registers
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Paul DowneyRegistersGovernment Digital Service @psd
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Registers Paul Downey Government Digital Service
Registers14 September 2016
History
Create [GDS] Fix publishing Fix transactions Go wholesale
So how can we help make better services, across government, for less?
Government?
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Publishing
GDS
1. Start with needs 2. Do less 3. Design with data 4. Do the hard work to make it simple 5. Iterate. Then iterate again. 6. This is for everyone 7. Understand context 8. Build things people can build on 9. Be consistent, not uniform 10. Make things open: it makes things better
Design Principles
Design with Data
Build for people, not browsers
Do the hard work to make it simple
When is the next bank holiday?
Do less
It must be gov, yeah, yeah!
No link left behind!
Use the HTTP:
Transactions
Working on an exemplar
GDS@psd
Theodore Burton Fox Ruoff
The mirror principle— the register of title should reflect, accurately and completely, and beyond all argument, the facts that are material to the title
The insurance principle— if, as a result of human error, the title is proved to be defective in any way, then the person or persons suffering loss as a result must be able to claim compensation
The curtain principle— the public register should be the sole and definitive source of information for proposing purchasers, but not reveal sensitive information
Autonomy Mastery Purpose
We had an amazing team!
and we learnt, loads
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A digital signature is …
I am me I agree!&
Your architecture is for the users
Take fraud seriously
https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2015/07/24/building-on-the-steel-thread/
Digital ecosystem
Simon Wardley http://blog.gardeviance.org/
http://blog.gardeviance.org/2013/03/basics-repeated-again.html
http://blog.gardeviance.org/2013/03/basics-repeated-again.html
Services
Start with needs*
* user needs, not government needs
Good services are verbs, bad services are nouns
They change quickly in response to learning about their users
Platforms
From pounds to pennies and months to minutes
Technology
GDS@psd
The main thing is you must be able to change your mind
Data
Links
“If the data doesn’t link, the website won’t link” — Michael Smethurst
GDS
Question: why are companies failing their food inspection?
GDS
Questions:
— size of companies failing — location of failing companies — quality of premises
GDS
Researchers need to know about Food standards Agency, Valuation Office Agency, Land Registry, Companies House, Local Councils, ONS, etc
GDS
They need to know what data each of these agencies hold
GDS
They need to know how to use each of their systems
GDS
They need to understand the licensing terms of the data
GDS
More often, they need to know who to ask for help
GDS
and they have to clean the data of errors ..
Feedback loops
Better data helps make data better
Longevity
Writing law demands a certain level of commitment from goats, calves and sheep
Make multiple copies!
GDS@psd
Digital horcruxes?
My precious!
https://github.com/digital-preservation
Facts don’t rot!
GDS@psd
Ship of Theseus
ISE Shrine– Clay Shirky, Here comes everybody
Registers
… authoritative data you can trust
“The secretary of state for … will keep and maintain a register of …
companies, charities, trade unions, courts, schools, universities, hospitals, zoos, circuses, inspections, licences, certificates, births, marriages, deaths, electoral roll, insolvencies, bankruptcies, passports, animal passports, drivers, vehicles, land parcels, land ownership, land use, legal boundaries, awards, tax rates, benefits, livestock movements, flood risk, river levels, companies, fish caught, patents, trademarks, designs, non-native invasive plants, bank holidays, clock changes …
List of the day
GDS@psd
authoritative lists people need to be able to trust
GDS@psd
“An alternative to scurrilous gossip & rumour”
GDS@psd
“Helping government to trust its own data …
GDS@psd
… even when it’s in a different organisation”
“Data good enough to build services on”
Characteristics of a register
noun
open / private
Getting from lists to registers
“Strings are not things” — Michael Smethurst
But they’re on a lot of forms
“SCOLAND UK” “SCOTALND UK” “SCOTKLAND UK” “SCOTLAD UK” “SCOTLAND” “SCOTLAND UK” “SCOTLAND UK” “SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDO” “SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDOM” “SCOTLAND UNITED KINGODM” “SCOTLAND, UK”
Custodians are essential
Proofs
Psychic paper
GDS@psd
“As a foo I need to know a bar record came from the bar registry and it hasn’t been tampered with”
GDS@psd
“As Chief Registrar of Foo, I need to know the Foo system of record hasn’t been tampered with”
redecentralize.org
Merkle tree magic!
Registers Design Authority
Our product is the process for establishing registers
❏Request register
❏Accept register
❏Agree custodian
❏Agree dataset
❏Review how feedback is collected
❏Review how register is updated
❏Meet operational standards
❏Meet technical standards
❏Find duplicate lists
❏Review feedback from alpha
❏Review recent updates
❏Remove duplicate lists
We’re in discovery …
Decision log
Platform
Register platform
Platform Product Standard
Standards
Guidance
Towards a digital ecosystem
Knocking down the Towers of SIAM
Guidance and tools for migration
“The government will provide up to £5 million to develop options for an
authoritative address register that is open and freely available. Making wider use of
more precise address data and ensuring it is frequently updated will unlock
opportunities for innovation.”2016 Budget
https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/03/23/an-open-address-register/
Paul Downey Technical ArchitectGovernment Digital