Note on the UK Parliament’s data service

Short version:

• Things change at work
• It’s painful when it happens
• Much as I’d like it to be the case, I don’t think organisations are obliged to justify their decisions on social media, let alone tell the whole story

Long version:

I might catch hell for this. Both from my team who are dear to me and from others. But anyway, I’m really just trying to do a bit of good so please bear that in mind. Nothing unprofessional or disloyal intended.

On Friday I wrote my weekly blog post about my week at work. Something had happened earlier that day. I’d decided not to write about it, and I said

There are facts that I could state, but I worry stating just the facts could open up questions I wouldn’t be able to answer objectively myself (I’m biased), and that other points of view in the mix wouldn’t be put across because you can’t make your colleagues talk about work on the internet.

However, the ‘something that happened’ got out on Twitter and made me really uncomfortable because (in my opinion) what’s out there currently is too imbalanced to be considered ‘working in the open’.

In addition to that I’m deeply upset about the situation — including feeling the burden of other folks anger and sadness (whether they want me to or not) — and I haven’t slept in a couple of days which never happens to me AND AND it’s nearly Christmas so maybe if I try to write it down it’ll help.

Let’s focus on the facts first:

Facts

• My former boss Emma left my department in October. The recently appointed new Director of Resources was charged with restructuring Emma’s former ‘Digital Development’ directorate.
• I report to the Deputy Director currently, having moved away from software development as part of my role earlier in the year.
• As part of the restructure we have a new Director of Software Engineering, confirmed last week and announced internally on Thursday. The appointment hasn’t been publicly announced, but that’s not unusual¹.
• The new Director of Software Engineering sent an email to a wide distribution group on Friday afternoon. The distribution group mostly comprised staff from the ‘Digital Development’ directorate.
• This was an internal email. I doubt anybody involved in drafting it thought it would be shared publicly, in whole or in part².
• However, a small part of the email was shared publicly. The part that said “we will not be taking forward new development on the data platform right now”.
• I am the Head of Data and Search. I started work on this ‘data platform’ over 3 years ago. I built the team, but I won’t claim credit for the work, which is the best I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of. I am motivated to do this part of my job by a mission to improve Parliamentary open data, based on my experience working on Parliamentary open data for the past 5 years.
• I didn’t see the email in question because I had left the office for Christmas to pick up my kids from school, and I don’t receive email when I’m not working. A member of the development team got in touch with me later in the day (they were upset) and passed on the email in full.
• People in the team took to social media to put their points of view across and defend their work. I think this is understandable³. I signed off a blog post for publication, presumed to be the team’s final weekly note of progress and delivery.
• Folks that I care about are upset. I think this is understandable⁴.
• There is more to the data service than the data platform. You might have heard me talk about it, but if not trust me, there is.
• I don’t understand the implications of the email in question for my role as the Head of Data and Search.

Let’s do some opinions next, but not too many:

Opinions, but not too many

• There hasn’t been a public announcement as far as I’m aware.
• Nobody has decided that the UK Parliament won’t provide open data.

EDIT: here’s some information on the plans for publishing data from the Director of Software Engineering. I didn’t know any of this at the time of writing.

• Nobody has decided that the data platform will be scrapped.

*BREATHE*

• In recent years I’ve seen social media speculation about other public sector projects (for example GDS registers) where the conversation is unbalanced because the people working on the thing aren’t in a position to justify internal decisions made, or to provide a counterpoint to speculation from outside about what’s going on inside the organisation. Maybe they’ve been told “you can’t respond to this” or they just aren’t comfortable talking about their work in public. Hell, it took me 7 years to get comfortable talking about work on the internet without feeling like a stooge and I’m still telling nowhere near the whole story. So essentially everything you see on social media is only part of what’s really going on. And also I expect colleagues in the industry would agree with me that the less immediate, fundamental infrastructure projects are the most difficult to continually justify and sustain, particularly when features that are more tangible to all stakeholders and users have been promised as a result of the investment.
• I think open data is the thing that’ll save the world, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big organisational priority⁵.
• It’s been incredible to see support on social media in the past few days from people that I respect to the ends of the earth for the work that we’ve done so far, and how we’ve gone about it. Like, legends who actually know what they’re doing and have been an inspiration to me and others in the team for many years. The external validation is unreal. Also I think back to 2014 when I was getting rightly shouted at in a Parliamentary meeting room by folks who I happen to now think are the absolute best and then I think hey, maybe we’re doing a good job and I’m not a clown.
• We haven’t told the story of what we’ve done and why well enough. It’s all there, but we haven’t got it across inside the organisation beyond a handful of supporters⁶. The data platform is not famous, lighting up the Yammer and the SharePoint with a poster in Portcullis House atrium or what have you. The majority of one’s organisation isn’t paying attention to social media, and the centre of gravity for influence certainly isn’t there.
• In a large workplace there are wider forces and priorities in play that can trump what you’re doing, no matter how objectively good it is. These forces and priorities aren’t necessarily wrong, and even if they are you can’t change them by force of will or hard work alone. Maybe you⁷ could’ve done better at some things.
• You’re going to be disappointed multiple times in your career. You are totally going to eat pavement more than once. Have some class regardless.

Merry Christmas!

¹ I’ve seen it acknowledged in a couple of places on Twitter, so consider it to be public knowledge

² That’s speculation sorry. Everything else facts so far!

³ That’s my opinion sorry. Everything else since the speculation above is facts!

⁴ See above, still mostly facts!

⁵ Like seriously. Have you tried to talk about data to anybody who isn’t into data? And then added the ‘open’ bit? Oh and also have you seen the news? And disclaimer don’t quote me on the ‘open data is not a big organisational priority’ point that sits in the ‘opinions’ section please

⁶ Thank you

⁷ Here by ‘you’ I mean me. Sorry all