iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 29/09/2026

The Nuffield Family Observatory email a ‘Chart of The Month’, which I think is a nice, slow, passive way to consume data visualisations. This month’s chat shows that kids entering the care system are increasingly likely to ... richardpope.org/2026/09/29/the-nuff…

Chart showing breakdown of boys vs girls entering care system currently 61% boys, 31% girls

002

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 24/09/2026

This looks like it should be a poster in the backdrop of a scuzzy sci-fi dystopia. (from Canary Wharf).

230

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 21/09/2026

I hope this quote from Professor Peter Fonagy in the trail to his independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism cuts through to people designing digital services (particularly the coaching, relational and behaviour change types) ... richardpope.org/2026/09/21/i-hope-t…

010

Reposted by Richard Pope

Tom Coates @tomcoates.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Many of you guys probably are too young to remember the late 1990s and early 2000s when the newspapers and media were full of conversations saying the internet wasn't really going to have any impact. Many of us who were actually engaged at the time knew how nuts that was.

9303

Reposted by Richard Pope

Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

My book The Measure of Progress is out soon in paperback - available for pre-order! press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

press.princeton.edu

The Measure of Progress

Why do we use eighty-year-old metrics to understand today’s economy?

422847

Reposted by Richard Pope

Jonty Wareing @jonty.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I always suspected a UK government would eventually reverse course on "coding in public". So I've been backing up all government code. For six years. Today I finally generated a report on what has been deleted. Its much worse than I realised. github.com/uk-gov-mirro...

Deleted UK Government code repositories

Total deleted repositories: 1526
Organisations affected: 56

See RECENTLY_DELETED.md for the most recently deleted repositories.

Organisation Deleted Repos % Deleted
hmrc 195 9.8%
nhsdigital 169 33.8%
SkillsFundingAgency 154 22.7%
informatics-lab 154 100.0%
UKHomeOffice 101 7.5%
ministryofjustice 74 2.8%
ONSdigital 66 4.3%
moj-analytical-services 65 75.6%
ukwa 47 46.1%
dwp 46 6.7%
UKGovernmentBEIS 43 27.4%

6219134

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 20/07/2026

Can there be more than one deputy prime minister?

021

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 20/07/2026

On waiting, digital and where the state chooses to operate - an extended version of the preface to Platformland: richardpope.org/2026/07/20/on-waiti…

031

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 20/07/2026

An extended version of the preface to Platformland - on waiting, digital, and the surfaces the state presents to the world -: richardpope.org/2026/07/20/an-exten…

053

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 23/06/2026

Platformlanding with DEFRA and e-synergy today

Screen showing direction to Defra Platformland workshop

040

Reposted by Richard Pope

Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The BBC, and particularly its news, is critical to our democracy - and to stopping our society from fracturing. Saving small amounts by cutting key news programmes is a disaster, with no upside.

1124

Reposted by Richard Pope

Gordon Guthrie @foundationsofthedigitalstate.com · 17/06/2026

Your morning's good read for Public Sector Reformers from @richardpope.org @jamestplunkett.bsky.social and Abigail Bentley (don't know if she has a BlueSky, but if she does...) operatingpatterns.org/files/operat...

operatingpatterns.org

011

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 17/06/2026

As someone who failed GCSE English (and got a full grant) this is mildly triggering: www.theguardian.com/education/2026/…

100

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 16/06/2026

Published today with @kinship.works NHS Operating Patterns - Ways to do good work together, in a decentralised system

143

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 21/05/2026

What have drawings of peas got to do with prototyping digital services? www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-d…

020

Reposted by Richard Pope

Dafydd Vaughan @daivaughan.uk · 14/05/2026

This is probably the strongest piece of advice I've seen for a while, and feels very pointed... "Departments should treat privacy as an exception control for specific, credible routes to harm, and not as a compensating control for inadequate capability."

1134

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 14/05/2026

Why it’s important to thinking of public sector super apps from the viewpoint of ‘the system’, not just ‘the citizen’ www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-doing/…

011

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 13/05/2026

Lobster pots, complexity and starting small in the right way Or the case against use-cases www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-doing/…

061

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 12/05/2026

I can't tell isn't was just a late 80s early 90s blip (or age) but it seemed when I was younger questions of 'confidence' played out in the House of Commons, at least initially. Now they play out passively within internal party systems and are worse for it? All a bit 'use your words'

340

Reposted by Richard Pope

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 12/05/2026

As Owen says DSIT senior leaders/politicians should be furious at the wasted money and wasted opportunity for economic growth / better services underlying this mess

088

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 06/05/2026

In 2018 (ish) at Harvard Kennedy School I saw a talk about cyber (my poor filing system means I can’t find the notes) that included the proposition: how you think about cyber depends if you believe vulnerabilities in software are commo... richardpope.org/2026/05/06/in-ish-a…

000

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 28/04/2026

If ally thought I had found a decent combined read it later and rss combo today in form of www.libspace.io, only to see a message appear the same day saying it's being shut down.

libspace.io

LibSpace - Your Personal Library for Everything You Read

Save articles, documents, and books — read them anywhere, keep them forever. Sync to Kindle, Boox, or any e-reader.

220

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 28/04/2026

Given generative AI is all about predicting next words, when do I get a better spell check!? (I regularly have to Google words because my dyslexia induced misspellings are so bad my computer just shrugs).

340

Reposted by Richard Pope

Frankie Roberto @frankieroberto.com · 27/04/2026

Weeknotes for last week celebrate a blog post being dropped and share a discussion we had about ‘reuse’ at an away day. frankieroberto.github.io/nhsnotes/pos...

052

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 23/04/2026

Keep coming back to this video in the context of AI-based public services: [www.youtube.com/watch If mentalizing / epistemic trust is the key to learning some things, is it ever OK for machines to fake it, or should machines only be in a supporting role to human relationships.

030

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 22/04/2026

Struggling with work-life balance at the moment. April nearly done and only managed 3 days paid work despite not having stopped for breath.

010

Reposted by Richard Pope

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

New, from me: Take the Palantir manifesto seriously, if not literally. It reveals that our tech philosopher kings want public money, but without public accountability. This creates a dilemma for governments unaligned with its techno-fascist vision. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/palantir-w...

donmoynihan.substack.com

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto

The problems with our tech philosopher kings

11440561595

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 20/04/2026

Mini manifesto. Mini budget. Big things pretending to be small.

000

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 20/04/2026

The Palintir mini manifesto at least makes it clear that if you buy their software you are buying it to a transnational political, military and economic project. The problem is public procurement officers are not exactly best placed to make that sort of decision. Software is politics!

2205

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 15/04/2026

This is beginning to feel like an inevitability: Davey says war bonds would help to speed up UK defence spending

220

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 13/04/2026

Stop searching for AI ‘use-cases’. Design AI into services… www.rpp.works/ways-of-doing/stop-se…

040

Reposted by Richard Pope

The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

"How can we get rid of you?" The immense significance of the defeat of Orbán's illiberal political machine and methodology By me at the Empty City substack emptycity.substack.com/p/how-can-we...

The late Tony Benn set out five questions about power.

In his final speech to the House of Commons he said that on meeting any powerful person, one should always ask:

What power have you got?

Where did you get it from?

In whose interests do you exercise it?

To whom are you accountable?

And how can we get rid of you?

332299

Reposted by Richard Pope

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 07/04/2026

Donald Trump has critcised Keir Starmer as another Neville Chamberlain. But…who does Trump think he is in that scenario? inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

inews.co.uk

Trump calling Starmer 'Chamberlain' is perfect – but not for the reason he thinks

The US President tried to insult Starmer, but has ended up with egg on his face

04510

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 26/03/2026

At the British Academy for a day long policy lab Noted on the way in: the dedicated Champaign cork recycling box

070

Reposted by Richard Pope

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 13/03/2026

"Ministers have likely already left it too late to shake Palantir loose from government entirely. They have invited the viper into their nest, and they’re even paying it to be there. "The choice now is whether to ignore the problem entirely, and just play nice, or whether to face reality."

thenewworld.co.uk

Palantir boasts its AI will harm Labour voters. Why doesn’t Starmer kick it out?

CEO Alex Karp said the quiet part out loud in an interview. Yet his company is still embedded in our NHS and defence

1114081

Reposted by Richard Pope

The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Not even the Nazis expressly announced they were committing war crimes. Indeed, at Nuremberg war crimes were denied. But here, openly, the US Secretary for Defense is explicitly admitting to committing war crimes.

431660770

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 10/03/2026

In the search for calm things to play while kids are having breakfast, I stumbled across David Bowie doing Peter and the Wolf: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie_N… It’s mostly very Jackanory,... richardpope.org/2026/03/10/in-the-s…

Almbun cover for David Bowie and Peter and the Wolf

441

Reposted by Richard Pope

steve @visitmy.website · 10/03/2026

6.27% of appointments (PSCs and LLP members) verified between 2025-11-18 and 2025-12-31. Assuming linear growth, they’ll hit ~53% by 2026-11-18, which is when they want 100% of appointments verified.

6.27% of appointments verified by 31 December 2025. Companies House identity verification statistics.

Data from https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/companies-house-management-information-identity-verification-statistics

111

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 09/03/2026

I have literally no idea if I have verified my identity with Companies House or how to check. I thought I had done it early on, but it matched on GOV.UK One Login email address, which was different. Then I thought I did last month. Still getting emails saying it's not been done.

9121

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 04/03/2026

The House of Commons Library on the concept on impeachment* "Impeachment is considered obsolete, as it has been superseded by other forms of accountability, and the rules underpinning the procedure have not been adapted to modern s... richardpope.org/2026/03/04/the-hous…

000

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 04/03/2026

Noting that NHS England currently has job ads out for a CDIO and CDAO (this is in addition to the Department of Health and Social Care CDO): findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/1794... findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/1794... There's a month to apply.

findajob.dwp.gov.uk

Chief Information Officer | NHS England | Job details | Find a job

102

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 04/03/2026

Help National Conversations fill the bookshelves of newly elected members of the Senedd and Scottish Parliament with books on digital government (including Platformland!): www.linkedin.com/posts/tra…

022

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 02/03/2026

Getting a grip - designing social objects for AI and humans, and the end of the end-to-end journey www.rpp.works/ways-of-doing/getting…

093

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 02/03/2026

Really welcome from Manish Srivastava on how to do decisions/appeals in an unbundled state in the age of AI digitalstatecraft.substack.com/p/th… "smallest set of shared digital capabilities needed for an unbundled state to behave like a rule-of-law machine"

141

Richard Pope @richardpope.org · 02/03/2026

This is really welcome from Manish Srivastava on how to do verifiable decisions/appeals in an unbundled state in the age of AI: digitalstatecraft.substack.com/p/th… "It is the smallest set of sh... richardpope.org/2026/03/02/this-is-…

010