models, encoded in binary, on transistor chips which ultimately have analogue response curves seems … wasteful?

100

Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold.bsky.social · 03/02/2024

Thanks PMStudioUK for hosting my talk on 'Creative Technology and Policy' - some really lively discussion at the end - watch back in full here including our aspirations for a digital #CitizenAssembly and how we make space for #Imagination www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFPX...

Audience members discussing and pointing at the screen

Brendan presenting a slide titled 'Interactive reports/evidence'

Brendan presenting a slide titled 'An artistic licence'

041