Since 1 January 2021 I’ve been a freelance consultant available for research, policy and advocacy work on data, information, media, digital, government and data visualization. That includes helping your organisation visualise and communicate data more effectively. I’m an accomplished facilitator, chair and host. I’m also working on a book about data.
You can see what I’ve been up to in previous years here:
In 2024, I continue to work as a policy associate at Connected by Data (helping convene our civil society data and AI policy network and writing our regular Data Policy Digest), associate at the Institute for Government (running our Data Bites event series), and special adviser at the Open Data Institute (recently supporting our policy manifesto). I’ve also delivered some data visualisation training for Apolitical, co-authored a short report on health data for Labour Together, sat on a peer review panel for ESRC, and supported Full Fact with their latest annual report.
In June, I’ll be co-hosting the latest Think Data for Government conference. The Royal Statistical Society’s Significance magazine is currently serialising my long read on the Covid-19 R number (part one).
I’m also a member of the Public Digital network, the Open Government Network steering group, OLIPAG, UPAG, the Civil Justice Council Data Working Group and Public Technology advisory group. I am a trustee of the Orwell Foundation.
If you’d like to discuss working together, please email me on gavin@gavinfreeguard.com.
You can also find me on Twitter, Mastodon (barely), Bluesky, Medium and LinkedIn. I used to compile a weekly newsletter on data and #dataviz called Warning: Graphic Content, and now compile a fortnightly-ish newsletter for Connected by Data called the Data Policy Digest – you can subscribe via email.
Before going freelance, I spent more than seven years working on data and digital government at the Institute for Government, most recently as programme director. At the Institute, I led and developed the organisation’s flagship Whitehall Monitor project (which analyses and visualises the size, shape and performance of central government in the UK), designed data analysis and visualisation training and tools to support people across the organisation to use data more effectively, and created the Data Bites event series (which I continue to run as an associate of the IfG).
Before joining the IfG, I worked at the highest level of UK politics as political adviser on culture, media and sport to Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP and the shadow Cabinet (2012-13). Before that, I worked at the Media Standards Trust (2007-12), where my main job was building the Orwell Prize into an organisation that thrives today as the Orwell Foundation.
Gavin Freeguard 