Posts By Louise K

Disruptive networking

I think there always were disruptive networks. In the same way that tech has enhanced so many things, proliferated and amplified them, networks are the same. The difference is perhaps the organisations the networks are in – because I am of course speaking for the public sector here. 4,000 people struggle to keep in touch.Read… Read more »

Cored

It feels a little like Apple has just been cored. This morning, I don’t think I was alone in shedding a tear. The difference between a geek, a nerd, and everyone else, was probably actually how you felt this morning. Because you see, for the nerds among us, he was more than a genius, anRead… Read more »

Running a Council Twitter stream

It’s terrifying. There. I said it. Judge all you like, if you’ve ever run one yourself. Have you? Or have you just sat there in your comfortable ergonomic chair in your comfortable study in your comfortable house sniping at everyone else getting it wrong? Because I hold my hand up freely – I was inRead… Read more »

Mobile delivery

This is another ‘you’ve not really thought this through, have you Lou?’ post. Sorry about that – if you want more professional and cohesive writing go see here where Hewlett Packard are kindly hosting some of my scribblings. Mobile libraries, I am willing to bet, are an endangered species right now. Rarer than the ThompsonsRead… Read more »

Tearing the heart out

I feel like I’m watching the biggest game of skittles. My favourite guilty pleasure is a carrot cake cupcake from a place called Huntleys which is a local farm shop which also supplies us with potatoes familiar with soil and bread familiar with real hands. Not as rare up here as some people might likeRead… Read more »

Self belief in the modern age

The problem with the internet (yes, I am capable of acknowledging there is one) is it creates insecurity. Think about it. We’ve got a generation of young people growing up in this country who think failure is no Likes on their Facebook posting. No comments on their Flickr, no Likes on their Instagram. Nothing butRead… Read more »

Back office blues

Picture this: Girl sits at a desk. It’s an okay desk, as it happens it’s not the smallest desk she ever had. Actually, she used to have her own office – in a portakabin admittedly – but it was her own space in one of those weird local government twists of fate. Anyway, she’s gotRead… Read more »

Risk aversion is killing local government innovation

Usual disclaimers here. One persons view etc. Innovation, to me, is experimenting. It’s playing with things and seeing different outcomes depending on different inputs but most of all, it’s about never before tested inputs. If you just re-invent the wheel, you’ll just get the same outcomes. Always get, always got yada yada etc etc. Instead,Read… Read more »

The Titanic is for Turning

So. If you know me, you may have noticed some tweets lately about the appalling nature of the NHS. There have been two contributing factors to this, I must confess, the first which resulted in some scan results not being available from a sub-contractor the NHS were paying because the one person who had accessRead… Read more »

10 questions I’d ask our residents about digital

As far as I can work out (I am struggling to find clear guidance on this) us local government types still have a duty to consult. So here are 10 questions I’d ask our residents if money were no object. Is that a smartphone in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?Read… Read more »