Author: markbraggins

We are recruiting: General Manager

Posted onAuthormarkbraggins

The Southern Policy Centre is building a strong reputation for research and studies which are helping shape public policy across the central South. To help manage our growth and ensure we offer a professional service to all our funders we want to recruit a General Manager. We need someone who can co-ordinate our activities and provide administrative support to our Associates, working alongside our accountant and communications advisor.

This is an exciting role, the postholder will have the opportunity to shape a role which is central to the day-to-day operation of SPC, keeping us on a robust footing and helping grow our reputation. The right person will be organised, but also politically aware, able to work alongside local politicians, councils, universities and businesses.

If you want to find out more, the job description and details of how to apply can be found here:

http://southernpolicycentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/General-Manager-SPC.pdf

Realising the economic potential of the wider South East – technical symposium

Posted onAuthormarkbraggins

John Denham, SPC Director, is speaking to a seminar exploring the economic potential of the the wider South East. The event takes place in London on 25 October, and is organised by Arup.

The combined economies of the former South East and East regions represent over 20% of the nation’s GVA. They also contain eight of its highest performing towns. Yet these areas are often perceived as the commuting hinterlands of London, rather than economic engines in their own right. Sub-regional economic, planning and transport initiatives are making a positive return in several parts of the Wider South East.

Professor Denham will talk about the central South and its relationship to London. To find out more about the event and register your interest go to http://wseplanningnetwork.org/events/

WSE-symposium-flyer-for-25-Oct-2019-final

Is there a strategy for the central South? Conference to launch SPC’s research report

Posted onAuthormarkbraggins

On 20 September SPC will introduce their research on whether the variety of plans and strategies published by councils and LEPs across the central South together present a clear narrative about our ambitions for the future. Evidence from across England suggests that those areas which consistently tell a clear, simple story about their shared ambitions and priorities win additional support from Government, and have a more powerful voice in securing public and private investment.

The Conference, to be held at Careys Manor Hotel in Brockenhurst, will hear our conclusions from research first discussed at a series of seminars earlier this year. We’ll also hear responses from councils, LEPs, universities and other key organisations from across the central South. A briefing paper which gives more details about our research can be downloaded here.

http://southernpolicycentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/briefing-paper-final.pdf

To find out more about the Conference e-mail info@southernpolicycentre.co.uk.

Open Data publishing workshop

Posted onAuthormarkbraggins

What data publishing tools do you use?

A few months ago lots of people helped the Open Data Institute (ODI) crowdsource a Long List of Open Data Publishing Tools. Many of those tools now appear in the ODI’s Open Data Publishing Tools Audit.

On Wednesday 27th September ODI Hampshire is running a workshop on behalf of the ODI for people and organisations who publish data. The emphasis is on statistical data, but anyone who publishes data is welcome to attend, and there’s still time to register via Eventbrite.

Which tools?

We’ll be discussing which tools people use for different stages of the data publication process, and what they’re used for. As reference we’ll use the Tools Audit, as well as the themes within the Open Data Maturity Model, and the open data publishing principles that Leigh Dodds wrote about on the ONS Digital blog. We are also interested in any tools which aren’t already on the list.

Where does it hurt?

Then, we’ll talk about the gaps – or ‘pain points’ – in the process.

We are trying to find out what makes publishing data slower, more tedious, and/or more costly, so we’ll explore questions like:

  • Do we need better tools (e.g. for cleaning data), or simply better integration of the various steps of the publishing process?
  • Is there a particular stage of publishing data that you really hate, which is slow and clunky and could be speeded up, if only…?

Steps to (publishing) heaven

Lastly, we will identify some practical ways these issues can start to be addressed. We want to propose a concrete set of ‘next steps’ which can be shared across the entire ODI network.

Quick Draw

We will take comprehensive notes throughout the workshop, which we’ll share with you afterwards. We’ll also produce a summary report for the ODI so they can share it more widely, and Drawnalism ‘In the Moment’ will be on-hand, live-drawing your ideas .

Register for the workshop