Simon Newing

I had my first taste of making something shiny and digital for the public sector back in the early 2000’s when I was part of a team that built an online appointment system for Blood.co.uk. It was very new, different and got me thinking about how public services would transform. When, in 2011, we helped Bristol City Council by delivering an online Family Services Directory within an extremely tight deadline and budget, it set us on the track we find ourselves today.

I get excited by the work we do but also by the potential for so much more; the team know my ‘stuck record’ routine that what we are doing today is only the tip of the iceberg of what we can achieve. Children and young people’s lives are utterly dominated by digital and for those that need social care, technology should support and help, not hinder. I’ve sat with local authorities who have laid bare their frustrations with expensive, horrendous software from corporate suppliers and I just can’t fathom why this continues to be the case.

When I’m not figuring all that out, I’m usually figuring out why my latest DIY project is taking five times longer than it should, or how it is that my daughter started secondary school this year when it was only yesterday, we were playing at Legoland or in the local soft play.