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When we think about transforming things and doing them in new and better ways, a huge part of that is digital technology and data. – Sam Nutt
AM Nutt’s first memory of electronic communication is also his first football memory: listening on a car radio to England beating
Germany 5-1 during the qualifying stages of the World Cup in 2001. “It shows how technologies can make you feel part of a bigger social phenomenon,” reflects Sam, who now serves as Data Ethicist at LOTI, the London Office of Technology and Innovation. The Office is funded by its membership, drawn from across London’s boroughs and the Greater London Authority, to help the city make better use of technology and data. Sam’s role involves supporting London’s public authorities to make wise decisions about the impacts of digital technologies and their deployment. As a data ethicist, Sam helps LOTI members to go beyond mere compliance with legislation as they decide what is right in terms of using digital technologies: “it goes beyond research, to help practically discover what the values are which should be driving how we use data: not my values, but those of the organisation, of the city, and of the residents we serve.” Some of these values are common and articulated in LOTI’s Data Ethics Principles and Values, encompassing transparency, accountability, privacy, fairness, and safety – but how they practically manifest varies from project to project, as do the ways in which specific projects address the wants and needs of each community. Especially when technology is so fast-evolving, it becomes necessary for public bodies to navigate issues where legislation is yet to arise. Sam’s role is meant to help institutions look beyond digital technology as a route to mere cost-saving, thinking creatively
October-November 2023
and attending to ethics as much as efficiencies.
As proud and passionate about being a Londoner as he is about the Beautiful Game, Sam is attentive to the ways in which the city’s diverse communities participate in, and are affected by, our networked world.
“Though we’re not ourselves delivering services to the public, we’re working at the local level,” Sam explains. This can give a rewarding connection to everyday life and pressing, practical issues. “We directly engage with frontline workers, or people who develop the services themselves. The nice thing about working in local government is that feedback loop, being part of the system: living in the place where you work, seeing the people whose lives you are working to improve every day.” At the same time, addressing digital innovation inevitably means querying fads and hype, exploring issues at a global level, and convening conversations with international actors, including other cities with their own data ethicists, such as Amsterdam and New York. It might sound novel for cities to have a data ethicist on their payroll, but for Sam it is “a sign of the times... When we think about transforming things and doing them in new and better ways, a huge part of that is digital technology and data.” LOTI collaborates with local government bodies in fulfilling their ambitions, providing advice on an individual basis, sharing knowledge across the city’s ecosystem, and convening safe spaces for difficult conversations about London’s digital future.
Public engagement and community participation are also key, and sometimes take unconventional forms. A recent highlight was the 2023 London Data Week (
www.londondataweek.org). This
Matt Finch (@drmattfinch) is a writer and consultant who specialises in strategy, foresight, and innovation work with institutions worldwide. See more at
www.mechanicaldolphin.com
was a summer festival exploring the use of data in the city through everything from workshops and roundtable discussions to stand-up comedy performances at “Turing’s Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas” and a challenge where cyclists sought to visit all of the city’s 800-plus bike hire docks in a single day to gather a snapshot of road conditions.
It’s a long way from that football match heard over the car radio two decades before, but that spirit of connectedness, community, and celebration remains. “London is a place where the future will happen quickly,” says Sam. “People want to discover the future together, and that future, for us, is always a shared one.” IP
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