Chris Dymond
@chrisdymond.bsky.social
*Interested in tech and cities* Director of the Smart City Management masters programme at Zigurat Institute of Technology | Co-director of Sheffield Digital | Founder of Unfolding ltd.
Save the city, save the climate. This starter pack, connects the dots…
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · last mo.I’ve created a handful of them, but this might still be my most unusual STARTER PACK! A team-up with world famous climate scientist @katharinehayhoe.com, these are folks connecting the dots on climate action via better cities! Please follow these great folks and share the pack! go.bsky.app/7Wh2uvp
The NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellowship is open for applications. Have a proven healthcare innovation that could improve patient care across the NHS? The NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellowship offers mentoring, support and national scaling opportunities. Apply by 27 Sept. buff.ly/NcmkSRF
Apply for the NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellowship - NHS Innovation Accelerator
Have a proven innovation that can transform the NHS? Apply to the NIA Fellowship for expert mentoring, support, and national scaling opportunities.
nhsaccelerator.com
So, this is new. EU Waste Ban. No more destroying unsold clothes. As from 19th July 2026, destroying unsold apparel, accessories and shoes will become illegal for large companies as part of the EUs new EcoDesign Regulations. Glad to see they’re doing something about it.
A good primer on the judgment in the Supreme Court this week that erased rights depended on by disabled people for the last decade. The clock is running backwards on human rights in the UK.
Oliver Lewis@droliverlewis.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe UK Supreme Court has abolished the ‘acid test’ to see if a disabled person is deprived of their liberty. Here’s a short video explainer www.youtube.com/watch?v=bojH...
Truth:
Mike Masnick@masnick.com · 3mo agoI spent more time on this piece than almost anything else I've written in the last year. Building a better, more decentralized internet is an inherent necessity if you want a functioning democracy. I hope people find it a useful encapsulation of where we're at. www.liberalism.org/p/enshittifi...
Reading text that tells me what something isn’t, followed by what it (supposedly) is, is beginning to make me feel physically queasy…
Excellent non-bs views from @heatherburnstech.bsky.social on the deeply problematic UK proposals to ban under 16s from social media www.thenational.scot/news/2613974...
Tech expert points out privacy pitfall in plan to ban under-16s from social media
THE campaign to ban social media for people under the age of 16 is gathering pace.
thenational.scot
cities-today.com/how-cities-a... This is a useful update on city government adoptions of AI, with case studies from Boston, Prague and Sunderland. The key message being that pilots are easy but integration is hard - so innovation strategies should build data & governance infrastructures in advance.
How cities are scaling AI into operations - Cities Today
How cities are scaling AI from pilot projects to operational public services
cities-today.com
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Corporate CEO bemoans lack of entry level jobs while automating product returns and focusing on online retail. Also, *everyone* is getting more applicants for jobs, because job seekers and agencies are automating applications! 🤦♂️
Next boss warns of 'dramatic' fall in entry-level jobs
Lord Wolfson tells the BBC Next now typically receives double the number of applicants for one role than it did two years ago.
bbc.co.uk
🔴 Wes Streeting has said that Palantir is “absolutely critical to the future of the NHS.” But Palantir’s £330m NHS platform is “slow an clunky” and eight to ten times slower at analysing data than the current NHS tool in use Massive scoop on Democracy for Sale: open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
Revealed: Palantir’s NHS tech is ten times slower than current system
NHS leaders privately told that “clunky” £330m platform built by Trump donor Peter Thiel’s firm is “slow” and has “poor user experience”, new documents show
open.substack.com
Great to be back at Thinking Digital in Gateshead today - it was my annual geek-mini break for over a decade but I haven’t been able to attend for the last couple of years. Hoping it’s *still* the best UK conference on technology & the future - early signs are that nothings changed 🎉 #TDC26
I hear neither Reform nor donor Delo want this news getting round. Via Private Eye
The UK government is stuck treating the symptoms, not the root cause of online harms. Nothing changes until we break the business model that drives hate and extremism; the harvesting of our data to maximise engagement and fuel advertising. It's time to #BreakBigTech. Sign and share our petition ⬇️
Break Big Tech: Dismantle the root cause of online harms
Platforms like X, Facebook and Instagram harvest our personal data so that they can target us with ads. Their platforms are designed to keep us online, pushing out content that will keep us engaged.…
you.38degrees.org.uk
Anyone who can stick eyes on a statue that accurately after drinking THREE LITRES of vodka and dropping Ecstasy deserves a feckin medal!!
Unofficial BBCNews (World) Bot@bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social · 6mo agoAustralia: Graffiti conviction for woman who stuck googly eyes on Blue Blob
I picked up a nostalgia-driven quarterly subscription to the digital edition a year ago & haven’t missed a prog since - it’s brightened up every Wednesday. Absolutely amazing to see it reappearing on newsstands in our biggest supermarkets! What a cultural institution 2000AD is! ❤️👽🤖
Graphic Policy@graphicpolicy.com · 6mo agoRebellion's 2000 AD Expands its Supermarket Footprint into ASDA #comics
Reform’s loud opposition to net zero is driven by “the success of populist messages around Brexit plus significant financial backing from the fossil fuel industry and climate sceptics” Not science. Not national interest. Not public opinion. Just personal greed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rightwing narrative fuelling false belief UK public oppose net zero, study finds
Reform, Tory and some media rhetoric runs contrary to poll showing far more voters for net zero than against it
theguardian.com
100,000 trans people & allies fill central London for Trans Pride. Mainstream media: nothing Thousands of trans people & allies fill Wembley Arena for pro-trans gig with massive names like Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Sugarbabes. Mainstream media: nothing. This is what extreme media bias looks like.
The irony that Anthropic are desperately trying to allow the use of their technologies to protect democracy, only to find the biggest threat to democracy to be their own government is pretty chilling… youtu.be/MPTNHrq_4LU?...
Full interview: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Pentagon feud
YouTube video by CBS News
youtu.be
Governments worldwide are moving to restrict youth access to social media — from Australia’s nationwide under-16 ban to fast-moving proposals in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Tech Policy Press is tracking these legislative efforts across continents and jurisdictions. 40 countries on the map:
Tracking Efforts To Restrict Or Ban Teens from Social Media Across the Globe
Several countries have passed—and many others are considering—restrictions or bans on teens accessing social media platforms.
techpolicy.press
Interesting set of practical applications of AI in public administration… “GovTech Lab Ukraine selects winning innovation startups - Smart Cities World”
GovTech Lab Ukraine selects winning innovation startups
GovTech Lab Ukraine has chosen three startups to pilot digital solutions in the public sector in its first open innovation programme.
smartcitiesworld.net
It’s about to rain shit all over the internet…
My internet troll turned out to be an AI bot gone rogue — The Times and The Sunday Times
Until last week, Scott Shambaugh was a private, almost anonymous, software developer from Denver, Colorado. Now the world knows him as the first person to be defamed by a malicious AI agent acting of ...
apple.news
A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right. Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement. This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.
I am very excited to introduce you to the Neurodivergent Music Network, a cross-disciplinary hub for neurodivergent researchers exploring the intersection between music and neurodivergence. Our mission is to collectively establish Neurodivergent Music Studies as a distinct academic field.
Neurodivergent Music Network Membership
Membership with NMN is free. About us: The Neurodivergent Music Network (NMN) is a cross-disciplinary hub for neurodivergent researchers to explore the intersection between music and neurodivergence...
forms.gle
This is a great resource for city & neighbourhood leaders, and smart city practitioners: “This collection of articles explores the forefront of sustainable urbanism, where city districts generate more renewable energy than they consume…”
Design and Applications of Positive Energy Districts: eBook - URENIO | Intelligent Cities – Smart Cities – Innovation Ecosystems
A special issue at DESIGNS is published as an ebook, edited by Tony Castillo-Calzadilla and Carlos Quesada-Granja. This collection of articles explores the forefront of sustainable urbanism, where…
urenio.org
So many of these “AI opportunities” can already be done with good service & process design, and data sharing. Hard to see how AI is suddenly going to overcome the bureaucratic inertia that stands in the way… How cities are using AI in 2026
How cities are using AI in 2026
“We’re all in learning mode … and looking at it with a wary eye,” one mayor said about AI’s potential for municipal operations. Read more in this 2026 outlook.
smartcitiesdive.com
"Compliance is a behavioural goal, but many departments still rely on legacy KPIs built around enforcement activity rather than customer experience or voluntary adherence." How many other municipal services and metrics is this true of?!
Parking enforcement shifts towards behaviour, not tickets - Cities Today
Cities across North America are shifting parking enforcement away from ticket volumes toward compliance-first strategies, according to a new survey of city, university and private-sector parking…
cities-today.com
