Jerry Fishenden

How playing a musical instrument helps children learn to read Learning to play an instrument has long been linked to improved reading skills among children, and we may finally understand why

"How playing a musical instrument helps children learn to read"

www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Implementing a 21st century approach to digital identity | Computer Weekly We need a better, more convenient and effective solution to identity. One that lets us manage our own identity-related data and choose where, when and with whom we share it.

With digital ID back in the news, I thought I'd resurface my @computerweekly.bsky.social piece from 2020—exploring what *good* citizen-centric, democratic ID might look like in place of the hype and failed approaches of the past …

‘Reverse Midas touch’: Starmer plan prompts collapse in support for digital IDs Net public backing for scheme has fallen to -14% after prime minister’s announcement, according to polling

gosh, what a surprise ...

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

… meanwhile, 23+ years ago ntouk.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

A warning message within the One Login app — stating that everything will be deleted from the app if the user logs out from one of their One Login accounts in order to log in in again with another one, breaking the government's own identity assurance principles.

GOV.UK One Login is a mess. Alongside reported security issues & missing features like delegation & support for business, it breaks the government’s identity assurance principles: it's impossible to switch easily between different One Login accounts. How did it ever pass a service assessment?

Using AI to automate and accelerate what government currently does replicates the same mistaken approach as the “website government” mindset of the past three decades: it’s “faster horses” instead of improving how government — and democracy — works

The Russian spy ship stalking Europe’s subsea cables Covert operations in waters surrounding the British Isles pose a grave threat to critical infrastructure and a fresh challenge to Nato

Good to see the FT exposing some of the hybrid warfare we’re currently encountering

www.ft.com/content/0b35...

Travellin’ the Blues Highway Images and reflections from a recent road trip up through the Great Smoky Mountains and down the Blues Highway. Great Smoky Mountains Cherokee, North Carolina First up is the capital of the Eastern…

Here’s a brief selection of photos from my recent US road trip along the Blues Highway … a most welcome intermission from the day job :)

fishenden.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/t...

Clarksdale … another great experience of the blues and its history

The cover page of the local free Memphis newspaper featuring BB King to celebrate 100 years since his birth

A blues band — singer, bass, guitar, piano and drums — on stage performing at BB King’s Blues Club

Great to have been in BB King’s Blues Club, Memphis, just a few days before the 100th anniversary of his birth

Zarah Sultana accuses Jeremy Corbyn of 'baseless' character attacks Former Labour MP hits back in an escalating row between the would-be founders of new left-wing party.

Can’t help feeling this remake of “Citizen Smith” has jumped the shark …

Sultana accuses Corbyn of 'baseless' character attacks www.bbc.com/news/article...

Louis Armstrong’s trumpet

Elvis’s guitar

Live music at BB Kings Blues Clib

Live music in NOLA

Musical road trip, USA — Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans

TransformGov Talks : September 2025 · Luma Dr Moira Nicolson, Lead Behavioural Scientist (Cabinet Office) and Honorary Research Fellow (UCL) plus Holly Marquez, Senior Behavioural Scientist, (Cabinet…

🚨 6PM, WED 24 September 🚨

Join us at the MoJ or online

* Dr Moira Nicolson & Holly Marquez "Failing Forward: Why Planning for AI Disasters Unlocks Breakthrough Innovation"
* ​Ben Sauer "Always Be Creating Clarity: Daily habits for strategic storytelling"

luma.com/sm09nslz

Please share! Thanks 🙏

Waiting for the rain to come A laid back, spaghetti Western inspired track ... darn, when's that rain gonna come, huh?

... another hot, dry Friday — feels like an ideal time for 'Waiting for the rain to come' ...

soundcloud.com/jerryfishend...

TransformGov Talks : Summer drinks · Luma Join us in person for a casual summer evening catch-up and chance to socialise with your fellow government transformers.

🍺🍹🍷🥛 TGT Summer Drinks!! 🥛🍷🍹🍺

Join us at 6pm on Wednesday the 27th of August at the Buckingham Arms for the first TransformGov Talks Summer Drinks.

Network, chat and put the world to rights - we'd love you to join us.

lu.ma/sdzpnfl9

Digital Government at the Crossroads Introduction Governments have launched a series of ambitious digital strategies over recent decades to improve how they operate and interact with citizens. However, many of their anticipated benefits ...

“Digital Government at the Crossroads”—in this article for the Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art I explore why ‘digital government’ needs a rethink and reset to help democracies learn smarter, react faster, and adapt better to the growing challenges they face

Digital Government at the Crossroads Introduction Governments have launched a series of ambitious digital strategies over recent decades to improve how they operate and interact with citizens. However, many of their anticipated benefits ...

“Digital Government at the Crossroads”—in this article for the Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art I explore why ‘digital government’ needs a rethink and reset to help democracies learn smarter, react faster, and adapt better to the growing challenges they face

TransformGov Talks : Seventh event · Luma Speakers Antonio Weiss on his new book, "AI Demystified" Becky Miller, Defra, on designing policy with complex evidence live stream will be here : …

🚨 6PM, WED 16 July 🚨

Join us for the eighth TGT at the MoJ or online, with:

* Andrew Knight, Head of UK Government's Policy Design Community
* ​Emilia Hogarth, Head of Communities - Transforming Public Procurement, Cabinet Office

lu.ma/6hvitdyr

Please share! Thanks 🙏.

Fracture: The Collision Between Technology and Democracy—and How We Fix It - Digital Government Network Drawing on over thirty years of digital transformation initiatives to explore how governments can get their mojo back—and learn smarter, react faster, and adapt better.

my guest article for the Digital Government Network giving some insights into my book 'Fracture. The collision between technology and democracy—and how we fix it'

digitalgov.network/fracture-col...

Fracture: The Collision Between Technology and Democracy—and How We Fix It - Digital Government Network Drawing on over thirty years of digital transformation initiatives to explore how governments can get their mojo back—and learn smarter, react faster, and adapt better.

my guest article for the Digital Government Network giving some insights into my book 'Fracture. The collision between technology and democracy—and how we fix it'

digitalgov.network/fracture-col...

TransformGov Talks : Seventh event · Luma Speakers Antonio Weiss on his new book, "AI Demystified" Becky Miller, Defra, on designing policy with complex evidence live stream will be here : …

🚨 6PM, WED 25 June 🚨

Join us for the seventh TGT at the MoJ or online, with:

* Antonio Weiss on his new book, "AI Demystified"
* ​Becky Miller, Defra, on designing policy with complex evidence

lu.ma/jkd8jbzu

Please share! Thanks 🙏.

A puffin stands on a cliff edge looking out to sea

Two hungry gulls sit on a van’s roof at the back of a fish and chip shop

A bonxie (great skua) hovers overhead

A gannet in flight, a piece of seaweed on its beak for building its nest

A few snaps of the local birdlife here in #Shetland

Back with the tammie norries … as the excellent Wikipedia entry tells us: “they breed in muckle colonies on seawart cleuchs or islands, nestin in craggy scores or in bourie ben the yird”

George Wendt, who played a beloved barfly on 'Cheers' and found another home onstage, dies at 76 George Wendt, an actor with an Everyman charm who played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy “Cheers,” has died. He was 76.

BREAKING: George Wendt, who played a beloved barfly on "Cheers" and found another home onstage, dies at 76.

Gov.uk One Login loses certification for digital identity trust framework | Computer Weekly Computer Weekly has learned that a key technology supplier to One Login chose to allow its certification to lapse, and as a result One Login has also been removed from the accreditation scheme.

Another one for the digital identity crowd...

The government’s GovUK One Login digital identity system has lost its certification against the government’s own DIATF trust framework for digital identity systems. Read the full story here:

www.computerweekly.com/news/3666238...

I need a bigger bingo card!

Too short of time to read through 30 years of strategies to digitally reform and modernise government? No problem! Here's your friendly AI "bingo card" digest of some of the most regularly re-used soundbites ...

I don’t know if it’s the plans or comms at fault—or both! ICAO DTCs (digital passports) & ISO mDLs (driving licences) have long been the direction of travel for state verified, minimal disclosure credentials (attributes). But the messaging is confused & not helped by a failure to work in the open

the constant binary flipflop between state-centric OR market-centric digital ID ignores the nature of identity—which (in a democracy at least) is citizen-centred, contextual and relational. It requires multiple parties (both state and many others) to validate and issue verifiable credentials

Digital ID sector calls for changes to government data legislation | Computer Weekly The digital identity sector is calling on the government to amend its forthcoming data legislation, and to change policy around use of the Gov.uk Wallet – which was technology secretary Peter Kyle’s f...

ah, the latest episode has landed in the UK's ~28 year quest for digital identity...

"the sudden...announcement...gave...the impression digital identity was being nationalised...a threat of a national ID card by the back door"

www.computerweekly.com/news/3666228...