Job hunting

  • On Monday, I applied for a principal developer role at a non-ministerial government department. I wonder how there not being a minister changes things.
  • I've applied for 4 jobs on Tuesday, all engineering manager roles.
  • I also emailed Cabinet Office's Test, Learn and Grow programme, showing interest in getting involved.

Wednesday

  • I met up with my sisters in Brighton. We had breakfast and talked about growing old and associated ailments and how the wait to find out about diagnoses of possibly major health issues (the not knowing stage) can be a horribly, anxious time.
  • Read the opening pages of Three Body Problem

Thursday

  • Met my fellow State of Open Con 2025 volunteers, picked up a t-shirt and had a walk around the venue. Went for a pint with a few of the volunteers afterwards.

Listens

  • Been listening to Mano Le Tough this week in the gym. Spotify told me he's playing in Brixton soon. Starts at 10pm! I'm going to bed by then.

Notable reads

  • I flicked through the UNIX-HATERS Handbook. I looked up a few of the authors to see what they're doing now. Steve Strassmann has a collections of essays called Artificial Trust on AI and understanding complex systems, and all very readable. Simson Garfinkel writes a newsletter called Database Nation on data, ethics and AI.
  • There's been a lot of chatter about the UK Government's Test, Learn and Grow programme on the interweb. I've registered my interested in getting involved but I think it might be quite a while before they get to making any software. I read State of digital government report. Lots of positives, recognising many of the systemic challenges in delivery I recognise from my time at MoJ. Here's two highlights of many that caught my eye:

Mandate the publication of a standard set of APIs and events by public sector organisations. Starting with an expectation that every new service in central government departments will have an open API.

and:

Expand use of performance-based, outcomes-focused funding models that tie funding to metrics and accelerate the shift from ‘boom and bust’ transformation programmes to continuous funding of persistent, multidisciplinary product teams.

I hope some of it becomes true.

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