Data portals need to adapt to the ever-changing ways people interact with datasets. AI-readiness is important, but so too is being user-centric: how do we ensure that data portals actually fit the needs of users? This will require adopting innovative technology, rewiring the infrastructure underneath websites like data.gov.uk and turning them into the data portals of the future.
Join our expert panel as they discuss what the designers and maintainers of data portals will need to consider as the global digital ecosystem shifts. With a focus on public sector data portals, the panel will speak about the UK Government’s plans for the National Data Library (NDL) and where recent academic research could guide its development. Beyond the tech, our panellists will provide their expert insights on the social environment around data and AI in the context of big data portals, revealing their thoughts on the immediate and long-term next steps for data infrastructure to take.
Speakers
Professor Elena Simperl, Director Research, ODI, is one of the UK’s leading advocates for AI that is transparent, trustworthy, and truly human-centred. As the ODI’s Director of Research and co-Director of King’s College London’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI), she is in the AMiner top 2000 most influential scholars in AI in the world, and is the UK’s expert on building AI that works ‘for’ people, rather than just ‘on’ them. She is on Stanford University's list of "World's Top 2%" scientists.
Antonia Panayotova is Head of Product at the UK Government Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, working on a transformation of the government’s open data portal data.gov.uk. She has worked on various government data products and strategies in the last few years and now owns the vision for modernising the data.gov.uk portal as the foundation for a modern home for UK public data.
Ian Makgill has worked in public procurement for over 25 years and has been running consulting and data businesses for over 15 years. As the founder of Spend Network he has built the world’s first open database of public procurement, which is the world’s largest Open Contracting Data Standard database.
Having worked for governments around the world including Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Australia and Turkey, he has advised on procurement technologies, services and analysis to combat fraud, reduce cost and to deliver economic development. He now runs Open Opportunities, a website with public sector tenders and contracts globally that customers can access in order to bid for work that they may not have been aware of.
Speaker to be confirmed
Chair: Joe Massey, Senior Researcher, ODI
Joe Massey is a senior researcher at the ODI and is the lead of the Participatory Data programme. Joe’s research has recently focused on the framework for AI-ready data, AI data supply chains and citizen science data in the water sector. His previous research focused on data stewardship, including defining responsible data stewardship and exploring bottom-up data trusts for climate action.