Those “invest in Poland or regret it” ads in the late early 2010s turned out to be right on the money…

And I am sorry to play to type on this, but the only sensible version of this is one that is consistent across visa categories, and enforceable with as little friction as possible – and the best way to achieve this *is* a digital ID (see, playing to type).

CityAM apparently covered the paper as a government announcement, so clearly lots of attribution struggles going on here.

Think of the job losses!

One of our hypotheses is that a more coordinated and consistently embedded support structure would improve the use of existing assets in the short term, helping build momentum for broader change.

I also want to recognise that the NDL has been a collective interest of so many, including @stianwestlake.bsky.social, @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @connectedbydata.org, @odihq.bsky.social & even @jamesomalley.co.uk. A swell of enthusiasm that shows the NDL’s promise & why it’s key to get right 9/9

I’m really happy that these ideas are endorsed by some of the sharpest people with experience in government, research & industry, including three former ministers. The NDL is a chance for the UK to become the first nation to get AI-era data right. We should take it! 8/

In all, we have 40+ recommendations all mapped out to each phase. Some personal favourites:

👩‍🏫 A network of National Data Librarians in every department
🪪 A Reader Pass system with a data offenders register to share risks between controllers & users
🧫 Data Biomes for joined-up work on novel ideas 7/

To reach its full potential and not get bogged down, the NDL should be built in phases:

1. Governance & support to use existing infrastructure like the ONS IDS better and faster
2. A secure and scalable access mechanism & sustainable model
3. Full statutory footing and integration of novel data 6/

The NDL is vital enabling infrastructure for better:

• Policy: helping connect the dots across departments quickly
• Research: running more clinical trials with faster results
• Growth: spawning new AI-led industries
• Services: spotting people at risk & reaching them quickly 5/

The NDL is uniquely placed to do a few very important things well:

🚀 Accelerate and simplify how we link and use data
👍 Streamline data-sharing bureaucracy
🔋 Help government bodies to share data responsibly
💥 Deliver real-world impact for citizens, researchers and industry 4/

The NDL is a manifesto commitment and has become something of a shorthand for data-related things in government – with 29 mentions in Parliament,* not to mention at least five references policy papers including the AI Action Plan and the Digital Blueprint 3/

* could be more – they keep coming!

To avoid committing one of those cardinal policy sins of saying “Govt is doing this… and we agree”, we had to get into the detail of what the NDL could most usefully do and what it would take to get there.

This meant taking an approach that was vision-led, not technology-led – ends over means 2/

One of (many) key insights for me from this was how important Treasury buy-in was for most transformations – not even funding but the whole “does this give us new ways to embed our POV across government” story is fascinating. Plus: computers in making their way into government use in 1920s already!

It just so happens that funding and time are the two scarcest resources in government. AI is not free but for many (not all) things, per task it is *much, much* cheaper than any alternative and as good or better quality-wise.

We mean a lot more than ChatGPT!

I would say it matters massively, for exactly the reason you put in the first post: government is about trade-offs, and without a coherent strategy (a small set of commonly understood & clearly articulated priorities) those decisions won’t be made quickly, or well, or at all.

In fact, “not a good look” is just another facet of “consultation nation”, except without even a semblance of due process. As @duncanrobinson.bsky.social writes, it leads to bad policy. And bad policy *is* bad politics.

I am very much in the camp of “people overworry about screens” (in fact I’m sure humanity in every country and at every age reads much, much more than ever, even if not on paper any more). But enjoyment of reading does matter & being too focused on reading for tests can (imo) be a factor here!