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Reposted by Ben Holliday

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 4d

*gasp*

“Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t,” said a third senior Reform cabinet member in Kent.

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Duncan Brown @duncanjbrown.com · 6d

Why I don't believe in "small giants": mechanicalsurvival.com/blog/team-dy...

Team dynamics after AI

Small giants and real giants

mechanicalsurvival.com

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 4d

A good explainer on the enshittification of much of the internet … IMO modern digital services in the public sector look increasingly radical when they’re built for clarity, trust, and transparency (as they should be)

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 5d

as Alex explains: "Through exploration of a prototype or artefact, you can frame your research questions in a way that is grounded and relatable to your users, producing more actionable and precise insights. This can also be a useful tool for engaging different mindsets and ways of thinking." 3/3

Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 5d

…I've always thought about this as simply using artefacts to support exploratory learning. If you've got starting assumptions to work with then it's fine to use creative artefacts and models as part of early research. 2/3

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 5d

💡 Great post by Alex Sadler on the TPX design blog this week …the power of prototyping often gets overlooked in earlier research work, especially as part of discovery teams…

#userresearch #ux #product #govdesign

www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...

Why prototype early? - TPXimpact

Why harnessing the power of prototyping can help your early research efforts.

www.tpximpact.com

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 5d

It’s been proper wild weather overnight in Cumbria. Our old car somehow has a puddle in it #StormAmy

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 11d

Switched off from everything and went for a long walk today. Recommend #breathe #UKLakeDistrict

Selfie of me by an impressive waterfall in the Newlands valley, UK Lake District

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Sharon O'Dea @sharonodea.com · 14d

A sensible take from @jamesomalley.co.uk on digital ID cards. Checks aren’t going away, so we do need to make them easier for citizens & employers. We have just such a system over here in NL and it does make life administratively a lot easier. open.substack.com/pub/jamesoma...

How the government's new digital ID will work

And why I've changed my mind on ID cards

open.substack.com

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 15d

Excellent day with @cdps.bsky.social for their digital leadership programme. Some really great conversations and sharing of work #keepgoing

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 15d

Flying visit. Morning from Cardiff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Picture of a large hands statue and blue skies - taken in Cardiff city centre.

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Dean Vipond @deanvipond.bsky.social · 16d

I expect women’s networks would be hit especially by this, given many will be working condensed/compressed hours to manage other responsibilities. What a hopeless policy.

Mark O’Neill 🐻 @radiobeartime.com · 16d

Even Thatcher did not hate the Civil Service as much as this Labour government obviously does.

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers

New rules have been issued to all Civil Service staff networks to ensure their activities remain within the Civil Service Code.

www.gov.uk

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 16d

"The FT sought to categorise the expected positive benefits of the technology. Most of the anticipated benefits, such as increased productivity, were vaguely stated and harder to categorise than the risks"

www.ft.com/content/e93e...

(note: Entergy is the fossil fuel company supplying Meta)

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/e93e56df-dd9b-40c1-b77a-dba1ca01e473

While non-tech companies are upbeat about AI, their filings suggest less clear upsides. During an earnings call in February, Coca-Cola was excited about the technology — even though the key use was in the production of a TV commercial.

The FT sought to categorise the expected positive benefits of the technology. Most of the anticipated benefits, such as increased productivity, were vaguely stated and harder to categorise than the risks.

Companies anticipated being able to optimise workflows through automation, and hope to achieve market differentiation through their use of AI. Some hoped to be able to use the technology to improve the personalisation of their products.

Filings do reveal that the companies able to give clear AI upsides include those that serve the rising AI-driven data centre boom. Energy companies First Solar and Entergy cited AI as a demand driver.

Freeport-McMoran, which has a stockpile of copper, stated that “data centres and artificial intelligence developments” would support the metal’s price. The company also said the technology can help with material characterisation and mineral extraction.

Equipment manufacturer Caterpillar reported that its energy business was benefiting from supporting “data centre growth related to cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence”.

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 17d

You can tell we’re fully into the swing of the new school term when I’m emergency shopping for food tech ingredients at 8pm on a Monday night. One spring onion, dried apricots etc.

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 18d

Did our first junior Parkrun event today in Windermere with our 7yo - always super impressed by the organisation, volunteers, and the community that builds around these events

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Caroline Jarrett @cjforms.bsky.social · 20d

“AI is an aspiration, not a thing”

Steph Wright @elmosmoe.bsky.social at #SDinGov, inspiring us to think about responsibility and people when considering AI

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Frankie Roberto @frankieroberto.com · 22d

Shout out to everyone at #SDinGov!

I’m not there, but I’ll be following with interest.

A quick reminder that I help maintain a list of all UK gov digital services, including links to service assessments and code: govuk-digital-services.herokuapp.com

If your service is missing, let me know!

GOV.UK Services List

govuk-digital-services.herokuapp.com

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Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 22d

I love London so much. So much.

Did you know that London has the lowest level of ethnic violence of any city of comparable size in the world?

Multiculturalism has in fact worked here. They just don’t want it to be true because we happen to have a Muslim mayor.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 22d

In London, hate will never win.

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 22d

Heading to Manchester today, and then looking forward to travelling the other way tomorrow for a couple of days in Edinburgh - Thurs/Friday at SDinGov conference #sdingov #trains

Picture of the train tracks and platform at Oxenholme station.

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 22d

Getting Better, a previous Michael Rosen book is also excellent. It deals with some really difficult topics around loss and living with long-term illness, but it’s ultimately very hopeful about what it means to keep going

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 22d

I’m trying to find ways to stay optimistic at the moment. This new Michael Rosen book is a lovely collection of ideas and thoughts which I enjoyed very much - Good Days: An A-Z of Hope and Happiness

Good Days: An A-Z of Hope and Happiness by Michael Rosen

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 23d

Congrats Keith, hope they gave you an appropriate trivial gift to mark the occasion (or at least a custom sticker)!

In all seriously, 12 years is brilliant service 👏

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tgt-comms.bsky.social @tgt-comms.bsky.social · 24d

Hi! 👋 Could you please help us spread the word about our next event by RTing the post below (not this one). Thanks! 😀

@bm.wel.by
@benholliday.com
@sallymeecham.bsky.social
@egawen.bsky.social
@abscond.org
@blangry.bsky.social
@feryalclark.bsky.social
@prateekbuch.bsky.social

transformgovtalks.bsky.social @transformgovtalks.bsky.social · 24d

🚨 6PM, WED 24 September 🚨

Join us at the MoJ or online

* Dr Moira Nicolson & Holly Marquez "Failing Forward: Why Planning for AI Disasters Unlocks Breakthrough Innovation"
* Ben Sauer "Always Be Creating Clarity: Daily habits for strategic storytelling"

luma.com/sm09nslz

Please share! Thanks 🙏

TransformGov Talks : September 2025 · Luma

Dr Moira Nicolson, Lead Behavioural Scientist (Cabinet Office) and Honorary Research Fellow (UCL) plus Holly Marquez, Senior Behavioural Scientist, (Cabinet…

luma.com

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 24d

It's a coldest, wettest, gloomiest possibly Monday morning to be working at home today in the South Lakes. Summer is well and truly gone. Sat next to the dog, with a hot coffee

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Ben Holliday @benholliday.com · 28d

Never mind the free university education and affordable housing, our parents generation all had the luxury of receiving only one or two letters a term home from school (if they made it via a child’s school bag)!

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