Ed Sherman
@ed-sherman.bsky.social
Deputy Director ONS Data Science Campus
https://datasciencecampus.ons.gov.uk
https://datasciencecampus.ons.gov.uk
Reposted by Ed Sherman
I'm afraid we've been at it again
September 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I'm afraid we've been at it again
Reposted by Ed Sherman
‘Super sewer’ chief bows out to the sweet smell of success on.ft.com/4gdIXWU
‘Super sewer’ chief bows out to the sweet smell of success
London’s £5bn Thames Tideway project has been completed without drama using a pioneering financial model
on.ft.com
September 10, 2025 at 6:27 AM
‘Super sewer’ chief bows out to the sweet smell of success on.ft.com/4gdIXWU
See also: the phenomena of second scoop regret with gelato h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
The myth of consent
Rosslyn coffee: I consent!
Me: I consent!
The remorseless march of time: isn't there somebody you forgot to ask?
Rosslyn coffee: I consent!
Me: I consent!
The remorseless march of time: isn't there somebody you forgot to ask?
August 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
See also: the phenomena of second scoop regret with gelato h/t @scientificdiscovery.dev
Reposted by Ed Sherman
New method detects inflation turning points using disaggregated price data, revealing early signals in Argentina's 2024 disinflation and US tariffs in 2025, from Alberto Cavallo and Gaston Garcia Zavaleta https://www.nber.org/papers/w34102
August 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New method detects inflation turning points using disaggregated price data, revealing early signals in Argentina's 2024 disinflation and US tariffs in 2025, from Alberto Cavallo and Gaston Garcia Zavaleta https://www.nber.org/papers/w34102
I think this way of doing is exactly the right one for figuring out AI tool applications and trying to improve internal processes (albeit it’s not my kind of language). The discovery/alpha/beta cycle or framework can become a straight jacket. Or trap. Or whatever the right metaphor is.
This post is about the types of service design problem where you need to start small and do it for real: waysofdoing.rpp.works/notes/types-...
The types of problem where you need to start small and do it for real - Ways of Doing
There are some types of service design problem which are first and foremost about user experience. The assumption that must be tested is: can we
waysofdoing.rpp.works
July 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I think this way of doing is exactly the right one for figuring out AI tool applications and trying to improve internal processes (albeit it’s not my kind of language). The discovery/alpha/beta cycle or framework can become a straight jacket. Or trap. Or whatever the right metaphor is.
Reposted by Ed Sherman
I've started a new blog called 'ways of doing' which is about ways of doing digital. Thanks to @matthewsheret.com for suggesting the name.
The types of problem where you need to start small and do it for real - Ways of Doing
There are some types of service design problem which are first and foremost about user experience. The assumption that must be tested is: can we
waysofdoing.rpp.works
July 9, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I've started a new blog called 'ways of doing' which is about ways of doing digital. Thanks to @matthewsheret.com for suggesting the name.
Reposted by Ed Sherman
This is such pithy wisdom from @richardpope.org
The types of problem where you need to start small and do it for real - Ways of Doing
There are some types of service design problem which are first and foremost about user experience. The assumption that must be tested is: can we
waysofdoing.rpp.works
July 11, 2025 at 10:40 AM
This is such pithy wisdom from @richardpope.org
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Whats happening to birth rates around the world? I’ll be chairing a panel today at 1.30pm on how population change will change our world. With @rebeccasear.bsky.social, Emily Jackson & @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - all welcome in our cool central London building!
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/summe...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/summe...
The British Academy Summer Showcase – Saturday
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
June 21, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Whats happening to birth rates around the world? I’ll be chairing a panel today at 1.30pm on how population change will change our world. With @rebeccasear.bsky.social, Emily Jackson & @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - all welcome in our cool central London building!
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/summe...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/summe...
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Another prompt injection paper review! This time it's "An Introduction to Google’s Approach to AI Agent Security" by Santiago Díaz, Christoph Kern, and Kara Olive
Some interesting ideas in here, particularly around Google's three core principles for agent security simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/15/...
Some interesting ideas in here, particularly around Google's three core principles for agent security simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/15/...
An Introduction to Google’s Approach to AI Agent Security
Here’s another new paper on AI agent security: An Introduction to Google’s Approach to AI Agent Security, by Santiago Díaz, Christoph Kern, and Kara Olive. (I wrote about a different …
simonwillison.net
June 15, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Another prompt injection paper review! This time it's "An Introduction to Google’s Approach to AI Agent Security" by Santiago Díaz, Christoph Kern, and Kara Olive
Some interesting ideas in here, particularly around Google's three core principles for agent security simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/15/...
Some interesting ideas in here, particularly around Google's three core principles for agent security simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/15/...
For those interested in mirror life, yesterday the Government Office for Science published an expert roundtable summary on it
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
June 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
For those interested in mirror life, yesterday the Government Office for Science published an expert roundtable summary on it
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
My experience of taking SPL was great. I took 10 weeks off at the start (more later) and wasn’t remotely ready to come back till 5. I strongly encourage all the fathers to be in my teams to take a substantial chunk off at the start too
Taking ten months shared parental leave was one of the best things I've ever done.
Sadly it's only big corporates that will pay for leave, as a way of retaining professional workers. I've got so many sad DMs from dads in low paid jobs who couldn't make the money work.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sadly it's only big corporates that will pay for leave, as a way of retaining professional workers. I've got so many sad DMs from dads in low paid jobs who couldn't make the money work.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Give new dads six weeks off work at nearly full pay, MPs say
A report says dads should be paid 80% of earnings and allowed six weeks off work when they have a child.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 3:40 PM
My experience of taking SPL was great. I took 10 weeks off at the start (more later) and wasn’t remotely ready to come back till 5. I strongly encourage all the fathers to be in my teams to take a substantial chunk off at the start too
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Increasingly believe that this should be required reading before anyone is allowed to do science.
I spend an *inordinate* amount of time these days citing this piece and explaining that RCTs are not instrinsically and exclusively causal.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I spend an *inordinate* amount of time these days citing this piece and explaining that RCTs are not instrinsically and exclusively causal.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are increasingly popular in the social sciences, not only in medicine. We argue that the lay public, and sometimes…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Increasingly believe that this should be required reading before anyone is allowed to do science.
I spend an *inordinate* amount of time these days citing this piece and explaining that RCTs are not instrinsically and exclusively causal.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I spend an *inordinate* amount of time these days citing this piece and explaining that RCTs are not instrinsically and exclusively causal.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Here's a great little tutorial on getting started with my LLM tool for running local models!
One of the best ways you can contribute to any open source project is to publish unofficial guides like this one
One of the best ways you can contribute to any open source project is to publish unofficial guides like this one
I posted my guide to running LLMs on your local computer starting from scratch. This covers uv, llm, and llm-mlx. Many thanks to @simonwillison.net for the brilliant LLM tools and shared wisdom.
Run Your Own AI – AnthonyLewis.com
anthonylewis.com
June 3, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Here's a great little tutorial on getting started with my LLM tool for running local models!
One of the best ways you can contribute to any open source project is to publish unofficial guides like this one
One of the best ways you can contribute to any open source project is to publish unofficial guides like this one
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Developing a quantitative, multi-sector, semi-endogenous growth model of structural change in innovation and production, incorporating demand-pull and technology-push forces, from Diego A. Comin, Danial Lashkari, and Martí Mestieri https://www.nber.org/papers/w33855
June 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Developing a quantitative, multi-sector, semi-endogenous growth model of structural change in innovation and production, incorporating demand-pull and technology-push forces, from Diego A. Comin, Danial Lashkari, and Martí Mestieri https://www.nber.org/papers/w33855
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Population aging affects firm entry and profits via demand: older households' higher consumer inertia acts as a barrier to entry and lets incumbents raise markups, from Gideon Bornstein https://www.nber.org/papers/w33820
May 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Population aging affects firm entry and profits via demand: older households' higher consumer inertia acts as a barrier to entry and lets incumbents raise markups, from Gideon Bornstein https://www.nber.org/papers/w33820
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Management practices account for about 20 percent of cross-country differences in productivity, with the US having the world's best managed firms, from Raffaella Sadun, Rachel J. Schuh, Jonathan S. Hartley, John Van Reenen, and @nickbloom.bsky.social https://www.nber.org/papers/w33765
May 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Management practices account for about 20 percent of cross-country differences in productivity, with the US having the world's best managed firms, from Raffaella Sadun, Rachel J. Schuh, Jonathan S. Hartley, John Van Reenen, and @nickbloom.bsky.social https://www.nber.org/papers/w33765
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Just out: our new NBER working paper explores what happens when management is treated like a technology—something that spreads across firms, boosts productivity, and lowers the cost of change.
Management and Firm Dynamism
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
May 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Just out: our new NBER working paper explores what happens when management is treated like a technology—something that spreads across firms, boosts productivity, and lowers the cost of change.
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Dave's approach to evals is really interesting. It encouraged me to take a look at promptfoo, which appears to be the most mature of the current stack of open source eval tools simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/24/...
April 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Dave's approach to evals is really interesting. It encouraged me to take a look at promptfoo, which appears to be the most mature of the current stack of open source eval tools simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/24/...
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Distilling key facts about housing affordability and its decline in the US and reviewing the literature on housing supply and the causes of declining affordability, from Nathaniel Baum-Snow and Gilles Duranton https://www.nber.org/papers/w33694
April 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Distilling key facts about housing affordability and its decline in the US and reviewing the literature on housing supply and the causes of declining affordability, from Nathaniel Baum-Snow and Gilles Duranton https://www.nber.org/papers/w33694
I saw this on allotments in London, and am reminded of what I assume is one of my least popular opinions: allotments are awful! In London they would be much better as genuinely public space like parks or woods, or should make way for homes. Admittedly not as bad as the golf courses within the M25
Mayor urged to find new allotment sites to help Londoners grow food
Data shared with the London Assembly reveals significant gap in stock of allotments between inner and outer London
www.standard.co.uk
April 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
I saw this on allotments in London, and am reminded of what I assume is one of my least popular opinions: allotments are awful! In London they would be much better as genuinely public space like parks or woods, or should make way for homes. Admittedly not as bad as the golf courses within the M25
Reposted by Ed Sherman
Variation in training participation among employees is closely tied to differences in middle managers' behavior and practices, from Brayan S. Diaz, Andrea Neyra Nazarrett, Julian Ramirez, Raffaella Sadun, and Jorge A. Tamayo https://www.nber.org/papers/w33670
April 15, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Variation in training participation among employees is closely tied to differences in middle managers' behavior and practices, from Brayan S. Diaz, Andrea Neyra Nazarrett, Julian Ramirez, Raffaella Sadun, and Jorge A. Tamayo https://www.nber.org/papers/w33670
Reposted by Ed Sherman
This week's episode of @cleaninguppod.bsky.social is about #ProjectBo.
How a solar and battery system is providing reliable power to a neonatal unit and helping to save hundreds of lives per year.
>>> Please watch, like and share! <<<
youtu.be/yMxJzLNc214?...
How a solar and battery system is providing reliable power to a neonatal unit and helping to save hundreds of lives per year.
>>> Please watch, like and share! <<<
youtu.be/yMxJzLNc214?...
We Built a Solar System That's Saving Babies’ Lives — Ep204: Project Bo, Sierra Leone
YouTube video by Cleaning Up Podcast
youtu.be
April 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
This week's episode of @cleaninguppod.bsky.social is about #ProjectBo.
How a solar and battery system is providing reliable power to a neonatal unit and helping to save hundreds of lives per year.
>>> Please watch, like and share! <<<
youtu.be/yMxJzLNc214?...
How a solar and battery system is providing reliable power to a neonatal unit and helping to save hundreds of lives per year.
>>> Please watch, like and share! <<<
youtu.be/yMxJzLNc214?...
Reposted by Ed Sherman
OK folks - will you please help me spread this far and wide. A really exciting opportunity to be the new Director of Comms at @britishacademy.bsky.social - the national academy for humanities and social sciences. £100k. Lovely team. Reports directly to me
micro.green-park.co.uk/thebritishac...
micro.green-park.co.uk/thebritishac...
April 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
OK folks - will you please help me spread this far and wide. A really exciting opportunity to be the new Director of Comms at @britishacademy.bsky.social - the national academy for humanities and social sciences. £100k. Lovely team. Reports directly to me
micro.green-park.co.uk/thebritishac...
micro.green-park.co.uk/thebritishac...
First blossom on my cherry tree
March 31, 2025 at 6:32 PM
First blossom on my cherry tree
My neighbours beautiful cherry blossom
March 25, 2025 at 7:40 AM
My neighbours beautiful cherry blossom