Since 1 January 2021 I’ve been a freelance consultant available for research, policy and advocacy work on data, information, media, digital, government, public sector reform and data visualization. That includes helping your organisation think differently about data, and visualise and communicate it more effectively. I’m an accomplished facilitator, chair and host.
You can see what I’ve been up to in previous years here:
As of early 2026, I am setting up a new think tank, State of the Future. I am also a policy associate at Connected by Data, associate at Kinship Works, associate at the Institute for Government, conference chair at Think Digital Partners, and the creator and longstanding host of Data Bites (first at the Institute for Government, before moving to Public Digital). I am also one of the founders and organisers of TransformGov Talks, and am helping to develop Policy Camp.
If you’d like to discuss working together, please email me on gavin@gavinfreeguard.com.
You can also find me on Bluesky, Medium and LinkedIn.
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.
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.
I was previously special adviser at the Open Data Institute (2021-2025) and an expert adviser to the UK Covid-19 public inquiry. As a freelancer, I have worked on projects for organisations including mySociety, the Ada Lovelace Institute, the Office for National Statistics, Apolitical, and Full Fact (you can read much more in the year notes linked above).
Gavin Freeguard 