Day 33 - Kent - Adult and Child Services

Today started early but as usual I was ahead of time. But I like to be in location with time to spare. I headed out from Willesden Green at 8am, walking to the tube station at Kilburn as it is closer to where I am staying. Taking the tube from Kilburn to Green Park and then jumping to the Victoria line to Victoria station. I had purchased my ticket to Maidstone yesterday and the train did not leave until 9:37am. Time to grab a coffee and some breakfast. 


The train left from platform 1 and was a direct ride to Ashford International passing through Maidstone East. After arriving I headed directly across from the station to Session House . Where I was to meet with Jacky Scobe. When Jacky turn up she indicated that I was a little early and it was at that time I realised our appointment was for 1pm and it was 10:45am. Nothing like being early.


I sat a a hot desk and carried out some further research I was doing with material I had been directed to by Clay Shirky in his book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. Clay reveals how new technology is changing us from consumers to collaborators, unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world. 

For decades, technology encouraged people to squander their time and intellect as passive consumers. Today, tech has finally caught up with human potential. In Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last.


He argues persuasively that this cognitive surplus-rather than being some strange new departure from normal behavior-actually returns our society to forms of collaboration that were natural to us up through the early twentieth century. He also charts the vast effects that our cognitive surplus- aided by new technologies-will have on twenty-first-century society, and how we can best exploit those effects. Envisioning an era of lower creative quality on average but greater innovation, an increase in transparency in all areas of society, and a dramatic rise in productivity that will transform our civilisation.

The potential impact of cognitive surplus is enormous. As Clay points out, Wikipedia was built out of roughly 1 percent of the man-hours that Americans spend watching TV every year. Wikipedia and other current products of cognitive surplus are only the iceberg's tip. He shows how society and our daily lives will be improved dramatically as we learn to exploit our goodwill and free time like never before.


Many of these attributes in the use of this traits of collaboration can have an impact in the way we address user experience and engagement of the end user. The biggest issue which was also highlighted forom Google yesterday is the legacy issue. Past knowledge and experience and the engagement of users to take on new innovations and having them see and understand the true value to them to complete their tasks rather seeing change as an addition to their efforts.


We started our meeting at 1pm and I recorded the session so I have a recording to return to for my notes. Jacky has set-up a base agenda \:

1. Introductions
2. Mobile Working solutions – KCC Children’s Services – discussion
3. Impact of Children’s Services Transformation Programme – Linda Longley – discussion
4. Mobile technology for Children’s services - research findings to date – Marc Dimmick
5. Broadband solutions in Western Australia – general discussion 

These were markers in the sand and over a period of 2 hrs we worked through these and more.  Linda Harris also attended and discussed the area of Adult Services and Linda Longley covered work that they had been working on with Child Services. Near the end there was discussions on the use of Broadband within the Kent and their hopes of work to come. 

There is a lot more details and upon review of the audio material I will then add that to my report.


Tomorrow is a day out at the Fujitsu Innovation Laboratories. I am heading to Hayes Park in Middlesex.

Signing off 12:11am