Tom is an associate director at the Institute for Government. His research has covered government outsourcing, civil service reform and policy making, including recent work on net zero and the coronavirus crisis. He also delivers the Institute’s training programme on how government works.
Previously Tom worked at the Open Data Institute, where he advised governments and businesses on data policy, and the think tank Reform, where he researched health and criminal justice.
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Two Conservative mayors have very different ideas about cities economist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from economist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Yves here. This is a greatly expanded and considerably broader follow-up to an article on Wikipedia by Michael Olenick early this year, Wikipedia: The Overlooked Monopoly. Here, Olenick debunks the idea that Wikipedia is impoverished by showing not only its level of funding but also digging into its sources, a considerable amount of which comes from Silicon Valley titans via intermediaries. He also shows how Wikipedia’s entries (and absence of them) are slanted to favor its tech backers.
There are no polls, but it is a safe guess that the general public thinks of Wikipedia, the ubiquitous online encyclopedia, as one more plucky non-governmental organization in which poorly remunerated, public-spirited scholars and savants struggle to bring enlightenment to an extensively unappreciative world. Feeding this soothing impression are comments by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales that the non-profit is “teetering forever on the edge of bankruptcy,” his assurance that Wikipedia is “
Data Sharing Toolkit could contribute to unlocking greater food security eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Data grab will give Big Tech even more power, say broadband firms
Open Communications scheme wants to help customers find better broadband deals by making telecoms firms share data with third parties
16 March 2021 • 6:00am
Broadband providers have lashed out at the communications watchdog over data sharing proposals that could force them to cede more power to Silicon Valley tech giants.
Ofcom faces a backlash over its Open Communications scheme, which is designed to help customers switch providers and boost innovation by making providers share data with third parties.
The draft rules are aimed at helping customers secure better prices. However, Ofcom hopes new services can be built on access to previously private data on web and mobile phone usage.